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The Meaning of Night #2
The Glass of Time
Building on his haunting, superbly written debut, The Meaning of Night, Michael Cox returns to a story of murder, love, and revenge in Victorian England.
In the autumn of 1876, nineteen-year-old orphan Esperanza Gorst arrives at the great country house of Evenwood in Northamptonshire. There she will serve as the new lady's maid to the former Emily Carteret, now Lady Tansor. But Esperanza is no ordinary servant. She has been sent by her guardian, the mysterious Madame de l'Orme, to uncover the secrets that her new mistress has sought to conceal - and to set right a past injustice in which her own life is intertwined.
Unable to escape the reverberations of past misdeeds, Lady Tansor finds herself desperate to keep Esperanza from learning dark, dangerous truths.
As well as a page-turning period mystery, The Glass of Time is a beautifully written and vividly imagined study of seduction, betrayal, and friendship between two powerful women bound together by the past.
In the autumn of 1876, nineteen-year-old orphan Esperanza Gorst arrives at the great country house of Evenwood in Northamptonshire. There she will serve as the new lady's maid to the former Emily Carteret, now Lady Tansor. But Esperanza is no ordinary servant. She has been sent by her guardian, the mysterious Madame de l'Orme, to uncover the secrets that her new mistress has sought to conceal - and to set right a past injustice in which her own life is intertwined.
Unable to escape the reverberations of past misdeeds, Lady Tansor finds herself desperate to keep Esperanza from learning dark, dangerous truths.
As well as a page-turning period mystery, The Glass of Time is a beautifully written and vividly imagined study of seduction, betrayal, and friendship between two powerful women bound together by the past.
586 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
127 people are currently reading
5929 people want to read
About the author
Michael Cox
217 books230 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
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About the Author:
Michael Andrew Cox was an English biographer, novelist and musician.
He also held the position of Senior Commissioning Editor of reference books for Oxford University Press.
This is Michael^Cox, where ^=space. (default profile)
About the Author:
Michael Andrew Cox was an English biographer, novelist and musician.
He also held the position of Senior Commissioning Editor of reference books for Oxford University Press.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 450 reviews
January 9, 2024
Gripping from the first page, this is a note-perfect pastiche of Victorian gothic fiction, remaining fantastically atmospheric throughout. With the naive young narrator, beautiful country house brimming with secrets, and unwelcoming housekeeper, it has definite echoes of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, but is a strong enough story in its own right to overcome the comparison. It's filled with brilliant details; the character names, such as that of the heroine Esperanza Gorst, are a joy in themselves. The mysterious nature of the story, with the protagonist knowing as little as the reader about the 'Great Task' she has been sent to undertake, constantly sustained my interest, and the twist-heavy plot kept me guessing through to the final chapters - I did predict some of the main revelations, yet there were still plenty I hadn't even thought about. However, the most surprising thing about this book (for me at least) is that it was penned by the author of - and is, in many ways, a sequel to - The Meaning of Night, which I attempted to read last year but found interminably dull. Having enjoyed this novel so much, I now feel inclined to reassess its predecessor.
January 10, 2015
I don’t give out five stars easily, but I was completely entranced by this book. The quality of the storytelling drew me in immediately, and the intriguing plot kept me turning the pages long into the night.
It’s hard to describe the story without giving away any of its many secrets. It’s set in 1876, and although it was written only recently, it’s presented in the writing style of a Victoriana mystery, a mood the author captures perfectly. Esperanza is sent by her guardian, Madame, to be a lady’s-maid to the highly strung Lady Tansor. Madame tells Esperanza that in this new role, she is to undertake a 'Great Task' which will right a wrong in which she has a vested interest. She then slowly begins to reveal the details of this task and all the long-held secrets it encompasses; some of them are guessable, others are not, and even when it's fully revealed, there are still more secrets lurking in the shadows.
The book is intricately woven with beautifully crafted twists. It explores love, lies and betrayal, and the repercussions which linger on in the conscience and reach down to the next generation; I was swept up in all its dark deliciousness!
ETA: This is a sequel to The Meaning of Night; I haven't read that, showing that The Glass of Time can be read as stand-alone. A word of warning through: looking through the blurb and reviews of The Meaning of Night, it seems that the same secrets are told in each book but from two generations' points of view, so be careful not to read the reviews for either book too closely as some of them give away the secrets to the other.
It’s hard to describe the story without giving away any of its many secrets. It’s set in 1876, and although it was written only recently, it’s presented in the writing style of a Victoriana mystery, a mood the author captures perfectly. Esperanza is sent by her guardian, Madame, to be a lady’s-maid to the highly strung Lady Tansor. Madame tells Esperanza that in this new role, she is to undertake a 'Great Task' which will right a wrong in which she has a vested interest. She then slowly begins to reveal the details of this task and all the long-held secrets it encompasses; some of them are guessable, others are not, and even when it's fully revealed, there are still more secrets lurking in the shadows.
The book is intricately woven with beautifully crafted twists. It explores love, lies and betrayal, and the repercussions which linger on in the conscience and reach down to the next generation; I was swept up in all its dark deliciousness!
ETA: This is a sequel to The Meaning of Night; I haven't read that, showing that The Glass of Time can be read as stand-alone. A word of warning through: looking through the blurb and reviews of The Meaning of Night, it seems that the same secrets are told in each book but from two generations' points of view, so be careful not to read the reviews for either book too closely as some of them give away the secrets to the other.
July 23, 2014
The brilliant The Meaning of Night is a tough act to follow, but on balance The Glass of Time holds its own mainly due to the narrator voice the young Esperanza "Alice" Gorst who is set on her "great task" by her adoptive mother known as "Madame" and her tutor known as Basil Thornhaugh.
For people familiar with TMoN, the plot, who is really Esperanza, who is Madame, the tutor and all "mysterious" characters, and what her great task is, are all obvious pretty soon, but so what...
We follow Esperanza as she becomes maid to Lady Tansor, then companion and sort of friend, while doing her secret investigations, and even though we *know* what's up, the author makes the revelations seem fresh as seen through her eyes.
Great ending too.
The tortured "Edward Glyver" of TMoN gave that book its masterpiece qualities, but The Glass of Time is still a pretty good book though not at the lofty levels of that one.
For people familiar with TMoN, the plot, who is really Esperanza, who is Madame, the tutor and all "mysterious" characters, and what her great task is, are all obvious pretty soon, but so what...
We follow Esperanza as she becomes maid to Lady Tansor, then companion and sort of friend, while doing her secret investigations, and even though we *know* what's up, the author makes the revelations seem fresh as seen through her eyes.
Great ending too.
The tortured "Edward Glyver" of TMoN gave that book its masterpiece qualities, but The Glass of Time is still a pretty good book though not at the lofty levels of that one.
August 2, 2008
I'm a bit disappointed in this follow-up to THE MEANING OF NIGHT, my favorite book of 2006. I recommend reading that book before reading this book. Otherwise, I think one would become confused with all the information thats crammed in at the end of this story, apparently in order to make more sense of the storyline.
November 20, 2012
When I first picked up this book, I hadn't realized that it was a sequel to the Meaning of Night. I just saw that it was written by Michael Cox and being such a big fan of his first novel, I had to read it. Once I started to read the book and recognized some important names from Night, I was doubly pleased to turn each and every page.
This is yet another amazing work by Michael Cox. Without giving away too much, I'll just say that it expands on and continues the events as described in the Meaning of Night.
The story is narrated in the first person by Esperanza Gorst, a woman who was orphaned and raised in France by a surrogate mother and a tutor whom she greatly respects. When she's 19, her surrogate French mother tells her that she must leave the home that she loves, the only home she ever knows and is to go to England to a stately house that's the seat to a long line of English nobility on some sort of 'Great Task'. Despite her upbringing as a lady of find breading and swift mind, she must enter the House and become a maid to the Lady of the house. She is to receive three letters that each explain in further detail what exactly is meant of her and what the 'Great Task' entails.
That's all I'll say about the plot of the book, I leave everything else to be enjoyed by future readers!
As time passes we not only read the words from the narrator herself but also letters from the past that bring life changing events into the fold of the book.
I'm no great sleuth, but some of the revelations I did see coming, but that never took away from the overall enjoyment of the book. The enjoyment comes from seeing how these events come to pass and, more importantly, how the protagonist deals with each new discovery she makes.
I truly hope that the wait won't be long for Michael Cox's next work. He's swiftly become my one of my favorite authors over the span of just two books.
The characters are multi dimensioned and the language is a joy to read from beginning to end.
This is yet another amazing work by Michael Cox. Without giving away too much, I'll just say that it expands on and continues the events as described in the Meaning of Night.
The story is narrated in the first person by Esperanza Gorst, a woman who was orphaned and raised in France by a surrogate mother and a tutor whom she greatly respects. When she's 19, her surrogate French mother tells her that she must leave the home that she loves, the only home she ever knows and is to go to England to a stately house that's the seat to a long line of English nobility on some sort of 'Great Task'. Despite her upbringing as a lady of find breading and swift mind, she must enter the House and become a maid to the Lady of the house. She is to receive three letters that each explain in further detail what exactly is meant of her and what the 'Great Task' entails.
That's all I'll say about the plot of the book, I leave everything else to be enjoyed by future readers!
As time passes we not only read the words from the narrator herself but also letters from the past that bring life changing events into the fold of the book.
I'm no great sleuth, but some of the revelations I did see coming, but that never took away from the overall enjoyment of the book. The enjoyment comes from seeing how these events come to pass and, more importantly, how the protagonist deals with each new discovery she makes.
I truly hope that the wait won't be long for Michael Cox's next work. He's swiftly become my one of my favorite authors over the span of just two books.
The characters are multi dimensioned and the language is a joy to read from beginning to end.
May 29, 2016
Reads like a third-rate MFA program gone very, very wrong. Wants to be Wilkie Collins. Isn't. Plot: ludicrously transparent from early in the novel. Characters: disappointingly flat and unmemorable, especially given what great lengths the author goes to to tell us how fascinating they all are. Writing: desperately needed a good editor to slash and burn all of the unnecessary repetition of plot background that was crammed into every other sentence. For example, from p.527: "I now notice, for the first time, that she is wearing the black velvet band with the locket containing the strands of hair she cut from the head of Phoebus Daunt as he lay dead, by my father's hand, in the snow-covered garden of Lord Tansor's townhouse." Worst of all, the author seems to have suffered from some impatience with his project, because I got the distinct sense at the end that he was tired of all of this long-winded plotting and wanted to hurry up and resolve the story as quickly as possible. I can't really blame him.
February 12, 2023
"𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒃𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒘𝒏, 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒊𝒕𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇, 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒚!"
Ovo je stvarno bila luda viktorijanska vožnja, pred kraj čak i previše luda za moj ukus – previše laži i obmana koje se graniče sa latino serijama, ali zaista je poseban događaj kada nakon deset godina dođeš do nastavka voljene priče i kada ti ona ipak da dovoljno uzbuđenja, oduševljenja i fangirlovanja da si u stanju da oprostiš sve nedostatke, naročito što nisi u stanju da se odvojiš od nje. Nažalost, do pre nekoliko godina nisam ni znala da 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 postoji (jedan pozdrav za domaće izdavače, čuj mene Lagunu, koji započnu nešto što nikada ne dovrše). Čekanje se isplatilo i bilo je divno čitati Koksovo delo u originalu. Oduvek sam želela da dobijem još i želela sam drugačiji kraj 𝑺𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒍𝒂 𝒏𝒐𝒄́𝒊 iako sam ga prihvatila nakon ponovnog čitanja pre par meseci. Izuzetno mi je žao što Majkl Koks nije napisao još romana – još jednom ću reći, kakva ironija, da ga teška bolest natera da konačno iznedri priču koju je nosio u sebi trideset godina.
Mislim da je svima koji su čitali 𝑺𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒄́𝒊 jasno da se u nastavku družimo sa ćerkom Edvarda Glivera (isti inicijali, ista glad za znanjem, ljubav prema knjigama, kritike upućene delima Feba Donta...).
'𝑫𝒊𝒅 𝑴𝒂𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝑬𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒛𝒂? 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓'𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆.'
Zanimljivo mi je što mi je upravo jedan citat o nadi ostao upečatljiv iz prve knjige i da sam njime započela recenziju 𝑺𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒍𝒂 𝒏𝒐𝒄́𝒊. Spomenula sam da sam se na momente osećala kao da čitam 𝑱𝒂𝒏𝒆 𝑬𝒚𝒓𝒆 i nisam jedina koja je primetila da 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 dosta duguje tom klasiku. Esperanca nas kroz svoje pripovedanje vodi kroz svoj unutrašnji svet, ali i kroz imanje Ivenvud, kroz prostorije velike kuće i njene stanare. Tu je najuočljiviji gotički momenat, u tom prostoru punom napetosti, misterije i intrige.
Dosta je likova koje smo već upoznali u prvoj knjizi i koji nastavljaju da nas fasciniraju, naročito Emili Karteret. Osveta je opet u centru, greške roditelja se prenose na decu, a sama Esperanca u nekoliko navrata kaže kako njen život nije zaista njen. Ona je barem svesna okova prošlosti i želi da ih se oslobodi, dok nažalost mom voljenom Edvardu nema pomoći. Majkl Koks je u drugoj knjizi pošteno osudio svog junaka, i to sa razlogom. Mogla sam da romantizujem Glivera kada je on bio pripovedač, ali kada na scenu stupi njegova ćerka, njegovim greškama i opsesiji ipak nema oproštaja.
Ovo je stvarno bila luda viktorijanska vožnja, pred kraj čak i previše luda za moj ukus – previše laži i obmana koje se graniče sa latino serijama, ali zaista je poseban događaj kada nakon deset godina dođeš do nastavka voljene priče i kada ti ona ipak da dovoljno uzbuđenja, oduševljenja i fangirlovanja da si u stanju da oprostiš sve nedostatke, naročito što nisi u stanju da se odvojiš od nje. Nažalost, do pre nekoliko godina nisam ni znala da 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 postoji (jedan pozdrav za domaće izdavače, čuj mene Lagunu, koji započnu nešto što nikada ne dovrše). Čekanje se isplatilo i bilo je divno čitati Koksovo delo u originalu. Oduvek sam želela da dobijem još i želela sam drugačiji kraj 𝑺𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒍𝒂 𝒏𝒐𝒄́𝒊 iako sam ga prihvatila nakon ponovnog čitanja pre par meseci. Izuzetno mi je žao što Majkl Koks nije napisao još romana – još jednom ću reći, kakva ironija, da ga teška bolest natera da konačno iznedri priču koju je nosio u sebi trideset godina.
Mislim da je svima koji su čitali 𝑺𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒄́𝒊 jasno da se u nastavku družimo sa ćerkom Edvarda Glivera (isti inicijali, ista glad za znanjem, ljubav prema knjigama, kritike upućene delima Feba Donta...).
'𝑫𝒊𝒅 𝑴𝒂𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝑬𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒛𝒂? 𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓'𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆.'
Zanimljivo mi je što mi je upravo jedan citat o nadi ostao upečatljiv iz prve knjige i da sam njime započela recenziju 𝑺𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒍𝒂 𝒏𝒐𝒄́𝒊. Spomenula sam da sam se na momente osećala kao da čitam 𝑱𝒂𝒏𝒆 𝑬𝒚𝒓𝒆 i nisam jedina koja je primetila da 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 dosta duguje tom klasiku. Esperanca nas kroz svoje pripovedanje vodi kroz svoj unutrašnji svet, ali i kroz imanje Ivenvud, kroz prostorije velike kuće i njene stanare. Tu je najuočljiviji gotički momenat, u tom prostoru punom napetosti, misterije i intrige.
Dosta je likova koje smo već upoznali u prvoj knjizi i koji nastavljaju da nas fasciniraju, naročito Emili Karteret. Osveta je opet u centru, greške roditelja se prenose na decu, a sama Esperanca u nekoliko navrata kaže kako njen život nije zaista njen. Ona je barem svesna okova prošlosti i želi da ih se oslobodi, dok nažalost mom voljenom Edvardu nema pomoći. Majkl Koks je u drugoj knjizi pošteno osudio svog junaka, i to sa razlogom. Mogla sam da romantizujem Glivera kada je on bio pripovedač, ali kada na scenu stupi njegova ćerka, njegovim greškama i opsesiji ipak nema oproštaja.
April 27, 2013
Once again I give five stars to a book that actually isn't all that great but nonetheless delivers many hours of enjoyable reading. I don't think Cox was trying for great lit'ratcha here, so five it is.
There's a wonderful sense throughout this book that the author is always with you, looking over after each scene to raise an eyebrow or wink; but it's very subtle. I wonder if that's in the books of the actual period, none of which I have read for years.
It's a big book, and by the end there can't be more than two semi-major characters who turned out to be only what they appeared to be.
This is book two of two, but I understand that it stands alone quite well. Certainly did for me, and I haven't read the other one.
Good, interesting characters and very few cardboard cutouts.
The relationship between the two lead women is complex and interestingly developed. It seems implausible, but proceeds slowly and believably to an inevitable end.
Plenty of plot twists, including a few at the end that seemed a bit abrupt - but as others explained, the author was literally running out of time as he finished this book. It's a pity he's gone; I would have liked to read another from him (and not the first book in this series).
There's a wonderful sense throughout this book that the author is always with you, looking over after each scene to raise an eyebrow or wink; but it's very subtle. I wonder if that's in the books of the actual period, none of which I have read for years.
It's a big book, and by the end there can't be more than two semi-major characters who turned out to be only what they appeared to be.
This is book two of two, but I understand that it stands alone quite well. Certainly did for me, and I haven't read the other one.
Good, interesting characters and very few cardboard cutouts.
The relationship between the two lead women is complex and interestingly developed. It seems implausible, but proceeds slowly and believably to an inevitable end.
Plenty of plot twists, including a few at the end that seemed a bit abrupt - but as others explained, the author was literally running out of time as he finished this book. It's a pity he's gone; I would have liked to read another from him (and not the first book in this series).
October 4, 2010
This is the sequel to Michael Cox's The Meaning of Night. Although I don't think it's absolutely necessary to read the books in the correct order, it would make sense to do so. You'll definitely get the most out of this book if you've read the previous novel first and are already familiar with the plot and the characters.
The way The Meaning of Night ended had left me feeling dissatisfied, but The Glass of Time provides the perfect continuation to the story. Our narrator is Esperanza Gorst, an orphan who has been raised in France by her father's friend Madame L'Orme and her tutor Mr Thornhaugh. When she is nineteen years old, she is sent by her guardians to the beautiful estate of Evenwood in England, where she will work as lady's maid to Emily Carteret, the 26th Baroness Tansor. At first Esperanza doesn't know why she has been sent to Evenwood and is told only that it is part of Madame L'Orme's 'Great Task'. As she learns more about her mission, however, Esperanza begins to unravel the mysteries of both her own past and Lady Tansor's.
I enjoyed The Meaning of Night but I loved The Glass of Time even more. I thought Esperanza was a more likeable character than Edward Glyver (the narrator of The Meaning of Night), and the story also seemed to move at a faster pace. I literally didn't want to put this book down and finished it in two days (considering it's over 500 pages long that should indicate how much I was enjoying it).
While I was reading this book there were times when I could almost have believed it really had been written in the 19th century, as the setting, atmosphere and language are all flawlessly 'Victorian'. Charles Dickens was clearly one of Cox's biggest influences and he gives his characters Dickensian names, from Armitage Vyse and Billy Yapp to Perseus Duport and Sukie Prout. I also noticed lots of similarities to Dickens' Bleak House: the young orphan searching for the truth of her parentage; the noblewoman with a dark secret; the way the story moves between an idyllic country house and the dark, dangerous streets of Victorian London; the intricate plot and the cleverly interlocking storylines.
I could also recognise elements of various Wilkie Collins novels (Esperanza Gorst is even seen reading No Name at one point). In both writing style and structure this book does feel very like one of Collins' sensation novels, filled with cliffhangers and plot twists – and with parts of the mystery being revealed through letters, diary entries and newspaper clippings. I did find some of the twists very predictable but that didn't matter to me, because it was actually fun to be one step ahead of Esperanza, waiting for her to discover what I had already guessed.
It's so sad that there won't be any more books from Michael Cox, as he died of cancer in 2009, but together these two novels are the best examples of neo-Victorian fiction I've read: complex, atmospheric and beautifully written.
The way The Meaning of Night ended had left me feeling dissatisfied, but The Glass of Time provides the perfect continuation to the story. Our narrator is Esperanza Gorst, an orphan who has been raised in France by her father's friend Madame L'Orme and her tutor Mr Thornhaugh. When she is nineteen years old, she is sent by her guardians to the beautiful estate of Evenwood in England, where she will work as lady's maid to Emily Carteret, the 26th Baroness Tansor. At first Esperanza doesn't know why she has been sent to Evenwood and is told only that it is part of Madame L'Orme's 'Great Task'. As she learns more about her mission, however, Esperanza begins to unravel the mysteries of both her own past and Lady Tansor's.
I enjoyed The Meaning of Night but I loved The Glass of Time even more. I thought Esperanza was a more likeable character than Edward Glyver (the narrator of The Meaning of Night), and the story also seemed to move at a faster pace. I literally didn't want to put this book down and finished it in two days (considering it's over 500 pages long that should indicate how much I was enjoying it).
While I was reading this book there were times when I could almost have believed it really had been written in the 19th century, as the setting, atmosphere and language are all flawlessly 'Victorian'. Charles Dickens was clearly one of Cox's biggest influences and he gives his characters Dickensian names, from Armitage Vyse and Billy Yapp to Perseus Duport and Sukie Prout. I also noticed lots of similarities to Dickens' Bleak House: the young orphan searching for the truth of her parentage; the noblewoman with a dark secret; the way the story moves between an idyllic country house and the dark, dangerous streets of Victorian London; the intricate plot and the cleverly interlocking storylines.
I could also recognise elements of various Wilkie Collins novels (Esperanza Gorst is even seen reading No Name at one point). In both writing style and structure this book does feel very like one of Collins' sensation novels, filled with cliffhangers and plot twists – and with parts of the mystery being revealed through letters, diary entries and newspaper clippings. I did find some of the twists very predictable but that didn't matter to me, because it was actually fun to be one step ahead of Esperanza, waiting for her to discover what I had already guessed.
It's so sad that there won't be any more books from Michael Cox, as he died of cancer in 2009, but together these two novels are the best examples of neo-Victorian fiction I've read: complex, atmospheric and beautifully written.
March 26, 2010
"The Glass of Time," a sequel to "The Meaning of Night," is a well written book with an intriguing story of revenge and restoration at its core. While "The Meaning of Night" was a Victorian noir mystery, "The Glass of Time" does not seem to have the elements of a mystery novel and is better termed a "resolution sequel." While the story is crafted well, the levels of suspense and intrigue are several notches lower than "The Meaning of Night." The two main characters, Emily Duport and Esperanza Gorst, are well written and fleshed out, but the cast of supporting characters seem to come and go, never allowing us to see their depths. Several of the situations within the book seem contrived, there to rush the story to its conclusion, rather than to make us wonder about the nature of the characters themselves. For those who read, and loved, "The Meaning of Night" like I did, this book does hold some fascination with the continued machinations of revenge begun by Edward Glyver, but, some of the surprises are easy to see several hundred pages in advance, although Cox does manage to hold a few small surprises close to the vest until the final chapters of the book. Overall, a worthy effort that lacks the punch of the original.
March 30, 2010
A sequel to The Meaning of Night, this book was fairly predictible. I knew right off who the main character was, who her mysterious guardians were, and had a feeling about how this would end. I did prefer Esperanza's narration in this book over Edward's narration in The Meaning of Night. Esperanza was much more of a likeable character than Edward.
Spoiler & opinion: Frankly, if the author didn't want to tip off his readers, he should have written his Edward character to have a little more creativity. That character loves the initials E.G.: Edward Glyver, Edward Glapthorn, Edwin Gorst, I'm pretty sure Dr. Edmund Grendon, and he named his daughter Esperanza Gorst. The only time Edward uses an entirely different pseudonym is when he is his daughter's tutor, and I still figured out it was Edward.
Spoiler & opinion: Frankly, if the author didn't want to tip off his readers, he should have written his Edward character to have a little more creativity. That character loves the initials E.G.: Edward Glyver, Edward Glapthorn, Edwin Gorst, I'm pretty sure Dr. Edmund Grendon, and he named his daughter Esperanza Gorst. The only time Edward uses an entirely different pseudonym is when he is his daughter's tutor, and I still figured out it was Edward.
February 7, 2018
Not nearly as good as The Meaning of Night (which I would label a masterpiece of pastiche sensational Victoriana). This one lacks the overriding suspense & mysterious onion-skin nuance of its predecessor; the story here is rather flat, with very little action (though certain scenes were still gripping) & the twists are telegraphed well ahead of the characters' on-page perception.
That being said, the writing is still good...despite it randomly slipping into present tense for no reason I could see. Weird.
Apparently the author passed away not long after publication, so we'll never know what other pastiche goodness was lurking unformed in his brain. Shame, that, as he obviously shared my love for Wilkie Collins. :D But please read TMON before attempting this follow-up; it's so much better.
That being said, the writing is still good...despite it randomly slipping into present tense for no reason I could see. Weird.
Apparently the author passed away not long after publication, so we'll never know what other pastiche goodness was lurking unformed in his brain. Shame, that, as he obviously shared my love for Wilkie Collins. :D But please read TMON before attempting this follow-up; it's so much better.
January 24, 2012
Just arrived from Japan through BM.
A real page-turner book by Michael Cox telling the story of Esperanza Gorst who became a lady's maid of the 26th Baroness Tansor in the country house of Evenwood.
She has a great mission, to perform The Great Task established by her guardian, the mysterious Madame de l'Orme, in order to find her true origins in Evenwood.
The author's style of writing reminds in some way the work made by Dickens and W. Collins with superb mastery.
A real page-turner book by Michael Cox telling the story of Esperanza Gorst who became a lady's maid of the 26th Baroness Tansor in the country house of Evenwood.
She has a great mission, to perform The Great Task established by her guardian, the mysterious Madame de l'Orme, in order to find her true origins in Evenwood.
The author's style of writing reminds in some way the work made by Dickens and W. Collins with superb mastery.
Read
February 24, 2019El ambiente, los espacios interiores y los lugares donde transcurre la historia están perfectamente definidos y documentados. La narración, pausada y en primera persona, usa el presente y el pasado un tanto mezclados. La resolución de todo el misterio, quizá por no haber leído antes "El significado de la noche" -novela anterior en el tiempo a esta-, me ha parecido en algunos momentos un tanto confusa, embarullada, aunque en conjunto debo decir que ha sido una lectura agradable.
October 26, 2013
I wasn't sure if this book was going to be something I would like. I'd read the author's first novel 'The Meaning of Night' and thought it was far too drawn out. I did find this story to be very drawn out as well and at times I suspected we were headed down the same path as the last book. But I liked this protagonist and felt invested in finding out what happened to her so I kept reading. I’m glad I did.
I actually liked the main characters very much. They were dynamic and flawed, though some of the baddies were all bad. I enjoyed the way the author kept unraveling the connections between people and revealing more history as he did and simultaneously introducing us to another character or two. I counted forty-five characters in all, slowly introduced over the course of nearly 600 pages.
I especially enjoyed the ending. The author gave the reader a lot of hints as to the true identity of all the characters, so we aren't as surprised as the protagonist is when they're revealed.
Readers who like a complex mystery that is slowly revealed will probably enjoy this most.
I actually liked the main characters very much. They were dynamic and flawed, though some of the baddies were all bad. I enjoyed the way the author kept unraveling the connections between people and revealing more history as he did and simultaneously introducing us to another character or two. I counted forty-five characters in all, slowly introduced over the course of nearly 600 pages.
I especially enjoyed the ending. The author gave the reader a lot of hints as to the true identity of all the characters, so we aren't as surprised as the protagonist is when they're revealed.
Readers who like a complex mystery that is slowly revealed will probably enjoy this most.
January 17, 2021
This is one of several snippet reviews of books that just haven't worked for me. Maybe it's the pandemic, maybe not. What is sad, is that many of these are authors I've previously liked, so please don't judge them too harshly. These are books of which I want a record for myself, more than anything else.
I've always enjoyed Victorian Gothics. Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice are long favorites of mine. I don't even mind description. But, good grief! There really is too much of a good thing.
I suffered the dreaded prologue, groaned over Alice's "Book of Secrets," slogged through the first 100 pages (1/5 of the book), suffered through Esperanza Gorst, was exasperated by the brothers, and felt as though I never did find the plot. What worse, at that point, I didn't care, and finally gave up.
I've always enjoyed Victorian Gothics. Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice are long favorites of mine. I don't even mind description. But, good grief! There really is too much of a good thing.
I suffered the dreaded prologue, groaned over Alice's "Book of Secrets," slogged through the first 100 pages (1/5 of the book), suffered through Esperanza Gorst, was exasperated by the brothers, and felt as though I never did find the plot. What worse, at that point, I didn't care, and finally gave up.
September 18, 2017
This is a well-written book as far as vocabulary, writing skills, etc. My main problem with it was its length. I don't expect action on each and every page, but this plot was so very, very slow that I almost gave up on it several times. Some of the main characters were interesting, but others were so boring as to not care if they were eventually killed off. I hate to give any book a two-star rating, but I truly didn't enjoy this one. I only read to the end to see if Miss Gorst would succeed in her "Great Task." Along the way, I figured out most of the plot points before they came to pass. I even guessed most of the final "secrets." All in all, a disappointment.
November 28, 2011
Part Mystery, part historical fiction, part romance....a wonderful book that you will not want to put down. A young orphan goes to work as a ladies maid for a titled English woman in late 1800's. Many surprises in this story.
February 20, 2025
I thought this was very good. It took me longer than normal as it was written a little bit Victorian, but still liked. This was a well written book and was structured well. I really liked Esperanza and Emily. I would have wished for a different ending where the two women run away together but this one makes the most sense. I feel so bad for Esperanza, her whole life had been planned for her and she was the last to know!!! Her guardians did her so dirty. 4 stars because I did call most of the plot twists and big secrets beforehand.
August 30, 2010
There is something about the redeemable bad guy, or more accurately, there is something about certain bad guys that make people want to redeem them. Usually, it fails in terms of the story. The bad guy becomes too saint like or something else.
Take the three Star Wars prequels, for instance (aka the bad Star Wars movies). In the three prequels, Lucas wanted to present the fall of a good man, a space opera Macbeth as it were.
Shakespeare has nothing to worry about (unless, he's turning over in his grave, but considering the amount of bad up-dates of his plays, he's going to be spinning for a long time).
The prequels had huge problems. The most revelent being why Padme would marry Anakin in the first place. I went to Clones with three other people. None of us knew what made Anakin attractive. Considering that this deep love is suppose to feed the fear that leads to Annie's fall, you would think it would be believable. The prequels convinced me that none of the whole galatic mess would've happened if (a) Jedi had brains, and (b) Yoda, Obi, or Mace had given Anakin a good hiding. Yes, I know spanking is out right now, but if any spoiled brat needed it, it was him.
Why does true love excuse his violent behavior and make Padme into a weak willed woman who sounds like a bad version of Samwise when she confronts her husband? (Honey, he killed all those Sand people!). Why does true love make a man who is a mulitple mass murderer, kills his teacher, tries to kill his son, freezes Han Solo, and tortures his daughter into a good guy who gets his own cartoon? (And why didn't Vader know Leia was his? How come veryone was surprised about twins? Was pre-natal care really that bad?)
Sometimes, however, redeeming the bad guy works. Take the movie Mongol, for instance. (Yes, don't worry. I will eventually get to the book). It is a sympathic view of Gengsis Khan, who if you are Western or Chinese, you have, at the very least, mixed feelings about. The movie made me want to marry him. He loves his wife, she loves him, she saves him by letting her self be wife napped, he gets her back, like she knew he would. Eventually, he gets captured and handed over to the Chinese. A monk gets a message to Khan's wife who journeys to get him out of jail (and boy is it a jail). To even get to China, she uses the only currency she has, herself. When she rescues her husband and they flee China, they are accompanied by their son as well as her daughter who was not, biologically speaking, his. The Khan's first words to the girl, "I'm your father now." Doesn't rebuke his wife, is simply happy to see her, doesn't treat the girl any differently than his son. He still has flaws, but the movie makes him an attractive and believable man.
This bad guy talk is important because Cox's first book was about a murderer who may or may not be a bad guy, and may or may not be insane. The Glass of Time is the sequel and answers these questions.
It is difficult to talk about this book without giving away spoilers for either The Meaning of Night or this sequel. In many ways, the answering of the questions raised in the first book, is somewhat of a disappointment. The reader, I think, of the first book is better without those answers. The story is better when the reader doubts the characters.
I say somewhat, because the theme of the book is forgiveness, and theme as well as the plot require the answers to those questions. Twenty years after the events of the first book, the characters still feel the ghost, the decay of those events. The book is the bastard child of Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, and the works of Wilkie Collins. Cox was the heir to the Brontes and Collins (he seems like their much delayed love child).
Cox's redeeming of his bad guy is far more believable and realstic than Star Wars: The Bad Trilogy, more like Mongol. This means that while some twists are foreseeable, the novel is believable, which is more important than shocking. Cox's tone, gripping and fast paced, makes up for any easy to foresee plot twists.
Cox's death has robbed this generation of its Brontes, James, and LeFanu.
Take the three Star Wars prequels, for instance (aka the bad Star Wars movies). In the three prequels, Lucas wanted to present the fall of a good man, a space opera Macbeth as it were.
Shakespeare has nothing to worry about (unless, he's turning over in his grave, but considering the amount of bad up-dates of his plays, he's going to be spinning for a long time).
The prequels had huge problems. The most revelent being why Padme would marry Anakin in the first place. I went to Clones with three other people. None of us knew what made Anakin attractive. Considering that this deep love is suppose to feed the fear that leads to Annie's fall, you would think it would be believable. The prequels convinced me that none of the whole galatic mess would've happened if (a) Jedi had brains, and (b) Yoda, Obi, or Mace had given Anakin a good hiding. Yes, I know spanking is out right now, but if any spoiled brat needed it, it was him.
Why does true love excuse his violent behavior and make Padme into a weak willed woman who sounds like a bad version of Samwise when she confronts her husband? (Honey, he killed all those Sand people!). Why does true love make a man who is a mulitple mass murderer, kills his teacher, tries to kill his son, freezes Han Solo, and tortures his daughter into a good guy who gets his own cartoon? (And why didn't Vader know Leia was his? How come veryone was surprised about twins? Was pre-natal care really that bad?)
Sometimes, however, redeeming the bad guy works. Take the movie Mongol, for instance. (Yes, don't worry. I will eventually get to the book). It is a sympathic view of Gengsis Khan, who if you are Western or Chinese, you have, at the very least, mixed feelings about. The movie made me want to marry him. He loves his wife, she loves him, she saves him by letting her self be wife napped, he gets her back, like she knew he would. Eventually, he gets captured and handed over to the Chinese. A monk gets a message to Khan's wife who journeys to get him out of jail (and boy is it a jail). To even get to China, she uses the only currency she has, herself. When she rescues her husband and they flee China, they are accompanied by their son as well as her daughter who was not, biologically speaking, his. The Khan's first words to the girl, "I'm your father now." Doesn't rebuke his wife, is simply happy to see her, doesn't treat the girl any differently than his son. He still has flaws, but the movie makes him an attractive and believable man.
This bad guy talk is important because Cox's first book was about a murderer who may or may not be a bad guy, and may or may not be insane. The Glass of Time is the sequel and answers these questions.
It is difficult to talk about this book without giving away spoilers for either The Meaning of Night or this sequel. In many ways, the answering of the questions raised in the first book, is somewhat of a disappointment. The reader, I think, of the first book is better without those answers. The story is better when the reader doubts the characters.
I say somewhat, because the theme of the book is forgiveness, and theme as well as the plot require the answers to those questions. Twenty years after the events of the first book, the characters still feel the ghost, the decay of those events. The book is the bastard child of Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, and the works of Wilkie Collins. Cox was the heir to the Brontes and Collins (he seems like their much delayed love child).
Cox's redeeming of his bad guy is far more believable and realstic than Star Wars: The Bad Trilogy, more like Mongol. This means that while some twists are foreseeable, the novel is believable, which is more important than shocking. Cox's tone, gripping and fast paced, makes up for any easy to foresee plot twists.
Cox's death has robbed this generation of its Brontes, James, and LeFanu.
March 30, 2021
4.5 stars, rounding up to 5
Do I love this book? Do I want to throw it across the room? I don't know.
The Glass of Time is the sequel to the excellent book The Meaning of Night. If I remember, I said in my review of the first book that I wanted an ending where Edward triumps and Phoebus and Emily get their comeuppance (as it stands, only Phoebus dies at the end of The Meaning of Night). Did this book achieve that?
Well, the meaning of night follows Esperanza Grost (dubbed Alice by Lady Tansor, aka Emily) as she serves her as a ladies maid while trying to fulfill some great task. In the same house as her is the (rather volatile) housekeeper Mrs Battersby, and her two sons Perseus and Randolph and of course, all the servants. If you've read the first book, you can probably predict what the mission is. If you haven't read the first book, well, you should read it beforehand, or else the reason for the mission might seem very implausible.
It's really hard to talk about the book without using spoilers, but I shall try. Basically, vengeance was achieved, although it wasn't as satisfying as I thought.
But what I was really surprised at was the development of Emily's character. I went into the book fully preparing to hate her, but as the story went on, I started to sympathise with her. She becomes a more complex character than the first book, which was both infuriating (because I wanted revenge, not to feel sympathy) and admirable (this book humanized her. I admire that).
The next strong character would be Esperanza/Alice. The narrative is told mainly through her point of view, and she's a very likable narrator and character. Because she starts her Great Task with very little information, she basically fumbles her way though everything. The relationship between her and Emily is really interesting as well.
Unfortunately, apart from these two ladies, the rest of the characters were rather disappointing. Perhaps its because my focus is on Emily and Esperanza (and finding out how the events in The Meaning of Night end), but I found Mrs Battersby, Perseus and Randolph, and the relationships they had, to be boring. I felt that they were not fully sketched out, which meant that I didn't sympathise with her.
In fact, I thought that the subplot involving Mrs Battersby and Randolph rather unbelievable. The same goes for the relationship between Esperanza and Perseus. These relationships felt unconvincing and distracting to me. Sure, they added plot-twists, but I never understood the character motivations.
Don't get me wrong, this is a good sequel. It clears up questions and frustrations that I had from the first book. I would really like to know more about the time period between the two books though, although we do get hints, I would love to know more in detail. Pity that a third book won't be coming out.
This review was first posted at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile
Do I love this book? Do I want to throw it across the room? I don't know.
The Glass of Time is the sequel to the excellent book The Meaning of Night. If I remember, I said in my review of the first book that I wanted an ending where Edward triumps and Phoebus and Emily get their comeuppance (as it stands, only Phoebus dies at the end of The Meaning of Night). Did this book achieve that?
Well, the meaning of night follows Esperanza Grost (dubbed Alice by Lady Tansor, aka Emily) as she serves her as a ladies maid while trying to fulfill some great task. In the same house as her is the (rather volatile) housekeeper Mrs Battersby, and her two sons Perseus and Randolph and of course, all the servants. If you've read the first book, you can probably predict what the mission is. If you haven't read the first book, well, you should read it beforehand, or else the reason for the mission might seem very implausible.
It's really hard to talk about the book without using spoilers, but I shall try. Basically, vengeance was achieved, although it wasn't as satisfying as I thought.
But what I was really surprised at was the development of Emily's character. I went into the book fully preparing to hate her, but as the story went on, I started to sympathise with her. She becomes a more complex character than the first book, which was both infuriating (because I wanted revenge, not to feel sympathy) and admirable (this book humanized her. I admire that).
The next strong character would be Esperanza/Alice. The narrative is told mainly through her point of view, and she's a very likable narrator and character. Because she starts her Great Task with very little information, she basically fumbles her way though everything. The relationship between her and Emily is really interesting as well.
Unfortunately, apart from these two ladies, the rest of the characters were rather disappointing. Perhaps its because my focus is on Emily and Esperanza (and finding out how the events in The Meaning of Night end), but I found Mrs Battersby, Perseus and Randolph, and the relationships they had, to be boring. I felt that they were not fully sketched out, which meant that I didn't sympathise with her.
In fact, I thought that the subplot involving Mrs Battersby and Randolph rather unbelievable. The same goes for the relationship between Esperanza and Perseus. These relationships felt unconvincing and distracting to me. Sure, they added plot-twists, but I never understood the character motivations.
Don't get me wrong, this is a good sequel. It clears up questions and frustrations that I had from the first book. I would really like to know more about the time period between the two books though, although we do get hints, I would love to know more in detail. Pity that a third book won't be coming out.
This review was first posted at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile
September 12, 2012
Like The Meaning of Night, its predecessor, The Glass of Time is a page turning period mystery about identity, the nature of secrets, and what happens when past obsessions impose themselves on an unwilling present.
In the autumn of 1876, nineteen year-old orphan Esperanza Gorst arrives at the great country house of Evenwood to become a lady's maid to the twenty-sixth Baroness Tansor. But Esperanza is no ordinary servant. She has been sent by her guardian, the mysterious Madame de l'Orme, to uncover the secrets that her new mistress has sought to conceal, and to set right a past injustice in which Esperanza's own life is bound up. At Evenwood she meets Lady Tansor's two dashing sons, Perseus and Randolph, and finds herself enmeshed in a complicated web of seduction, intrigue, deceit, betrayal, and murder.
Few writers are as gifted at evoking the sensibility of the nineteenth century as Michael Cox, who has made the world of Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins his own. Stunning book but I would recommend you read The Meaning of Night for a richer experience.
The narrator, young Esperanza, has an extraordinary voice - spirited, witty, and intelligent. The author’s incredible storytelling with vivid language and lush imagery such as tiptoeing around a vast, dark mansion at night with a flickering candle and the horror of getting locked in a marbled mausoleum making this a delicious slice of Victorian Gothic. It is a story full of lies, letters, guilt and revenge; but above all love … “Love, and the secrets it spawned, betrayed us all.”
Michael Cox is badly missed.
In the autumn of 1876, nineteen year-old orphan Esperanza Gorst arrives at the great country house of Evenwood to become a lady's maid to the twenty-sixth Baroness Tansor. But Esperanza is no ordinary servant. She has been sent by her guardian, the mysterious Madame de l'Orme, to uncover the secrets that her new mistress has sought to conceal, and to set right a past injustice in which Esperanza's own life is bound up. At Evenwood she meets Lady Tansor's two dashing sons, Perseus and Randolph, and finds herself enmeshed in a complicated web of seduction, intrigue, deceit, betrayal, and murder.
Few writers are as gifted at evoking the sensibility of the nineteenth century as Michael Cox, who has made the world of Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins his own. Stunning book but I would recommend you read The Meaning of Night for a richer experience.
The narrator, young Esperanza, has an extraordinary voice - spirited, witty, and intelligent. The author’s incredible storytelling with vivid language and lush imagery such as tiptoeing around a vast, dark mansion at night with a flickering candle and the horror of getting locked in a marbled mausoleum making this a delicious slice of Victorian Gothic. It is a story full of lies, letters, guilt and revenge; but above all love … “Love, and the secrets it spawned, betrayed us all.”
Michael Cox is badly missed.
Read
July 8, 2010 just finished reading The Glass of Time by Michael Cox; this is a sequel to The Meaning of Night, blogged about here. The story picks up some 20 years later, when a young woman, 19-year-old Esperanza Gorst, is sent to be the maid to Baroness Tansor, the former Emily Carteret. In the previous book, Ms. Carteret was the love interest of both Edward Glyver (unrequited, in his case) and Phoebus Daunt (short-lived, in his), and to make a long story short, all ended fairly badly for everyone involved. Jump ahead to the 1870’s, and our main character finds herself enmeshed in a ‘Great Task,’ a plan that has been set in motion by people unknown to her, and the end of which is a mystery to her–all she is told, is that the woman she is sent to be maid to and ingratiate herself with, is her sworn enemy.
Ensconced in Evenwood, the estate of the ancient Duport family of which Emily Carteret is now the head, Esperanza begins to find that there are many mysterious events from the past that haunt Lady Tansor, and that no one at Evenwood, or in her own life, are who they seem to be. Esperanza also begins to find out about herself: her past, the father and mother she never knew, why she has been sent to Evenwood, and who she really is.
Like the first book, The Glass of Time has a very intricate plot and is full of atmospheric descriptions and well-realized characters. You could read this book without having read The Meaning of Night, but I would recommend starting with the first, as it adds to the fullness and complexity of the story as well as the satisfactory ending. --Candice
From ICPL Staff Picks Blog
Ensconced in Evenwood, the estate of the ancient Duport family of which Emily Carteret is now the head, Esperanza begins to find that there are many mysterious events from the past that haunt Lady Tansor, and that no one at Evenwood, or in her own life, are who they seem to be. Esperanza also begins to find out about herself: her past, the father and mother she never knew, why she has been sent to Evenwood, and who she really is.
Like the first book, The Glass of Time has a very intricate plot and is full of atmospheric descriptions and well-realized characters. You could read this book without having read The Meaning of Night, but I would recommend starting with the first, as it adds to the fullness and complexity of the story as well as the satisfactory ending. --Candice
From ICPL Staff Picks Blog
March 7, 2014
A bit of a disappointment. I loved Cox's The Meaning of Night and was eager to see what he would do next. This is a sequel to that first book. It is 22 years since Edward Glyver killed Phoebus Daunt, preventing Daunt from inheriting the Tansor barony. Now Emily Carteret, Daunt's fiancee and the woman Glyver loved, has become Baroness Tansor. An orphaned young woman, Esperanze Gorst, arrives at the Tansor manor house seeking to become lady's maid to the baroness. But, as we discover early on, Esperanza, is actually on a mission to work her way into her ladyship's confidence. She has no idea why, she's just doing the bidding a her guardian, the mysterious "madame" back in Paris. The book has all the wonderful atmospheric writing of the first book. But the problem is that if you read the first book, all the dropped hints will be obvious. In fact, the "Great Secret" that Lady Tansor is hiding will be glaringly obvious to anyone with the ability to put one and one together. Most of the other little mysteries are also pretty easily figured out. That means you spend the rest of the book waiting for everyone else to arrive at the same conclusions you have, which gets a little tedious at times.So unfortunately what we have is a retelling of the first book from different vantage points. The only question is who will triumph in the end and how. While the ending is somewhat satisfactory, Cox left a few things dangling. Since he passed away in 2009, we'll never know if he meant to continue the story. But I think a third retelling would have been a bit much.
April 8, 2009
I read this because I really loved The Meaning of Night. Definitely read that one first. This book was enjoyable but nowhere near on the level as TMON. First of all, this one is told from a female point of view, which is almost automatically less interesting than a male point of view in this particular time period. A gentleman about town obviously has better adventures than a lady's maid, at least in this case.
It really started out good, and yes, the plot is predicatble, big deal, get over it. Just because you know what is going to happen doesn't mean that the author doesn't have an artful way of finally revealing it to you. I thought it was really rushed at the end, like Cox did not want to finish what he started. TMON was so flawlessly executed throughout, and this one seemed almost like someone else wrote the last 100 pages. Especially with Emily Carteret, I don't think he did her character justice. All of the information revealed in her final letter could have been worked into the storyline instead, and I'm disappointed that it was not.
It was still an enjoyable read and if you loved The Meaning of Night you will not feel like you wasted your time on this one, if for no other reason than some closure for Edward Duport.
It really started out good, and yes, the plot is predicatble, big deal, get over it. Just because you know what is going to happen doesn't mean that the author doesn't have an artful way of finally revealing it to you. I thought it was really rushed at the end, like Cox did not want to finish what he started. TMON was so flawlessly executed throughout, and this one seemed almost like someone else wrote the last 100 pages. Especially with Emily Carteret, I don't think he did her character justice. All of the information revealed in her final letter could have been worked into the storyline instead, and I'm disappointed that it was not.
It was still an enjoyable read and if you loved The Meaning of Night you will not feel like you wasted your time on this one, if for no other reason than some closure for Edward Duport.
July 18, 2012
A real humdinger of a Gothic novel, with a hint of Jane Eyre about it. Orphan Esperanza Gorst has been carefully groomed in Paris all her life for a Great Task, by a mysterious guardian and an equally mysterious tutor. But at age 19, that moment has arrived, and she is dispatched off to the vast and stately English country house of Evenwood, to apply for the job of lady's maid to the beautiful and imperious Lady Tansor. In no time she is promoted to the Lady's companion, but the Task still lies before her. Oh, and of course, there are two handsome sons, secret passageways, mysterious documents, murders both past and present, and oh, yeah! Sweeney Todd, better known here as Billy Yapp. Great stuff.
I do have one small quibble, however. The book is written in the normal first person past tense for the most part, but every now and then, for no stylistic reason I could determine, it switches to present tense for a paragraph or two and then goes back to past. Was it originally written in the present and then changed to the past and the editors missed some parts? Quite odd, and it threw me off a bit each time.
I do have one small quibble, however. The book is written in the normal first person past tense for the most part, but every now and then, for no stylistic reason I could determine, it switches to present tense for a paragraph or two and then goes back to past. Was it originally written in the present and then changed to the past and the editors missed some parts? Quite odd, and it threw me off a bit each time.
May 30, 2016
Here is a literary novel, leisurely told to us by Miss Esperanza Gorst. Subtly moving back and forth between present and past tense, she brings us into England of the mid-1800s. Evenwood, with its house and grounds, is like Paradise. And it's here most terrible secrets are revealed, involving betrayal, theft, and murder.
Upon Esperanza's entry into adulthood, the woman who raised her assigns her a mysterious Great Task. She must hire on as a servant at Evenwood. Once she accomplishes this, Esperanza learns next that she must befriend Lady Tansor, an enemy. As each step is revealed, Esperanza's investigations acquaint us with important characters in a vivid environment. We know just enough to fear some individuals and to admire others as their different agendas surface.
Esperanza fears exposure while being torn between feelings of love and hate. She must not love Lady Tansor's son. She must not love Lady Tansor. When at last the Great Task ends, Esperanza's victory comes at great personal loss.
Here is an intriguing story of revelations throughout. Esperanza, always a strong and sympathetic character, changes in a way that brings us to a satisfying ending.
Upon Esperanza's entry into adulthood, the woman who raised her assigns her a mysterious Great Task. She must hire on as a servant at Evenwood. Once she accomplishes this, Esperanza learns next that she must befriend Lady Tansor, an enemy. As each step is revealed, Esperanza's investigations acquaint us with important characters in a vivid environment. We know just enough to fear some individuals and to admire others as their different agendas surface.
Esperanza fears exposure while being torn between feelings of love and hate. She must not love Lady Tansor's son. She must not love Lady Tansor. When at last the Great Task ends, Esperanza's victory comes at great personal loss.
Here is an intriguing story of revelations throughout. Esperanza, always a strong and sympathetic character, changes in a way that brings us to a satisfying ending.
December 4, 2010
Okay listen, I know I give five stars to almost everything I read. I am easily pleased, it's true and if I don't like a book, I generally don't talk too much about it. But this book was WONDERFUL. Dense, dark and bitter; if it were a food it would have been a chocolate truffle. It's a murder mystery at it's core but the plot is so much more than that, taking twists and turns at nearly every page, creating sympathy for charactes you're supposed to hate and suspicion for those who appear to be upstanding. I thought I had it all figured out until the end and I really like it when a book can bamboozle me that way. In addition, the author assumes his reader is intelligent enough to handle the type of language that must accompany this type of plot and setting and so I found myself savoring the vocabulary of the book as well. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an engrossing mystery...but not to anyone with pressing responsibilities or the need for regular sleep.
October 15, 2013
I was really disappointed in this book. It had a good start--intriguing and different from anything I'd read before but then I found that I knew what was going to happen. The clues were too obvious making the main character, who had not figured things out, seem dumb. A main character should never be made to appear too clueless to figure out the plot when the reader can so easily figure it out. Especially if other characters in the book frequently congratulate her on her insight and attentiveness.
In the end, I felt that the plot relied to heavily on very familiar tropes which I felt were unmasked very early in the story but then took a very long time to play out. The book ended by adding one final gaping oversight by the main character with the reappearance of her mysterious and many-named father into her life under yet another name (but with the same initials as two of his past names) into her life.
In the end, I felt that the plot relied to heavily on very familiar tropes which I felt were unmasked very early in the story but then took a very long time to play out. The book ended by adding one final gaping oversight by the main character with the reappearance of her mysterious and many-named father into her life under yet another name (but with the same initials as two of his past names) into her life.
January 16, 2011
4.5 stars for "The Glass of Time". I read the Dutch translation, and thought it was really good. It is full of old family mysteries and crimes that need discovering and solving.
I also have to add that there is absolutely NO need to read "the Meaning of Night" first. I didn't. When I got the book I don't think I was aware that there was another book I was supposed to read first and when I found out what the other book was about I didn't care about getting it as it did not sound like my thing.
I must admit I did read a few spoilers on "the Meaning of Night" during reading this, because I was just so curious, and it helped but was not needed either. It was not too complicated.
I really liked how we get to discover all the secrets together with Esperanza. Nice reading experience and VERY exciting (apparently I had trouble continuing to breathe in the last quarter of the book, haha)
I also have to add that there is absolutely NO need to read "the Meaning of Night" first. I didn't. When I got the book I don't think I was aware that there was another book I was supposed to read first and when I found out what the other book was about I didn't care about getting it as it did not sound like my thing.
I must admit I did read a few spoilers on "the Meaning of Night" during reading this, because I was just so curious, and it helped but was not needed either. It was not too complicated.
I really liked how we get to discover all the secrets together with Esperanza. Nice reading experience and VERY exciting (apparently I had trouble continuing to breathe in the last quarter of the book, haha)
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