Glass Century

by Ross Barkan

It's 1973 and Mona Glass is a 24-year-old amateur tennis star in a long-running affair with Saul Plotz, her former college professor. Her parents like Saul and desperately want the free-spirited Mona to marry. But 34-year-old Saul already has a wife and two children. One day, Saul happens on an idea: stage a fake wedding for the benefit of her old world parents, invite a few friends in on the joke, and go about their lives.

The ruse works. Except Saul realizes he actually wants to marry Mona, who vows never to permanently tie herself to a man. After losing her city job in the 1970s fiscal crisis, Mona becomes a freelance news photographer for a radical new tabloid. When she beats the competition to capture a photo of a murderous vigilante taking the city by storm, she finds herself falling for a colleague-and Saul, now a rising star in government who is butting up against a young man named Donald Trump, fears he has lost her altogether. Years later, the affair not quite dead, Mona realizes she is pregnant with Saul's child.

Meanwhile, Saul's adult son, Tad, is traveling aimlessly across America, hunting for answers as the 1990s bleed into 9/11. Tad decides to take the darker path of the very vigilante Mona once exposed. And in the shadow of terrorism and war, Mona and Saul raise their son, Emmanuel, together-keeping their life a secret from Saul's wife and children. Spanning from the 1970s to the pandemic, this soaring, heartbreaking novel is a tour de force of ambition and grace, a great American chronicle that marks the emergence of a major new talent.

Genres: Fiction, Modern

484 pages, Paperback

Published May 6, 2025

About the author

https://www.facebook.com/RossBarkanNYC/

Ross Barkan is the author of Demolition Night, a novel, and The Prince: Andrew Cuomo, Coronavirus, and the Fall of New York. His next novel, The Night Burns Bright, will be published in 2022.

An award-winning journalist and former candidate for office, he is a columnist for the Guardian and Jacobin, as well as a contributing writer to the Nation.

His journalism and essays have appeared in a wide variety of publications, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Atlantic, the New Yorker, New York Magazine, GQ, the Village Voice, and the Columbia Journalism Review.

In both 2017 and 2019, he was the recipient of the New York Press Club’s award for distinguished newspaper commentary. He now teaches journalism at NYU and St. Joseph’s College. He also created a popular newsletter, Political Currents, on New York and national affairs.

Reviews

[Stetson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel is half-way between a journalistic panorama of NYC (1973-2020) and a family saga of the intertwined lives of two secular Jewish families (i.e. Glass and Plotz families) and their social circle. Real figures and events are woven into the narrative, which is concerned with youthful infidelity that spirals into somewhat stunted lives (Mona and Saul) with generational fallout (Tad and Emmanuel).

Glass Century is somewhat like an American version of War and Peace, though much narrower in scope. The colossus that bestrides the narrow narrative is the memory of Robert Moses, Donald Trump and perhaps American Reaction writ large. Of course, these figures cannot be said to have the same historical gravity as Napoleon and his conquest of Europe. Nonetheless, this is a better modern novel than a lot of the available alternatives. It is unburdened by internet-brained patterns of thought and unnecessary experimentation with style and form. For once, it is nice to have contemporary fiction that is not an "internet novel" and is not painfully conscious of itself or hiding behind layers of irony.

There are elements of the narrative that seem a bit cartoonish (e.g. the Vengeance figure) and some of the dialogue is a bit stilted or implausible. However, there are several scenes in the novel that are written very engagingly, such as Mona's victory over an overconfident male opponent in a club tennis match. The novel moves quite quickly. In fact, I think a novel like this would perhaps benefit from being twice as long.

I hope those looking to get back into contemporary fiction pick this book up.

Extended review on Substack

My interview with the author can be listened to here.

[LiA · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a nice read, but you keep expecting more action, actually. Some climax, some real drama in a dramatic half century. Or maybe, the life of boomers in the USA was very different from what I saw among my elders in Europe? The heroes - and especially Mona Glass, the title-giving heroine - are much too superficial and traditional for my taste. Single mom and eternal love affair, focusing on working out (on the tennis court) and first and foremost obsessed with her son, even at the age of 30 (the son!)? Well, that reminds me more of the awareness age (aka the 2020s) than the 1970s/80s/90s. Okay, the protagonists of the story, Ross Barkan wants to tell, try to do things differently, and clearly different from their parents. As do their children. Mostly. But at the end of the day, they lead the same more or less bourgeois life in a well-knit social safety net. Although the world around them is falling apart: 9/11, Covid, the everyday crime and hassle in a metropolis - NYC - and the potential retreat to the suburbs, Florida or Long Island. Who am I talking about? Meet Mona Glass, who at college falls in love with her professor Saul. Both embark on a livelong affair and eventually have a son, named Emmanuel, who is clearly overprotected by his mother. Mona works as a freelance photographer for the print media and loves to play tennis. Saul is a public servant, working for a politician (I think, a Democrat, but that's not really important). He is married to Felicia, has a daughter, Lenore, who is following her daddy's footsteps becoming a lawyer,. Her brother Tad - what a name! - however is kind of lost in life and tragedy. Saul, for cowardice (or love?), never leaves Felicia. Their marriage can only end, once the wife decides to go. But even this does not trigger any real drama. Neither does the (re-)appearance of "Vengeance", a vigilante or any of the dramatic events marking the last decades of the 20th and the first decades of the 21st century. The publisher's description labels Ross Barkan's book a "soaring, heartbreaking novel", a "tour de force of ambition and grace" and "a great American chronicle". This is definitely exaggerated, given the fact that I repeatedly and especially at the end of the story had the feeling that the "Glass Century" is a work unfinished, more a sketch than a ready product. So, my conclusion is: It's a quite nice read, but don't expect too much. It's entertaining, and I guess some might find elements of their own lives in those years in or between the lines, but quite a step away from high-quality literature. 4 stars, nevertheless, because it was nice enough to have me read through the end and write a few lines as a comment. Thank you Netgalley for this preview e-book in exchange for an honest review.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the main character of this book—she’s a native New Yorker, she loves tennis and she doesn’t want to conform to society’s standards. She doesn’t feel the need to marry, which was unusual in the 1970’s. Over the course of 40 plus years, she lives an interesting life. The author brings New York and its history to life through her character. Two of the other supporting characters were not as interesting, but I still enjoyed the story and would recommend the book, with the caveat that it’s long and could have been edited down in some parts.

[Hamlet ViCodei · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book.

[Richard Dorset · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me, the quality of a book is the quality of the plot and do I care about the characters. Glass Century offers a resounding yes in both aspects. The plot begins in NYC’s seedy 70’s and ends with the Covid era. It centers on Mona Glass, an eclectic and non traditional Jewish woman determined to lead her life as SHE, not her parents, and not her married lover,Saul Plotz, sees fit. Saul is a very traditional man. He is married with two children but he doesn’t love his wife. He is in love with Mona and has been since he spied her as an undergrad in a class he was teaching. He loves Mona and he connives to spend as much time with her as possible but he won’t leave his wife so in all ways he is living a double life. The story careens through a fictional vigilante known as vengeance, the fall of the Twin Towers, which claims Mona’s best friend Liv, and ends with Covid. Saul and Mona’s son Emmanuel grows from a baby to a 30 year old somewhat out of place man while Saul’s son Tad becomes alienated from his family, especially his father, leaves, isolates, then comes back to NYC and reinvents himself as the heir to the original Vengeance. Tad is the most interesting character. He completely disavows his family’s conventional life, becomes a nomad for whom work is nothing more than a way to survive, becomes an addict then brings himself back from the precipice of death to find work as a bike delivery person for a take out Chinese restaurant. He is monastic and pure and innocent and embodies the growth of the city and the times within himself. At the end of the book he has found himself and his calling, at least for now. I would be remiss if I didn’t praise the author’s prose. The scenes where Tad spirals into addiction are written in such a way that I can feel, deep in my gut, what I perceive as the universality and believability of that experience I don’t pity Tad but I do understand him and in a way identify with him. Ross Barkan is a superb writer of inner dialogue. He draws such a full picture of each character that you care about and root for them. The book is 480 pages but feels too short. I wanted to learn more about each of these characters but, sadly, the book ended with more to tell

[Karen Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel covers a lot of ground and does it well. Set in NYC it weaves together fictional characters with real life individuals and settings. You can see where some of it is heading, but then it surprises you with a twist or a small world coincidence. A nice change of pace from all the classics I've been reading.

[Karenmeg1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story starts in New York City in the early 1970s. Mona Glass is a spirited, independent young woman having an affair with Saul Plotz, her former professor who is 10 years her senior. Her parents would love to see Mona settle down and marry. Mona has no such intentions and is happy with her arrangement and independent life. Saul is already married and lives in the burbs with his wife and young family (daughter and son). Saul suggests that they fake a wedding, to make her parents happy, and it works. This is but the beginning of an epic story that spans decades, up until the pandemic.
We follow Mona, her friends and career as a news photographer, and her life that she wants to maintain. We follow Saul, a senior government worker, who stays in his marriage even though he realizes he loves Mona and should have made the break years ago. We follow the son, Emanuelle, that they eventually have together, and Tad, the aimless son that Saul abandoned emotionally.

The timeline that the story covers is impressive. The author weaves the real life events over the decades, even including a touch of reality with brief interface with a younger Donald Trump, the 9/11 attack, the further emergence of the “shock” photojournalism.

The novel covers a lot, the expanse of the story while also dealing with emotional ground of several characters. I found it interesting that Mona and Saul could credibly present as a couple in so many social events while he had his suburban life. It didn’t ring that true to me that while his wife also found her own way and her own life, that she wouldn’t have known more than she did. There were some tangent plots twists early that eventually came together in an interesting way. After such a long, winding story, the ending was a little flat for me, but I’m not sure what the ideal conclusion would be. Life is like that
.
It took me a little to get into the story – you really have to stick with the details to follow. But once in there, I became more engaged.
I give it a 3/5.

Thanks for to NetGalley and Tough Poets Press for an advanced copy for review.

[Andrew Komarnyckyj · Rating 4 out of 5]

About Ross Barkan…

There’s been a buzz around this novel for a considerable while, which, I confess, is what drew me to it. As far as I can see, the buzz has been author-driven as much as publisher driven. It turns out that Ross Barkan is quite a self-publicist, which is an observation, not a criticism. If I had half his ability in that department, I’d count myself extremely blessed.

Ross is well-known in the field of journalism, having written for several prestigious magazines and newspapers. Although he turned his hand to fiction prior to writing Glass Century, he has, until recently, been rather less well-known for his novels than for his non-fiction. I suspect that situation is going to change very quickly indeed. His novel is being reviewed in more places than I could possibly shake two sticks at, one in each hand.

Before reading Glass Century, I questioned (in my head) whether Ross’s literary flair as a journalist would equip him to pen a novel. I need not have raised the question. The opening chapters serve up ample evidence that Ross is a master of the novel-writing craft.

That said, my purpose here is not to dwell on Ross Barkan; it is to tell you about the book, in the hope that what I say will inform you whether or not it’s your kind of reading matter.
Glass Century is a type of novel which will be familiar to all those who, like me, have read their fair share of American Literature. It is a piece of traditional storytelling (third person, past tense) offering a depiction of a slice of American life.

The slice in question takes place in New York, and the city looms so large in the book as to be arguably as important to the novel as the characters who populate it. The characters bear witness to the evolution of their city from the early seventies to the pandemic. During this period they age by 50 + years, and I have to say that this issue – ageing - is one of many that is handled rather deftly.

What is the essence of the novel? What, at heart, is it about?

Ross himself has said that it’s about a generation that grew up having been prepared to live and work in a world that disappeared almost as soon as they were old enough to take their place in it. And this is indeed so. Like the substance it is named after, the glass century in which the characters live is so brittle that its defining qualities seem to fracture and disintegrate around them during the course of the novel. So much so, that the lead character, Mona Glass, has to be highly adaptable and take on a job she could never, in the initial part of her working life, have envisaged doing. You have a treat in store when you find out more about that.

While I describe Mona Glass as the lead character, and indeed she does give the novel its name, this is something of an ensemble work, and the focus shifts throughout from one character to another. While they are all well-drawn and interesting, one in particular caught my eye more than the others. Namely, Tad. Don’t ask me why. He just did. I found his story riveting.

Glass Century is a work of Literary Fiction, not a thriller, and Ross himself has said he is not inclined to read genre fiction. That said, he demonstrates the skills of a thriller-writer in the leadup to, and denouement of, a critical scene set in a hospital. I will say no more on that subject, as I don’t want to give any plot-spoilers. Anyway, the hospital scene was a high-point for me, but it was far from the only high-point.

Another high point, one that has been much-discussed by reviewers, is the tennis match. Full marks to any author who can make a game of tennis exciting to read. Ross Barkan achieves this difficult feat and makes it look easy.

But this book is far more than a series of high-points linked by a stroll through American history. What lifts it above that are the rich depictions of the inner lives of its characters, the distinctly sinuous plot, and the examination of ideas and society's mores through the many twists and turns in the story.

In a nutshell…

It’s a big novel, it’s about New York, and it focuses on a small number of relationships between people whose lives are played out against the backdrop of the city. These people are compelled to cope with fluctuating circumstances triggered by new technologies, economics, geopolitics, and their own behaviour. This behaviour includes, intriguingly, a long-running extramarital affair which lasts from the first page to…sorry, no plot-spoilers!

It is an extremely satisfying read which delivers highs and lows and a good measure of the weirdness you would expect to find in any novel which is set in New York.

If that sounds like your kind of book, why don’t you splash out on a copy?

[Jared · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to pick up Ross Barkan's 'Glass Century' after reading this article on Vox about how the publishing industry - in an attempt to overcorrect for leaving out marginalized voices - has now been shelving young, straight male authors. He was so vocal about how his novel didn't get a fair shake in the publishing community, I decided to give it a fair shake. My verdict: highly recommend.

It follows Mona Glass (note: not a male) through decades - from the 1970s through today - and real historical events like the 1970s fiscal crisis, 9/11, and the Covid-19 pandemic. Mona is a free-spirited, Jewish woman, who falls for Saul, a married man, and city official. As time passes, their relationship evolves. A son, Emmaneul, comes into the picture. Saul's son with his first wife, Tad, also plays a role in the story, as do a cast of characters that evolve as time passes on. I do not want to share everyone that is involved as to not spoil it for you; however, if you like a broad cast of characters that are intricately followed, this one is for you.

This was an ambitious and sprawling narrative that immediately drew me in—it's exactly the kind of book I love, similar to Lucas Schaefer's 'The Slip' or Garth Risk Hallberg's 'City on Fire'. The story weaves an interconnected web of characters whose lives profoundly impact one another. You witness their evolution and change over time, with time itself acting as a character, alongside New York City. The city transforms from a crime-ridden, broken landscape to a sanitized version, almost unrecognizable today.

Perhaps the most impactful part of the novel is its depiction of 9/11. I usually avoid books that feature this event, as having been in New York when it happened makes it very triggering for me. However, the author handles this moment with such care and nuance. You can feel the tension building, knowing what's coming and how it will unmoor some of the characters, yet it's all done with immense grace and respect for the enormity of the moment.

'Glass Century' stands as both a compelling novel and a quiet rebuttal to the very argument its author makes about the marginalization of certain voices. Barkan may lament the decline of young, straight male narratives, but his work—centered on a complex, vividly drawn female protagonist—demonstrates that good storytelling transcends identity politics. Still, his broader point rings true: publishing has blind spots, and in striving to correct one imbalance, we shouldn’t create another.

If we want a literary culture that reflects the fullness of human experience, it must make room for all kinds of stories—including those that have, for now, slipped out of focus. Maybe the question isn't whether young men are reading or writing fiction, but whether the publishing industry is offering them something worth engaging with. And if a book like 'Glass Century' is any indication, the answer might just be waiting on the shelf.

[Mad Max · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mona Glass, the aptly named main character, is a force to be reckoned with (and not just on the Brooklyn tennis courts). If she were a Coney Island attraction she would be The Cyclone, or better yet, the Fun House with its scary turns and its deceptive mirror maze. Things and people reflect off her, and we get characters splinter off into their own universe only to return later, as if through a “membrane of time”. They usually come in pairs, like twins or strange diptychs that echo each other. The fake marriage between Mona and Saul stands against Saul’s real marriage to Felicia. Saul, in turn, vies for Mona’s attention with Al, an artist Mona takes a shine to after he shows her the ropes of becoming a New York tabloid photographer. She gets the big scoop by snatching a picture of Vengeance, a vigilante who takes the law into his own hands and threatens to turn New York City inside out before vanishing like a ghost. Mona’s career path is set in stone by this event, and yet the shadow of the still-unmasked Vengeance threads through the plot like a nightmare you can’t shake off. Mona is acutely aware of the “twin paths her life could take” at certain key moments. One such fork in the road brings about a change in the family dynamics, a twinning that produces, over a long stretch of time, a dramatic showdown between two half-brothers. There are many wonders in this novel, the potent imagery being just one such thing. It’s a superbly plotted novel, reads like a thriller, and the dialogue is top-notch throughout (Mona’s job interview with Heed Ezekiel of the Daily Raider couldn’t have been any better if the Coen Brothers had written it). I was also particularly impressed by the novel’s elegiac tone, the sadness and wisdom that comes with the passage of time, the various marquee events (9/11, Covid, etc) like markers on the road of life that we all recognize and, in doing so, can’t help but sympathize with these wonderful, complex characters. This is a novel that will stay with you for a long time. Highly recommended.

[Katerina Grishakova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ross Barkan’s Glass Century follows the lives of two New Yorkers, Mona Glass, a tennis player and a newspaper photographer, and her married lover Saul Plotz who works for the city government. These are the kind of people that, if you ever lived in New York, you glaze over every day on your morning commute. It is difficult to write about ordinary people, but when done well, this kind of fiction can become transcendent. Because only that kind of story, happening in the everyday middle, instead of at the niche edges, is capable of exploring overall human condition.

That’s the beauty of Glass Century: this is a novel from the middle of the bell curve. This is a book that is not trying to shock you or trick you. It’s not about life on the internet. It’s not about incels or aging women who go on a journey of sexual discovery. It’s about normal, even square people. When we’re inundated with fiction that is focused on parading one’s abnormalities, then description of the ordinary becomes avantgarde. So in this sense, Glass Century is an avantgarde novel.

Ross Barkan is a former newspaper reporter, and this experience comes through on the pages. His love of New York City is palpable, his knowledge of its history and politics is encyclopedic, as he takes us on a tour of the megapolis and its dwellers through decades of turmoil. It spans almost 50 years, from 1970s to 2020, from a fake wedding that Mona and Saul hold to please her Jewish parents, to a particularly unnerving description of events on 9/11, and all the way to COVID lockdown.

Whether consciously or unconsciously, we have long waited for that kind novel to arrive, and it is finally here.

[Stephen Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

A New York City Saga with an Admirable Heroine

Ross Barkhan’s GLASS CENTURY is a multi-POV novel that reminded me of my favorite James Michener books, combining an intergenerational saga with rich historical detail. The heart of the story is Mona, a fiercely independent Jewish woman who we follow from the 1970s through COVID-19. She has an affair with Saul Plotz, her former college professor who is now rising in New York City politics and interacts with a young Donald Trump.

Barkhan vividly captures New York City during periods of high crime and economic hardship. I found myself rooting for Mona’s career change as she becomes a photojournalist for a tabloid newspaper. One of the more thrilling subplots in the book comes when she captures a photo of “Vengeance,” a mysterious vigilante who later crosses paths with Saul’s son, Tad.

I found myself really appreciating Mona’s toughness throughout the decades. Her secret life with Saul is appropriately nuanced, and Barkhan does an excellent job capturing the feel of the city. After finishing the book, I can see why many people are sayings it’s a worthy addition to the canon of great New York City novels.

[Abby Agliano · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a tremendously interesting read.

The starting point of the book Mona and Saul’s fake wedding, I found not only utterly unbelievable but quite lackluster and boring. This made all of part one hard to follow, though I wanted to buy into this commitment or shadow of commitment it was not much to me. Maybe like Mona?

After a rocky start, that the story picks up and up and up until it’s a barrage of long commutes out to lonely suburban Long Island from work in Manhattan and back to Brooklyn for love and dentists appointments. I loved the time spent in the car, idling on bridges, smashing the horn. There’s something special about the movement in the book, through time as the characters age, quit smoking, start again, lose physical prowess, become less sexual, and also through space; the car being the most important part of that movement.

It’s truly a lot packed in to relatively little - Mona and Saul’s entire lives, their children, their parents… But also tennis, New York development history, philosophy, a devastating 9/11 telling. At times it felt busy, but never boring.

I liked this book very much.

[Nancy Devlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book "Glass Century" by Ross Barkan is an interesting read, but it left me expecting more depth and drama. The characters, especially the protagonist Mona Glass, felt too traditional and superficial, with themes like eternal love and overprotective motherhood that felt more in line with modern times than the 70s-90s. While the story tries to explore the changing dynamics of a family across generations, it ultimately sticks to a predictable, bourgeois lifestyle. Despite significant historical events like 9/11 and Covid, the plot lacks real tension or excitement, even with the presence of characters like a vigilante. The book, marketed as a "great American chronicle," feels unfinished, more like a sketch than a completed work. Overall, it's an enjoyable, but not groundbreaking, read. I gave it 4 stars because it kept me engaged enough to finish and reflect on it.
block blast

[Mary Dugan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved reading this!! Actually, the first entire book I've made time to read in a few years. The vastness of New York City enlivens the plot, sweeping the main characters Mona Glass and Saul Plotz, into all that has (or could have) happened from 1973 to 2020. In 1973, she is a beautiful woman and smashing tennis player in her early 20s, while Saul, 10 years older, oversees Queens for Governor Nelson Rockefeller.

Mona, laid off by the city, and her friend, Al, photograph events of all kinds, especially where crimes have just been committed, for a rakish tabloid. We get into the terrible heartbreak of 9/11 and deaths in the Twin Towers, along with her having a son, Emmanuel, with Saul. So the generations roll on and the reader is hardly ready for the book to end in the Pandemic in 2020. Yes, it could have been longer!

[Ben Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book pulled me in from the first page and didn’t let go. Glass Century isn’t just a love story—it’s a decades-long ride through New York City, full of messy relationships, sharp dialogue, and moments that feel so real you’ll swear you lived them. Mona and Saul aren’t perfect, but that’s exactly why you root for them. The city itself feels alive in these pages, and by the end, I didn’t want to leave. If you like big, character-driven stories that stick with you, buy this—you won’t regret it.

[Electra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not going to lie, the timing of me reading this book probably had a lot to do with my lack of enjoyment of it. There was also a lot going on and at times it was hard for me to follow. The dialogue portions, especially when they got a little long, didn't have any indication as to which person was speaking. Frankly this book just made me work too hard. 2.5 stars.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGallery for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Doug B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to read a proof copy, and it is a great book in the tradition of great novels: full, engaging, deep, rich and meaningful.

You can see that Mr. Barkan is immersed in the NYC/Brooklyn he writes about. Characters and setting all authentic and engaging. I spent a lot of time reading Glass Century when I should have been doing other things. The definition of "can't put it down".

[ARX-Han · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this one a lot!

My full thoughts are longer than what is practical to post here, so check out this review on my blog: https://www.decentralizedfiction.com/...

[Christopher Dalla Riva · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bold, sprawling novel that follows the consequences of a long-running affair in NYC from the 1970s through today.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but doesn't live up to reviews.

[Charles Wasserman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very enjoyable read!

[Gianna Kelliher · Rating 1 out of 5]

https://www.tiktok.com/@pantelis_fan/...

[Anne Kadet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sturdy, solid and satisfying. Also: NYC! NYC! NYC!