Mysteries of Glass [Hardcover]

Sue Gee has created here a love story with true depth of feeling, displaying the sometimes darker side of country life in Victorian England. A melody of prose surrounds her central character, a young curate sent to assist an ailing vicar at a Herefordshire parish in the winter of 1860.

The young Richard Allen, still mourning his father's recent death, displays a genuine love for his God, his family whom he has left behind, the rural community he is to serve, and the countryside around his new basic and rustic home. However, all of his simple and profound ideals are challenged when he falls helplessly in love with a young married woman of important social standing. There is a wonderful purity and innocence to this love, and yet the young curate clearly also has a geniune talent for his vocation serving God... a very difficult predicament to be in and you can only feel sympathy for this young idealistic man.

The story is beautifully told; a compelling read. You cannot rush this book - you simply have to go with it at its own pace and I slowed my, usually quick, reading pace to appreciate this novel at its best. So much more than just another historical romance, I can recommended this novel highly.

This marvelous book grows on you slowly and doesn't let go until long after you've finished it. The story of a country rector in the 1860s, struggling with his new assignment, his evolving faith, and his unexpected romantic awakening, it is beautifully written and completely engrossing. At times sad, poignant and even suspenseful, one is left at the end with the sense that one has spent time in a beautiful time and place and the hope that the main characters found a peaceful happily-ever-after.

When I hear the words "historical romance", I feel like rushing to the loo and throwing up. I visualise noble lords and ladies parading on splendid horses, and surrounded by a collection of adoring servants : stable lads, coachmen, footmen, maids (including scullery maids), butlers and ladies in waiting.
The young heiress is haughty and insensitive but she will mellow towards the end. She can't marry the man she loves because he hasn't got enough loot but, (oh miracle !) it turns out that he is wealthy after all. What a relief ! All is well that ends well. Throughout this main story line, the lord of the manor foils a plot to ruin his family, the young lady's irresponsible brother is wounded in a duel and her favourite horse breaks a leg and must be put down. So sad !
As historical romances go, "The Mysteries of Glass" is light years away from (and ahead of) all this gook.
To start with, the main character is far from wealthy : he is a young curate. There is indeed a Lord of the Manor somewhere in the background. Though sensitive and generous, he is not seen as someone exceptional, far from it.
The curate falls in love with the vicar's wife and vice-versa. In parallel with the evolution of the love affair between those two, we follow the evolution of the curate's loss of faith. The year is 1861.
The enchantment starts with the first paragraph and never wanes. Each sentence is a delight : perfectly balanced and sensually evocative. Sue Gee, consciously or not, is following Gustave Flaubert's advice : use the five senses. Make the reader see, hear, smell, taste, touch and... dream.
If you are not a Christian, if you know very little about the C of E clergy, if you are a woman or if you can't remember what 1861 looked like (which includes all of us), it doesn't matter one bit : you live and vibrate through this young curate's head and body, you feel what he feels, you fall in love with him, you reflect with him, you grow and change with him.
One word kept running through my mind as I savoured this magnificent novel : perfection. We all know it doesn't exist, but coming so close can give you goose pimples.