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Glassworks
A gorgeously written and irresistibly intimate queer novel that follows one family across four generations to explore legacy and identity in all its forms.
Longlisted for the Center for Fiction and VCU Cabell First Novel Prizes
Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR, Apple, and Good Housekeeping
“So deeply imagined and immersive that reading it felt like an Shatter what needs to be shattered and mold your story from what's left . . . I needed this novel, both for its cathartic devastation and the hope found in its wreckage.” ?The New York Times
“Kaleidoscopic in its sweep, without sentimentality or showiness . . . Glassworks warrants our attention and our admiration. With its gripping turns and subtle prose, it is a near-perfect debut.” ?Washington Post
In 1910, Agnes Carter makes the wrong choice in marriage. After years as an independent woman of fortune, influential with the board of a prominent university because of her financial donations, she is now subject to the whims of an abusive, spendthrift husband. But when Bohemian naturalist and glassblower Ignace Novak reignites Agnes's passion for science, Agnes begins to imagine a different life, and she sets her mind to getting it.
Agnes's desperate actions breed secrecy, and the resulting silence echoes into the future. Her son, Edward, wants to be a man of faith but struggles with the complexities of the mortal world while apprenticing at a
stained-glass studio.
In 1986, Edward's child, Novak-just Novak-is an acrobatic window washer cleaning Manhattan high-rises, who gets caught up in the plight of Cecily, a small town girl remade as a gender-bending Broadway ingénue.
And in 2015, Cecily's daughter Flip-a burned-out stoner trapped in a bureaucratic job firing cremains into keepsake glass ornaments-resolves to break the cycle of inherited secrets, reaching back through the generations in search of a family legacy that feels true.
With "gripping turns and subtle prose" (The Washington Post), Glassworks is a sophisticated debut that holds you in its thrall until the last page.
Longlisted for the Center for Fiction and VCU Cabell First Novel Prizes
Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR, Apple, and Good Housekeeping
“So deeply imagined and immersive that reading it felt like an Shatter what needs to be shattered and mold your story from what's left . . . I needed this novel, both for its cathartic devastation and the hope found in its wreckage.” ?The New York Times
“Kaleidoscopic in its sweep, without sentimentality or showiness . . . Glassworks warrants our attention and our admiration. With its gripping turns and subtle prose, it is a near-perfect debut.” ?Washington Post
In 1910, Agnes Carter makes the wrong choice in marriage. After years as an independent woman of fortune, influential with the board of a prominent university because of her financial donations, she is now subject to the whims of an abusive, spendthrift husband. But when Bohemian naturalist and glassblower Ignace Novak reignites Agnes's passion for science, Agnes begins to imagine a different life, and she sets her mind to getting it.
Agnes's desperate actions breed secrecy, and the resulting silence echoes into the future. Her son, Edward, wants to be a man of faith but struggles with the complexities of the mortal world while apprenticing at a
stained-glass studio.
In 1986, Edward's child, Novak-just Novak-is an acrobatic window washer cleaning Manhattan high-rises, who gets caught up in the plight of Cecily, a small town girl remade as a gender-bending Broadway ingénue.
And in 2015, Cecily's daughter Flip-a burned-out stoner trapped in a bureaucratic job firing cremains into keepsake glass ornaments-resolves to break the cycle of inherited secrets, reaching back through the generations in search of a family legacy that feels true.
With "gripping turns and subtle prose" (The Washington Post), Glassworks is a sophisticated debut that holds you in its thrall until the last page.
359 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 16, 2023
142 people are currently reading
12814 people want to read
About the author
Olivia Wolfgang-Smith
2 books113 followersOlivia Wolfgang-Smith is the author of Mutual Interest (forthcoming from Bloomsbury in February 2025) and Glassworks, which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. She is a 2024 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Fiction from The New York Foundation for the Arts and lives in Brooklyn with her partner.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 188 reviews
August 17, 2023
Glassworks is a novel in four parts, exploring the lives of different characters across four generations. Each of those four parts is distinct, not just in its plotline, but more importantly, in its effectiveness as a narrative. It would be much easier to review each of those four parts separately than to review the novel as a whole, and therein lies the problem.
The first story of Glassworks is an almost 5-star read for me. It is just sublime, a beautifully written and tender exploration of trauma, mental illness, and intimacy by way of a focus on naturalism and craftsmanship. Needless to say, I was utterly drawn in, hoping that the novel would continue in the same vein, even if the subsequent stories focused on different characters. Then I got to the second story, which I enjoyed, but not nearly as much as the first. It didn't feel quite as impactful, lacking the narrative thrust that the first story had. By the time I got to the third story, it became very evident to me that as the novel progressed from one section to the next, the stories got weaker and weaker. The third story was really depressing to be honest; its plotline felt forced, like the author was grasping at straws to try to tie it back to the characters from the first two stories whilst at the same time setting the stage for the story that would follow it. Speaking of: the fourth story was the final nail in the coffin for me. I enjoyed/tolerated the other three stories to various degrees, but this one I just outright disliked. I didn't like or connect to the characters, there was far too much going on plot-wise, and altogether it just felt like such an underwhelming way to round out the novel (if indeed it can be called that).
How to review Glassworks, then? Does the brilliant first story make up for the increasingly disappointing stories that follow it? Or do those latter stories overshadow everything that impressed me about the first? Ultimately, I think it's more of the former: when it comes down to it there were just more things I disliked than things I liked about this novel. I feel a bit bamboozled to be honest; I loved that first section so much that I thought Glassworks would become a new favourite, and then it felt like the novel went out of its way to disabuse me of that notion.
The first story of Glassworks is an almost 5-star read for me. It is just sublime, a beautifully written and tender exploration of trauma, mental illness, and intimacy by way of a focus on naturalism and craftsmanship. Needless to say, I was utterly drawn in, hoping that the novel would continue in the same vein, even if the subsequent stories focused on different characters. Then I got to the second story, which I enjoyed, but not nearly as much as the first. It didn't feel quite as impactful, lacking the narrative thrust that the first story had. By the time I got to the third story, it became very evident to me that as the novel progressed from one section to the next, the stories got weaker and weaker. The third story was really depressing to be honest; its plotline felt forced, like the author was grasping at straws to try to tie it back to the characters from the first two stories whilst at the same time setting the stage for the story that would follow it. Speaking of: the fourth story was the final nail in the coffin for me. I enjoyed/tolerated the other three stories to various degrees, but this one I just outright disliked. I didn't like or connect to the characters, there was far too much going on plot-wise, and altogether it just felt like such an underwhelming way to round out the novel (if indeed it can be called that).
How to review Glassworks, then? Does the brilliant first story make up for the increasingly disappointing stories that follow it? Or do those latter stories overshadow everything that impressed me about the first? Ultimately, I think it's more of the former: when it comes down to it there were just more things I disliked than things I liked about this novel. I feel a bit bamboozled to be honest; I loved that first section so much that I thought Glassworks would become a new favourite, and then it felt like the novel went out of its way to disabuse me of that notion.
May 15, 2023
4.5 stars rounded down.
As a giant fan of sprawling family dramas and of queer books (and, um, reality shows about glass art), this was one that i was really excited to read. 4 generations of a family defined queerly. The great loves in it aren't the ones they are supposed to be. Generations don't happen how they are expected. Inheritance is messy and full of grief and no one knows how to care for each other in a way that is legible to their beloveds. There is so much forgetting and things keep getting passed on anyway.
I could not stop reading this book. I honestly wish it had been longer because i wanted more of everyone in it. Some of the other reviews talk about everyone being unlikeable but i honestly didn't find that? This doesn't feel like a book of anti-heroes, people who are terrible and that's the point of them. It feels like a book of people living with pain and trying to figure out how to show love without having felt it, and messing up over and over and trying again anyway. Love without models feels like such an essentially queer experience and seeing it throughout the book felt really compelling to me--and seeing, in each story after the first, the ways that each generation tried to love before, how they tried to learn it and show it and still fell apart, made the failures and attempts feel even more heartwrenching.
NetGalley ARC.
As a giant fan of sprawling family dramas and of queer books (and, um, reality shows about glass art), this was one that i was really excited to read. 4 generations of a family defined queerly. The great loves in it aren't the ones they are supposed to be. Generations don't happen how they are expected. Inheritance is messy and full of grief and no one knows how to care for each other in a way that is legible to their beloveds. There is so much forgetting and things keep getting passed on anyway.
I could not stop reading this book. I honestly wish it had been longer because i wanted more of everyone in it. Some of the other reviews talk about everyone being unlikeable but i honestly didn't find that? This doesn't feel like a book of anti-heroes, people who are terrible and that's the point of them. It feels like a book of people living with pain and trying to figure out how to show love without having felt it, and messing up over and over and trying again anyway. Love without models feels like such an essentially queer experience and seeing it throughout the book felt really compelling to me--and seeing, in each story after the first, the ways that each generation tried to love before, how they tried to learn it and show it and still fell apart, made the failures and attempts feel even more heartwrenching.
NetGalley ARC.
June 13, 2023
I loved this book.
It’s the story of four generations of a family, with the definition of “family” including both those unchosen and chosen—“the amorphous marginal magic family found by noticing each other,” as the author puts it.
Each member of this family is in their own way struggling with a life as fragile as the glass they all work with.
In the first generation in 1910, a glass artist copes with mental illness in a time before anyone addresses such things openly, while the woman who employs him doesn’t realize how fragile the power she’s taken for herself in a misogynistic world truly is.
In the second generation in 1938, a young man bumbles about with little direction and hides from the ugliness of the world behind a façade of idealism, only to have that façade irrevocably shattered.
In 1986, we meet a gender non-conforming lesbian who insists that it’s her role to be the solid foundation upon which all those around her can depend, only to find that she’s crushing herself under the weight of it all.
And in 2015, a young woman who is aware of her own fragility removes herself from the interconnectedness of life, not realizing that it is giving and receiving care that shores us all up.
And throughout it all, this group of people tries and fails and tries again to impart wisdom through the generations, but instead passes on only so many silences and fault lines. But maybe there’s finally some way to resolve it, or maybe it’s worth trying even if the generational trauma is truly insurmountable.
The novel is beautifully written and evocative. Even with the abrupt change of each section, the threads running through the stories are strong. Wolfgang-Smith has an excellent ability to reveal a deep truth about each character with a few well-chosen words or a small beat of the plot.
As a native New Yorker, I appreciated her portrayal of the New York of those who have lived there forever, are working class and both uninterested and too broke to be drawn to the glitzier parts of the city—unless their wealthier best friend drags them to it. And as a Bostonian by choice, I loved the hints of New England snootiness that appear throughout the century of the novel.
A great read.
It’s the story of four generations of a family, with the definition of “family” including both those unchosen and chosen—“the amorphous marginal magic family found by noticing each other,” as the author puts it.
Each member of this family is in their own way struggling with a life as fragile as the glass they all work with.
In the first generation in 1910, a glass artist copes with mental illness in a time before anyone addresses such things openly, while the woman who employs him doesn’t realize how fragile the power she’s taken for herself in a misogynistic world truly is.
In the second generation in 1938, a young man bumbles about with little direction and hides from the ugliness of the world behind a façade of idealism, only to have that façade irrevocably shattered.
In 1986, we meet a gender non-conforming lesbian who insists that it’s her role to be the solid foundation upon which all those around her can depend, only to find that she’s crushing herself under the weight of it all.
And in 2015, a young woman who is aware of her own fragility removes herself from the interconnectedness of life, not realizing that it is giving and receiving care that shores us all up.
And throughout it all, this group of people tries and fails and tries again to impart wisdom through the generations, but instead passes on only so many silences and fault lines. But maybe there’s finally some way to resolve it, or maybe it’s worth trying even if the generational trauma is truly insurmountable.
The novel is beautifully written and evocative. Even with the abrupt change of each section, the threads running through the stories are strong. Wolfgang-Smith has an excellent ability to reveal a deep truth about each character with a few well-chosen words or a small beat of the plot.
As a native New Yorker, I appreciated her portrayal of the New York of those who have lived there forever, are working class and both uninterested and too broke to be drawn to the glitzier parts of the city—unless their wealthier best friend drags them to it. And as a Bostonian by choice, I loved the hints of New England snootiness that appear throughout the century of the novel.
A great read.
June 12, 2023
The blurb of this book says it follows one family across four generations. That’s a lie. It follows a little glass bee across four generations and then it just abruptly stops. There is no actual plot line. You would get an F in English class for the absolute lack of plot arc. And the ending does nothing. It is as if the author set the manuscript down and didn’t have the energy to finish it. The reader could set the book down and never pick it up again and have the same effect. It is disappointing.
I don’t see the appeal of this book even in the parts that do exist. Most of the characters are very weak. They have no self esteem nor backbone. I cannot get behind a character that grovels or does absolutely nothing to help themself. What is the point of the story if there is no growth nor action?
I don’t see the appeal of this book even in the parts that do exist. Most of the characters are very weak. They have no self esteem nor backbone. I cannot get behind a character that grovels or does absolutely nothing to help themself. What is the point of the story if there is no growth nor action?
June 1, 2023
Could not relate to, feel empathy for or like most of the characters.
March 17, 2024
Riiiiiight up my alley! Intergenerational, lyrical prose, queer themes on blood and chosen family, botany and bourgeois university politics… only thing better was getting caught up with friends via book club to discuss :)
May 24, 2023
I got this as an arc for free. So here is my unbiased review.
This was alright. It felt like the author had four different books in mind and didn’t know which to choose from so they picked all of them and loosely tied them together. The only one I really liked was the first one. Number 2 was gratingly annoying. Number 3 was weird. Number 4 was just fucking boring.
This was alright. It felt like the author had four different books in mind and didn’t know which to choose from so they picked all of them and loosely tied them together. The only one I really liked was the first one. Number 2 was gratingly annoying. Number 3 was weird. Number 4 was just fucking boring.
July 4, 2023
I've just gone through the 240 books I have read so far this year to see if this is, indeed, my favorite read of 2023 thus far. Signs point to it being my favorite Fiction read of the year.
My favorite YA has been We Deserve Monuments.
My favorite poetry read was Appalachian Elegy: Poetry and Place.
I've actually enjoyed far too many picture books to list.
My favorite Middle Grade novel was Big Tree.
I've read a handful of 5-star nonfiction books: Lesbian Love Story, Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place, The World Record Book of Racist Stories, and Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality.
I've read several vapid romances that I have given a five-star review based on the expectations for that genre and my satisfaction after reading the titles, but of the more literary books I have tackled this year, this is, hands down my favorite.
Agnes's story, her search for autonomy and independence in a world that would not value her for her contributions was a solid 5.
Her son Edward's naïveté, and quite frankly his uselessness was grating, but when the reader learns of his fate Edward's section goes from a two-star read to a five-star read in just one sentence.
Then there's Novak, a lesbian with a heart of gold who proves that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The entire 1986 section is solid, but the last sentences-foreseeable as they were when that scene started, shattered my heart into pieces that will take time to heal... Especially in light of the 2015 section. I actually had to stop reading the book after this part.
Finally there's Flip. What a hot mess of a human being, but there is a glimmer of hope in her future.
Addendum: Before I finished writing this review I went and summarized the plot to my wife who made me realize how tragic this book actually is. So I don't know if I am forgiving a multitude of sins by virtue of this book being so queer, but I stand by my statement that this is my favorite fiction read of 2023 thus far.
My favorite YA has been We Deserve Monuments.
My favorite poetry read was Appalachian Elegy: Poetry and Place.
I've actually enjoyed far too many picture books to list.
My favorite Middle Grade novel was Big Tree.
I've read a handful of 5-star nonfiction books: Lesbian Love Story, Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place, The World Record Book of Racist Stories, and Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality.
I've read several vapid romances that I have given a five-star review based on the expectations for that genre and my satisfaction after reading the titles, but of the more literary books I have tackled this year, this is, hands down my favorite.
Agnes's story, her search for autonomy and independence in a world that would not value her for her contributions was a solid 5.
Her son Edward's naïveté, and quite frankly his uselessness was grating, but when the reader learns of his fate Edward's section goes from a two-star read to a five-star read in just one sentence.
Then there's Novak, a lesbian with a heart of gold who proves that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The entire 1986 section is solid, but the last sentences-foreseeable as they were when that scene started, shattered my heart into pieces that will take time to heal... Especially in light of the 2015 section. I actually had to stop reading the book after this part.
Finally there's Flip. What a hot mess of a human being, but there is a glimmer of hope in her future.
Addendum: Before I finished writing this review I went and summarized the plot to my wife who made me realize how tragic this book actually is. So I don't know if I am forgiving a multitude of sins by virtue of this book being so queer, but I stand by my statement that this is my favorite fiction read of 2023 thus far.
April 2, 2023
This was beautifully written, and I cared about all the stories. It was hard to read about so many generations being miserable and getting progressively poorer, but I think there was a bit of hope at the end. I wish we'd gotten some explanation for though.
Thanks to NetGalley for a free ARC.
Thanks to NetGalley for a free ARC.
May 22, 2023
I feel like the stories only stopped because they caught up to the present day. Maybe there will be a second volume set in future eras (although that would be odd considering how reality-grounded this was). I enjoyed all the segments, but Novak (1986) stood out as a highlight while Edward (1938) started to lose me a bit toward the end.
June 13, 2023
Honestly, the 1910 part was the best part. From there it got less and less interesting until the final part was…what WAS that, anyway?
July 13, 2023
pt 1 and 2: what wattpad wishes it was
pt 3 and 4: i wish i was reading wattpad
pt 3 and 4: i wish i was reading wattpad
November 28, 2023
Loved this book about what you inherit and misunderstand about your family through the generations. Full of outrageous twists and unlikely characters. Also pretty gay!
January 24, 2025
so so sweet 😭 i really like stories that represent generational trauma and inheritance through tangible objects. all of the stories were compelling and they fit so well together.
January 5, 2024
I found this book on Them’s 2023 book list, and it is billed as queer in the headlining review, so I went into this read expecting queer-centric stories/themes. I was left disappointed far beyond the poor representation. Glassworks follows four generations of main characters. The first two parts follow heterosexual characters. The women in each heterosexual storyline are completely defined by the men in their lives with no original interests or independent developments. We get to a queer storyline about 150 pages in. As opposed to the straight main characters, neither of the sapphic leads get a love interest or any exploration of sex or sexuality compared to the straight main characters.
Sexuality aside, all four main characters are miserable people which makes it difficult to be invested in their stories continuously for 350 pages. I did not laugh until the last few pages of the book because nothing funny or joyful really happens until then. Because of the way the book jumps storylines you don’t get the full picture of any of the main characters, and often move to a new plot before finishing out the one before it. Main characters reappear in the following stories but in generally unsatisfying or downright depressing ways.
This was my first book of 2024 and I challenged myself to read it in one go. It wasn’t bad enough for me to stop reading - there were enough plot twists, pleasant imagery, and hope that it all works out in the end to keep me engaged. But as soon as I finished I was just disappointed and the more I thought about each story, the characters, and the plot I realized I didn’t like this book very much at all.
Sexuality aside, all four main characters are miserable people which makes it difficult to be invested in their stories continuously for 350 pages. I did not laugh until the last few pages of the book because nothing funny or joyful really happens until then. Because of the way the book jumps storylines you don’t get the full picture of any of the main characters, and often move to a new plot before finishing out the one before it. Main characters reappear in the following stories but in generally unsatisfying or downright depressing ways.
This was my first book of 2024 and I challenged myself to read it in one go. It wasn’t bad enough for me to stop reading - there were enough plot twists, pleasant imagery, and hope that it all works out in the end to keep me engaged. But as soon as I finished I was just disappointed and the more I thought about each story, the characters, and the plot I realized I didn’t like this book very much at all.
March 23, 2024
My friend Maddie recommended this book to me because "it was so bad" that she "needed someone else to experience it." I, like a fool, assumed she was slightly exaggerating. Then I read the following lines on during the first 10 pages of the book and knew she was not, in fact, exaggerating:
"If it had been a genotype, their fortune would have been of the female sex."
"...every dollar spent, or metastizing in investment."
"To cause one herself was anathema to her."
(Though I will admit that the first 2 parts were pretty solid and honestly a semi-enjoyable read)
"If it had been a genotype, their fortune would have been of the female sex."
"...every dollar spent, or metastizing in investment."
"To cause one herself was anathema to her."
(Though I will admit that the first 2 parts were pretty solid and honestly a semi-enjoyable read)
January 20, 2024
Wow. I met Olivia Wolfgang-Smith at Booktopia in Vermont at Northshire bookstore in 2023. She read from her novel and it sounded intriguing and then I let it sit on my bookshelf for months. I wish I had not waited so long to read it! This book has four plot lines that weave together and I got lost in the details, the characters, and the places described in each one. 1910, 1928, 1986, 2015. Four time periods but one incredible novel.
January 27, 2024
Rounding up from 2.5 after being disappointed by such a strong start that went sideways for the back 2/3. Loved the deep dive into glass and characters at the beginning of the book, but everyone seemed to be making the most insane decisions for the sake of chaos in a way that I could not get behind as the story progressed. This was my first NPR year-end book pick that was a flop (though they’ve still got a pretty good batting average, all things considered *ba dum tsss*).
May 1, 2024
Really enjoyed reading this with book club, but overall didn’t LOVE the book. Many things to like in it, but overall found it just a little to sad to really love the story, and although I liked the themes, the prose didn’t speak to me the way other intergenerational/queer/art novels have. Also, besides the first story, really wanted more glass lol.
Solid 6/10! Still an enjoyable read and discussion.
Solid 6/10! Still an enjoyable read and discussion.
February 12, 2024
This stunning book about family and generational trauma was a delight to read. The threads from 1910 to 2015 were so interesting to pick out, and the queer element throughout was deeply meaningful. I’ll be looking for more from this author!!
May 16, 2023
Beautifully written emotionally involving a family saga each section was so well written.A book I will be recommending the characters come alive drew you in.
June 18, 2023
Beautifully written, with compelling narratives and well-developed, unique characters that I came to really care about. Highly recommended!
August 11, 2023
4.5./5
downloaded the ebook after not knowing much about it, landed with a carefully done book that I enjoyed much more than I thought I would
downloaded the ebook after not knowing much about it, landed with a carefully done book that I enjoyed much more than I thought I would
June 8, 2024
Interesting book. Made me think about my own ancestry and how much of it and how much of my life is still trying to be worked out from back then.
September 7, 2024
"But Agnes had learned enough, even with the missives of history burned to ash, to know women could be dragons."
August 8, 2023
Loved the structure of this book. Didn't love the ending. Will think on it. Mostly very much enjoyed.
May 18, 2024
4.5! Definitely one of the best books I’ve read this year. Loved the author’s writing style
December 31, 2023
Exceptional storytelling and brilliant prose. Fell in love with these characters- had my heart broken by their trauma and felt my soul soar with their triumphs.
January 6, 2024
I loved this novel. After each section, of a different generation, I sat and contemplated what had happened. The story was haunting. It will stay with me.
January 12, 2024
A rich and layered story. I am especially impressed with the way each section cedes to the next: nothing wasted, nothing more than is necessary.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 188 reviews