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Glass Voices
Seventy-one-year-old Lucy Caines’ husband suffers a severe stroke that makes Lucy reexamine her complicated relationship with the man she has variously loved and loathed. Lucy and Harry Caines’ house is destroyed in the 1917 Halifax Explosion, a catastrophe in which they lose their first child, Helena. With their second child, a boy named Jewel, the young couple carves out a life for themselves amid a survivor’s village of ramshackle houses, gambling, moonshine, and illegal fishing.
Fifty-two years later, Lucy’s son Jewel is married to the daughter of Lucy’s worst enemy, and her grandson Robert wants to quit school to go on a hippie pilgrimage. Forced to work together during Harry’s long recovery, the family gains a new perspective on the past, as a mysterious stranger is more than she seems, and a fresh loss is countered with the emergence of a new hope. Glass Voices explores the interior life of a woman who has always worked hard for her family and taken little for herself. At the thought of losing her husband, Lucy confronts her dependence on a man whose self-destructiveness has frequently isolated her.
Award-winning author Carol Bruneau’s moving portrait of a mother and her family traverses personal tragedy, two World Wars, and the social tumult of the 60s, tackling the necessity of moving on, and celebrating the possibility of finding salvation in the unlikeliest places.
Fifty-two years later, Lucy’s son Jewel is married to the daughter of Lucy’s worst enemy, and her grandson Robert wants to quit school to go on a hippie pilgrimage. Forced to work together during Harry’s long recovery, the family gains a new perspective on the past, as a mysterious stranger is more than she seems, and a fresh loss is countered with the emergence of a new hope. Glass Voices explores the interior life of a woman who has always worked hard for her family and taken little for herself. At the thought of losing her husband, Lucy confronts her dependence on a man whose self-destructiveness has frequently isolated her.
Award-winning author Carol Bruneau’s moving portrait of a mother and her family traverses personal tragedy, two World Wars, and the social tumult of the 60s, tackling the necessity of moving on, and celebrating the possibility of finding salvation in the unlikeliest places.
- GenresFiction
280 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
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43 people want to read
About the author
Carol Bruneau
15 books27 followersCarol Bruneau is the author of nine books: three short fiction collections and six novels, including Brighten the Corner Where You Are (Fall 2020) and A Circle on the Surface (2018.) Her first novel, Purple for Sky, won the 2001 Thomas Head Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award and the Dartmouth Book Award. She lives with her husband in Halifax.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 2, 2018
Absolutely beautiful book. Bruneau’s writing reminds me in many ways of Elizabeth Strout’s in that it has the same layered interiority and difficult but deeply engaging characters. I found a terrific review here: https://sarahemsley.com/2010/12/06/gl...
Recommended.
Recommended.
September 23, 2018
I wish to thank NetGalley and Nimbus Publishing for a digital copy of this book which is being reissued after 10 years after the original publication.
The time covers about 50 years in the life of Harry and Lucy and their family. The story focuses on the joys and sorrows of their life. The joys seem almost non existent, and the sorrows and tragedies are many. The story was gloomy throughout.
What I liked best was the details in the early years, consisting of songs, nursery rhymes and now almost obsolete sayings. This was very authentic to me. My grandparents would have been a young married couple at the time of the Halifax Explosion and lived 100 miles away. I vividly recall them chanting the same nursery rhymes and singing the same songs around the house in later years. (1940s). They also peppered their language with the same unusual phrases (without the swearing). Much of the book contains dialogue which seems true to the times and place and how the characters would speak.
The story begins with Harry and Lucy, as well as their young daughter caught up in the Halifax Explosion in 1917. Harry is badly injured. Lucy’s son is born in the midst of all the death and destruction. Their daughter vanishes. Her presumed death will haunt them forever. The explosion is vividly described, but centers mainly on how it affects the family. I have read more powerful descriptions in novels which took in the extent of the death and injuries which left 2000 dead and 9000 maimed and countless homes and businesses destroyed.
The story felt somewhat choppy to me as it moved back and forth in time, often within the same chapter. Lucy’s words and thoughts contained the overuse of metaphors and similes. I felt the characterizations were strong, but never really cared for any of them.
Their son, Jewel, grows up and goes away for 5 years and fights in WW2. He returns with some shrapnel wounds he sustained in battle. He marries and remains closely connected to his parents. Jewel and his wife have different personalities than the aging parents, especially his wife and their son.
Moving forward to Harry and Lucy’s present time the couple suffers a couple of terrible tragedies. How does one put aside unbearable profound grief and keep living?
The time covers about 50 years in the life of Harry and Lucy and their family. The story focuses on the joys and sorrows of their life. The joys seem almost non existent, and the sorrows and tragedies are many. The story was gloomy throughout.
What I liked best was the details in the early years, consisting of songs, nursery rhymes and now almost obsolete sayings. This was very authentic to me. My grandparents would have been a young married couple at the time of the Halifax Explosion and lived 100 miles away. I vividly recall them chanting the same nursery rhymes and singing the same songs around the house in later years. (1940s). They also peppered their language with the same unusual phrases (without the swearing). Much of the book contains dialogue which seems true to the times and place and how the characters would speak.
The story begins with Harry and Lucy, as well as their young daughter caught up in the Halifax Explosion in 1917. Harry is badly injured. Lucy’s son is born in the midst of all the death and destruction. Their daughter vanishes. Her presumed death will haunt them forever. The explosion is vividly described, but centers mainly on how it affects the family. I have read more powerful descriptions in novels which took in the extent of the death and injuries which left 2000 dead and 9000 maimed and countless homes and businesses destroyed.
The story felt somewhat choppy to me as it moved back and forth in time, often within the same chapter. Lucy’s words and thoughts contained the overuse of metaphors and similes. I felt the characterizations were strong, but never really cared for any of them.
Their son, Jewel, grows up and goes away for 5 years and fights in WW2. He returns with some shrapnel wounds he sustained in battle. He marries and remains closely connected to his parents. Jewel and his wife have different personalities than the aging parents, especially his wife and their son.
Moving forward to Harry and Lucy’s present time the couple suffers a couple of terrible tragedies. How does one put aside unbearable profound grief and keep living?
January 11, 2019
Bruneau's writing is quite good, and there was much about the book that I really enjoyed. It's based in the city where I live so the familiarity was a bonus. Little things that were mentioned reminded me of being in my grandparents' house as a child, and I liked the geographical references. The Halifax Explosion sets the stage for the book but the majority of the story takes place 52 years later. If you were to read it and not understand what the explosion was you'd need a bit of context, but nothing that a few minutes googling couldn't deliver. But understanding the significance of the event is important. I wasn't really captured by the story and it took me longer than it should have to read but I am glad that I that I did. I recommend it, especially for Nova Scotians or anyone interested in learning a bit about the history and culture of the province.
November 25, 2018
It took me a little while to find my bearings with this book, as I knew nothing about the background, but once I realised what was going on I found it a compelling and absorbing read. I recommend doing some research, if you don’t already know about it, into the 1917 Halifax, Nova Scotia explosion before reading in order to put the narrative into context. I found the YouTube clips very helpful. So that out of the way, I soon became immersed in the story about Lucy, who has struggled all her life with the consequences of that devastating explosion, not helped by her somewhat wayward husband. The narrative jumps backwards and forwards in time, and the reader has to concentrate, as it doesn’t always flow smoothly, but it’s well worth the effort. We see the world from inside Lucy’s head and through her eyes, as she now, at age 71, re-examines her life with her husband, who has now had a debilitating stroke, and she starts to wonder just how she really feels about him. We also get to know her son Jewel, who has been equally damaged by his experiences in WWII. It’s a wonderfully empathetic portrait of a woman struggling against the odds and doing her best to live a good life. Excellent characterisation, vivid descriptions and authentic dialogue, and a story told with compassion and insight make this a very enjoyable read.
March 7, 2022
I have to say I agree 100% with the review by Sarah Emsley at the attached link. It's worth a read to get an idea of what the book is all about. She reviews it much more eloquently that I ever could.
I will add that, at first, I had a bit of trouble with the jump from one time frame to another (I generally like the technique) but I did get used to it. And it is not an easy read, it covers not only devastating events in Halifax history but also additional personal hardships.
This is the first Carol Bruneau book I have read, I plan to read others by this author.
https://sarahemsley.com/2010/12/06/gl...
I will add that, at first, I had a bit of trouble with the jump from one time frame to another (I generally like the technique) but I did get used to it. And it is not an easy read, it covers not only devastating events in Halifax history but also additional personal hardships.
This is the first Carol Bruneau book I have read, I plan to read others by this author.
https://sarahemsley.com/2010/12/06/gl...
October 12, 2018
Read in commemoration of the Halifax Explosion 06Dec1917
October 9, 2011
At long last I got a copy of this book into my eager hands. I've been reading about it for a long time and finally was able to get a copy through the local library. It had been described to me as a novel about the Halifax explosion, referring to the accidental explosion of a munitions ship in the Halifax, NS harbor in 1917.Because it happened in my corner of the world, I've been interested in reading more about it to get a better idea of who was affected and how. I know that 2000 people were killed and 9000 injured and that there was a horrific amount of damage, but I thought a novel would give me a better feeling for how people's lives were impacted.
The main characters are a married couple, Harry and Lucy, who have two children, one of whom is lost in the explosion and the other of whom enters the world amidst the chaos of that horrible day. The story is told from Lucy's point of view and begins with the now elderly Harry experiencing a massive stroke. As Lucy adjusts to her changed circumstances she looks back over the years at how the disaster changed their lives and brought them to this point.
The novel does deal with the explosion, but only as the event that catapults Lucy and Harry into the lives they live out in the book. Then the story moves back and forth between the years immediately following that event and the 1960's, the "present day" of the book. I was disappointed that the story wasn't what I hoped it would be, but I decided to give it a chance and keep reading.
There was something about the writing that didn't appeal to me. I found the flow of the narrative broken up in places, made a little confusing with too many similes and metaphors. Sometimes it seemed like every thought Lucy had included a figure of speech and some of them were odd, without a clear meaning, like "when Lucy wakes the air in the room tastes black." um...? Other than that the writing was ok, the dialogue realistic and natural. There was more "language" than I like but that's a personal preference.
In addition to not enjoying the writing, I didn't like any of the characters. Lucy is fairly interesting, but I kept wishing she'd stand up to her husband. At the beginning of the book I didn't like Harry, then that developed into an active dislike, and by the end of the book I hated him. I did feel some pity for him as a stroke victim, how could anyone not, but I couldn't get past his vulgar behavior, his coarse treatment of his wife and his apparent belief that being a father brought with it no responsibility. It's not that I think him unrealistic, on the contrary, he's all too real and reminds me of several men I know. Harry made me very angry.
"Glass Voices" is an unhappy book from the beginning, then in the last chapter one more tragedy is thrown in and the story ends. My feeling about it can be described in some of the author's own words: it was "gloomy enough to make you jump in front of a train." I really wish I could say something better.
The main characters are a married couple, Harry and Lucy, who have two children, one of whom is lost in the explosion and the other of whom enters the world amidst the chaos of that horrible day. The story is told from Lucy's point of view and begins with the now elderly Harry experiencing a massive stroke. As Lucy adjusts to her changed circumstances she looks back over the years at how the disaster changed their lives and brought them to this point.
The novel does deal with the explosion, but only as the event that catapults Lucy and Harry into the lives they live out in the book. Then the story moves back and forth between the years immediately following that event and the 1960's, the "present day" of the book. I was disappointed that the story wasn't what I hoped it would be, but I decided to give it a chance and keep reading.
There was something about the writing that didn't appeal to me. I found the flow of the narrative broken up in places, made a little confusing with too many similes and metaphors. Sometimes it seemed like every thought Lucy had included a figure of speech and some of them were odd, without a clear meaning, like "when Lucy wakes the air in the room tastes black." um...? Other than that the writing was ok, the dialogue realistic and natural. There was more "language" than I like but that's a personal preference.
In addition to not enjoying the writing, I didn't like any of the characters. Lucy is fairly interesting, but I kept wishing she'd stand up to her husband. At the beginning of the book I didn't like Harry, then that developed into an active dislike, and by the end of the book I hated him. I did feel some pity for him as a stroke victim, how could anyone not, but I couldn't get past his vulgar behavior, his coarse treatment of his wife and his apparent belief that being a father brought with it no responsibility. It's not that I think him unrealistic, on the contrary, he's all too real and reminds me of several men I know. Harry made me very angry.
"Glass Voices" is an unhappy book from the beginning, then in the last chapter one more tragedy is thrown in and the story ends. My feeling about it can be described in some of the author's own words: it was "gloomy enough to make you jump in front of a train." I really wish I could say something better.
May 22, 2015
Globe and Mail said that "Intertwined with the 1917 Halifax Explosion; the "sense of time and place in this book is remarkable"I found it unreadable. Maybe this is one you have to read aloud but I gave up about 10 pages in. So many other books about the Explosion are better. Try the non-fiction Shattered City or even Robert McNeil's Burden of Desire. Both are better.
July 13, 2008
It started out well enough, but seemed to get weaker as it went. The last 1/3 of the book was gruelling to get through.
October 3, 2018
What impressed me most in Glass Voices was the way Carol Bruneau developed the story with details. Bruneau has a lovely way of writing that makes the journey into this literary world enjoyable and scenic.
November 26, 2018
Bruneau's Glass Voices covers around five decades in the lives of Lucy, Harry, and their family. Harry, Lucy, and their young daughter survive the terrible Halifax Explosion. Harry is injured during the explosion. In the midst of this difficult time and its immediate aftermath, their son is born. What should be a joyous occasion is instead made stressful thanks to circumstances, especially since their daughter disappeared and was presumed dead. These events will follow the family for the rest of their lives, shaping them all in different ways.
I found this story confusing at times. It shifted past to present and back again often. The writing style did not mesh with me, making my reading fits of start and stop. It's not bad, just not my cuppa. I liked the colloquial language though. Phrases and slang of bygone eras fascinates me. I was unaware of the Halifax Explosion, and this prompted me to research it.
***Many thanks to the Netgalley and Nimbus Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
I found this story confusing at times. It shifted past to present and back again often. The writing style did not mesh with me, making my reading fits of start and stop. It's not bad, just not my cuppa. I liked the colloquial language though. Phrases and slang of bygone eras fascinates me. I was unaware of the Halifax Explosion, and this prompted me to research it.
***Many thanks to the Netgalley and Nimbus Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews