On the outside they were the golden family with the perfect life. On the inside they built the perfect lie.
A young nanny who plunged to her death, or was she pushed? A nine-year-old girl who collects sharp objects and refuses to speak. A lawyer whose job it is to uncover who in the family is a victim and who is a murderer. But how can you find out the truth when everyone here is lying?
Rose Barclay is a nine-year-old girl who witnessed the possible murder of her nanny—in the midst of her parent’s bitter divorce—and immediately stopped speaking. Stella Hudson is a best interest attorney, appointed to serve as counsel for children in custody cases. She never accepts clients under thirteen due to her own traumatic childhood, but Stella’s mentor, a revered judge, believes Stella is the only one who can help.
From the moment Stella passes through the iron security gate and steps into the gilded, historic DC home of the Barclays, she realizes the case is even more twisted, and the Barclay family far more troubled, than she feared. And there’s something eerie about the house itself: It’s a plastic house, with not a single bit of glass to be found.
As Stella comes closer to uncovering the secrets the Barclays are desperate to hide, danger wraps around her like a shroud, and her past and present are set on a collision course in ways she never expected. Everyone is a suspect in the nanny’s murder. The mother, the father, the grandmother, the nanny’s boyfriend. Even Rose. Is the person Stella’s supposed to protect the one she may need protection from?
House of Glass is an unputdownable domestic psychological thriller. The book has a slow-burn start but quickly builds in intensity once the characters and murder mystery storyline are revealed. The story follows divorced attorney Stella Hudson, who accepts a child custody case. The child involved, Rose Barclay, is suffering from traumatic mutism, the same condition that rendered Stella mute for a short period following her mother’s traumatic death. Rose Barclay has become mute since witnessing her nanny, Tina, fall to her death from an upper floor window in the Barclay mansion. After it was revealed the nanny was having an affair with Rose’s father, a custody battle for Rose ensued. The chapters in the book are short, easy to read, and many of them end in cliffhangers, making for a very bingeable reading experience.
The characters in this story are complex, flawed, hard to decipher, and all carry a level of deception. Stella is a very multi-dimensional character who goes through enormous growth in the story. She’s mostly likeable, but for such an intelligent protagonist, she shows a lot of recklessness in the face of danger, which may infuriate readers. For readers who haven’t heard of a “best interest attorney,” you’ll be pleased to discover that they do actually exist, and Stella’s work in the story becomes that much more interesting. The subplot of Stella investigating the truth behind her mother’s death adds another layer of intrigue to the story, and readers go on an emotional journey with her as she unravels several shocking truths. Stella’s relationship with her long-time friend Charles is reminiscent of a father/daughter relationship, and their conversations include a lot of authentic and heartfelt dialogue. In stark contrast, Stella’s relationships with the members of the Barclay are guarded and suspicious on both ends. Both of Rose’s parents, Beth and Ian, come across as deceptive, but Beth seems like the most suspicious and dishonest. The Barclay family mansion is depicted so ominously every time Stella visits the home that readers will literally feel spine-tingling, palpable tension when listening.
There is triggering content in the story that potential readers should be aware of, including drug abuse, infidelity, body violence, and panic attacks. As Stella spends more time with 9-year-old Rose, her past trauma is triggered, and she becomes obsessed with “saving” Rose, who she internally identifies as her unhealed inner child. The disturbing notion of a child killer, born intrinsically evil, is also explored and may affect some readers. There are so many instances where Stella visits the Barclay mansion to question Rose and the family members that some scenes do feel repetitive. Fortunately, the plot really quickens towards the end, culminating in a high-stakes, thrilling conclusion featuring a few great twists. Although the author does an excellent job of misdirection, there are still only a few possible realistic suspects in the story, so many readers may find the final reveal predictable. On the positive side, Pekkanen does a wonderful job with the resolution of the characters and storyline, giving readers a few extra satisfying chapters to do so—something we rarely see in comparable suspense novels!
In summary, this is an entertaining domestic thriller that showcases Pekkanen’s immense talent in creating an atmospheric, multilayered, engrossing storyline. Narrator Laura Benanti does an expert job creating a suspenseful listening experience from start to finish while fully embodying the full spectrum of emotions for each character. If you’re looking for your next bingeable thriller with a badass female protagonist and twisty plot lines, definitely add this book to your immediate reading list. You’ll be amazed at how fast you can get through this one!
