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Trapped in Glass
Set in Prohibition-era Chicago, two Polish sisters, Halina and Patcja, are tangled in bootlegger feuds and their own Old Country roots. Patcja runs The Corner, selling whiskey and escape. Halina patches up the broken results using Old Country cures--with a mix of stolen hospital medicine and imported poppy tonic. When a detective with mysterious motives begins delving into buried secrets, the stakes become higher. Whiskey wars escalate, and Patcja's 10-year-old son is injured in a street fight. Halina must use her healing skills--and faith--to save him. But the injury proves to be Halina's most challenging case, forcing her to address her own deep wounds before she can save those she cares about most.
614 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 4, 2021
4 people are currently reading
28 people want to read
About the author
Pam Records
4 books6 followersI am married, have three (adult) children, three dogs, a degree in journalism, and a passion for writing. My husband and I like to travel, camp, and take weekend road trips to the many small towns in the midwest with interesting state parks, antique shops, and main-street taverns.
I've enjoyed a successful career in communications and marketing, starting as a feature writer for a newspaper, eventually owning a small marketing agency with my husband. I currently work for a large software company, writing thought leadership articles and managing social media.
I grew up in NW Indiana, not far from Hegewisch where my novel is set. My great grandparents were from Poland. Visiting their house on weekend was like entering a time capsule from the Old Country. I found it fascinating as a child--and somewhat creepy and frightening. The haunted peach tree in the back yard, the shanty with a dirt floor and moss growing on the walls, and the coal room with bushels of old vegetables and fruits writhing with worms were just some of the details from my great grandparents' house that found their way into the novel. Characters and incidents are also based on family stories. The main character is based on my grandmother. The real-life Helen was just as feisty as the fictional Halina.
I've enjoyed a successful career in communications and marketing, starting as a feature writer for a newspaper, eventually owning a small marketing agency with my husband. I currently work for a large software company, writing thought leadership articles and managing social media.
I grew up in NW Indiana, not far from Hegewisch where my novel is set. My great grandparents were from Poland. Visiting their house on weekend was like entering a time capsule from the Old Country. I found it fascinating as a child--and somewhat creepy and frightening. The haunted peach tree in the back yard, the shanty with a dirt floor and moss growing on the walls, and the coal room with bushels of old vegetables and fruits writhing with worms were just some of the details from my great grandparents' house that found their way into the novel. Characters and incidents are also based on family stories. The main character is based on my grandmother. The real-life Helen was just as feisty as the fictional Halina.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 25, 2022
What a strange cast of characters. Set in the US but felt like you were in a third world country.
May 6, 2022
There is so much to love about this story: the characters, the setting, the realistic historical details, and the drama. Nothing is predictable as the readers follows the many POV's in the telling of the tale, but the multiple presentations don't take away from the enjoyment at all.
I was initially drawn to the story for two main factors: the Polish community and the history of bootlegging in the Chicago area. I'm originally from Detroit where there is a large Polish population. Some of the food that Mary, the matriarch of the family in Trapped In Glass, cooks brought fond memories. :-)
I liked all the characters, but especially liked Halina, the Healer who has a spiritual connection to her grandmother who taught her about herbs and natural healing. Baba speaks to Halina from the beyond, and that is another enjoyable part of the story.
The telling of the story is not straightforward. We get a view of the present, as well as a recollection of the past, from most of the characters, but there is a flow to it all that makes it come together as a whole. Characters have secrets that affect the plot of the mystery - what happened to Joey? who's buried in the basement, or is anybody? and who might have killed him? The way those secrets are slowly revealed is part of the beauty of this book.
I highly recommend Trapped in Glass for readers who want a slightly different read from a typical mystery. You won't be disappointed.
I was initially drawn to the story for two main factors: the Polish community and the history of bootlegging in the Chicago area. I'm originally from Detroit where there is a large Polish population. Some of the food that Mary, the matriarch of the family in Trapped In Glass, cooks brought fond memories. :-)
I liked all the characters, but especially liked Halina, the Healer who has a spiritual connection to her grandmother who taught her about herbs and natural healing. Baba speaks to Halina from the beyond, and that is another enjoyable part of the story.
The telling of the story is not straightforward. We get a view of the present, as well as a recollection of the past, from most of the characters, but there is a flow to it all that makes it come together as a whole. Characters have secrets that affect the plot of the mystery - what happened to Joey? who's buried in the basement, or is anybody? and who might have killed him? The way those secrets are slowly revealed is part of the beauty of this book.
I highly recommend Trapped in Glass for readers who want a slightly different read from a typical mystery. You won't be disappointed.
October 12, 2021
Trapped in Glass by Pam Records are memories growing up, and fictional characters are woven together in a fast-paced, historical fiction. I loved the dangerous gang activity merging with old country behavior and beliefs. Patcja owns a local tavern during the Prohibition era. She remarried after her first husband, Joey, came up missing. Things become stressed when a lawman looks into Joey's disappearance, pressure from a local gang to pay their fees, and worrying over her son. Helina is a healer who has relies on old wife's cures and nurse training. When Bucky has an accident, Helina must do her best to heal her nephew, even if it means opening old wounds.
Pan Records' novel exhibits dreams of a better life, secrets that could tear lives apart, and danger within the streets. I love the dark adventure and mysterious undercurrent that keeps the characters striving to continue the life they live. Trapped in Glass was a fascinating book to read.
Pan Records' novel exhibits dreams of a better life, secrets that could tear lives apart, and danger within the streets. I love the dark adventure and mysterious undercurrent that keeps the characters striving to continue the life they live. Trapped in Glass was a fascinating book to read.
October 13, 2021
Post-War Action and Suspense
Trapped in Glass by Pam Records tells a convoluted tale about a family in Europe after the big war. Bootleggers and murderers, Italians and Polish, victors and victims bob and weave as they try to create new lives, remembering loved ones yet trying to forget the past.
I enjoyed the writing very much. The beginning was difficult as the characters and backstory were introduced, but things got moving fast.
Trapped in Glass by Pam Records tells a convoluted tale about a family in Europe after the big war. Bootleggers and murderers, Italians and Polish, victors and victims bob and weave as they try to create new lives, remembering loved ones yet trying to forget the past.
I enjoyed the writing very much. The beginning was difficult as the characters and backstory were introduced, but things got moving fast.
December 28, 2021
Such an Excellent Book!
I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters are so multi-layered, flawed, and brilliantly human. I hated to have the story end but the ending was beautifully human and hopeful without being sappy. I have recommended this book to all my well read friends. I read constantly. Many of the books I read, I enjoy but I soon forget the details. I will remember this book, the characters and the feelings it evoked.
I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters are so multi-layered, flawed, and brilliantly human. I hated to have the story end but the ending was beautifully human and hopeful without being sappy. I have recommended this book to all my well read friends. I read constantly. Many of the books I read, I enjoy but I soon forget the details. I will remember this book, the characters and the feelings it evoked.
December 21, 2021
Gangsters and banks – were the big topics, well, the only topics. October’s stock market hullabaloo had cast a big, black shadow over the entire city – hell, the whole country, it seemed. And no one knew just how bad this crash, as they called it, was going to be for ordinary folks – and the ones who were already dirt poor, like the immigrants living in Hegeswich. Things couldn’t get much worse than they already were, Stach argued.
Prohibition. Flappers. Floozies. Speakeasies. Bootleggers. Immigrants. Family. Memories. Faith. Tradition. Take all of these, add a dash of mystery, and you have this novel. With the expert storytelling skills of Pam Records, you see the struggles of two sisters, Halina and Patcja, Polish immigrants trying to carve a life in the dangerous South side Chicago Polish slum neighborhood of Hegewisch – and right from the start Ms Record’s unique and provocative writing style sucks you into the story. While the beginning few chapters are a challenge to sort out the actual plot and the inciting incident as you vacillate between characters for each chapter, the immersive prose grips you and never lets go. Her characters are alive and breathing – your heart beats with each of them as their emotions and experiences are splayed on the page in a first-rate, and I must say again, quite unique way. Almost like watching a captivating drama at the movies – one filled with Al Capone’s henchmen lurking in the shadows and a questionable detective peeking around corners.
Seemed someone was always looking over her shoulder, butting in, criticizing, and telling her she wasn’t good enough, smart enough, pretty enough – American enough. Just a dumb Polack.
Both sisters are just trying to survive in a time of distressing poverty, when sometimes all they had to eat was the few eggs from Halina’s chickens running around in the backyard of their Baba’s old creaky (and perhaps haunted) house – which becomes a sort of character of its own as the descriptions of the sounds and sensations raise the hair on the back of your neck. And the author also does an incredible job of weaving the social issues of the time, the racial injustices against Polish immigrants and the steady rise of the Italian gangsters who bullied a lot of the business owners, and the community in general, to submit to their strong-arming ways.
When Patcja’s son, “Little Bear”, is hurt in a street fight, Halina’s nursing skills are put to the test, and she uses the her skills, along with some Old Country cures taught to her by her Baba, to help her nephew while her sister is embroiled in the secrets hidden in her basement at the joint she runs called “The Corner”. The tension escalates as the detective noses around asking questions while the booze wars between vying bootleggers increases. The challenges force both women to confront their own secrets, and Halina must face these head-on as she fights to save Patcja’s 10-year-old son. This is truly a study in characterization and it is done with finesse and an incredibly astute knowledge of the human mind; not only that but the expert way the author develops the story and delivers it into a work of art is simply amazing and captivating.
Again, the characterization is perfection, itself, and not only is the main character fully fleshed out, but as a reader you come to know each and every character in a very authentic way, even the secondary ones such as Halina’s crazy mother, Mary, to the little boy she is trying to save - (he may be small, but he has seen more than most kids his age, and already has a taste for cigarettes over candy any day, not to mention his desire to join up with Capone’s gang when he’s a bit older).
“Oh, golly! Oh, boy!” he said, remembering to put a cheeky squeal in his tone. Adults liked a giddy kid, he knew; and was happy to play along for them. He didn’t really give a hockey puck about penny candy, never developed a taste for sweets. But some cigarettes would be nice.
The puzzle of the storyline fits together, piece by piece, and emerges in an effective way, albeit a slightly tangled way which unravels as the chapters progress. This vexing approach to storytelling almost prompted me put the book down as I could not grasp, initially, what the story was about. But keep reading, you will not be disappointed as you, the reader, peer from the shadows to see how things turn out for Halina and Patcja. Once reeled into the storyline, I could not put it down until I read the last line, and I am intrigued to read more from this author.
“Trapped in Glass” earns five stars and the “Highly Recommended” award from The Historical Fiction Company.
Prohibition. Flappers. Floozies. Speakeasies. Bootleggers. Immigrants. Family. Memories. Faith. Tradition. Take all of these, add a dash of mystery, and you have this novel. With the expert storytelling skills of Pam Records, you see the struggles of two sisters, Halina and Patcja, Polish immigrants trying to carve a life in the dangerous South side Chicago Polish slum neighborhood of Hegewisch – and right from the start Ms Record’s unique and provocative writing style sucks you into the story. While the beginning few chapters are a challenge to sort out the actual plot and the inciting incident as you vacillate between characters for each chapter, the immersive prose grips you and never lets go. Her characters are alive and breathing – your heart beats with each of them as their emotions and experiences are splayed on the page in a first-rate, and I must say again, quite unique way. Almost like watching a captivating drama at the movies – one filled with Al Capone’s henchmen lurking in the shadows and a questionable detective peeking around corners.
Seemed someone was always looking over her shoulder, butting in, criticizing, and telling her she wasn’t good enough, smart enough, pretty enough – American enough. Just a dumb Polack.
Both sisters are just trying to survive in a time of distressing poverty, when sometimes all they had to eat was the few eggs from Halina’s chickens running around in the backyard of their Baba’s old creaky (and perhaps haunted) house – which becomes a sort of character of its own as the descriptions of the sounds and sensations raise the hair on the back of your neck. And the author also does an incredible job of weaving the social issues of the time, the racial injustices against Polish immigrants and the steady rise of the Italian gangsters who bullied a lot of the business owners, and the community in general, to submit to their strong-arming ways.
When Patcja’s son, “Little Bear”, is hurt in a street fight, Halina’s nursing skills are put to the test, and she uses the her skills, along with some Old Country cures taught to her by her Baba, to help her nephew while her sister is embroiled in the secrets hidden in her basement at the joint she runs called “The Corner”. The tension escalates as the detective noses around asking questions while the booze wars between vying bootleggers increases. The challenges force both women to confront their own secrets, and Halina must face these head-on as she fights to save Patcja’s 10-year-old son. This is truly a study in characterization and it is done with finesse and an incredibly astute knowledge of the human mind; not only that but the expert way the author develops the story and delivers it into a work of art is simply amazing and captivating.
Again, the characterization is perfection, itself, and not only is the main character fully fleshed out, but as a reader you come to know each and every character in a very authentic way, even the secondary ones such as Halina’s crazy mother, Mary, to the little boy she is trying to save - (he may be small, but he has seen more than most kids his age, and already has a taste for cigarettes over candy any day, not to mention his desire to join up with Capone’s gang when he’s a bit older).
“Oh, golly! Oh, boy!” he said, remembering to put a cheeky squeal in his tone. Adults liked a giddy kid, he knew; and was happy to play along for them. He didn’t really give a hockey puck about penny candy, never developed a taste for sweets. But some cigarettes would be nice.
The puzzle of the storyline fits together, piece by piece, and emerges in an effective way, albeit a slightly tangled way which unravels as the chapters progress. This vexing approach to storytelling almost prompted me put the book down as I could not grasp, initially, what the story was about. But keep reading, you will not be disappointed as you, the reader, peer from the shadows to see how things turn out for Halina and Patcja. Once reeled into the storyline, I could not put it down until I read the last line, and I am intrigued to read more from this author.
“Trapped in Glass” earns five stars and the “Highly Recommended” award from The Historical Fiction Company.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews