Customer Reviews

The Girl in the Glass: A Novel

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jeffrey Ford is on my short list of authors for whom I'll put down whatever else I'm reading when they have a new book out. His Well-Built City trilogy is fantastic, The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque is wonderful, and his short stories are routinely first-rate -- The Fantasy Writer's Assistant is one of my very favorite story collections. That said, I was a little worried about Ford's latest novel, The Girl in the Glass. Published under Harper's suspense imprint, Dark Alley, this novel promised to be less overtly fantastical than Ford's previous outings, which did not bode well, as my taste runs toward fantasy.

I needen't have worried. The Girl in the Glass was a delight from start to finish, or rather a non-stop deluge of delights. I read it in one sitting, then immediately wished I hadn't, because I wanted to keep on reading it. Set in Depression-era New York, the story is narrated by a young Mexican immigrant who's been adopted by a con man and is posing as a Hindu to avoid repatriation -- and to add a bit of the exotic to his mentor's act. The mystery kicks in when, on a con, his mentor sees a ghostly girl in the glass, and makes it his mission to find out who she is and what's going on. As our characters work to unravel the mystery of the girl, we meet a variety of wonderful characters, from carnies to Klansmen, and get embroiled in all sorts of grotesque, wonderful events.

I'm not so good at plot summary or book reviewing, I think, so I'll say this: it's worth your time to give this novel and this author a try. Almost every page offers up some new beauty or wonder, the characters are a treat, and the prose goes down smooth. This is probably not the best book you will read this year, but it is a gem that you would do well not to overlook.

Writing this, I'm torn between describing the strengths of this elegant and compelling novel or just telling you that there are still a few weeks of summer left and that The Girl In The Glass will be the beach book of your dreams.

Ford catches the spirit of The Thin Man, both Hammett's novel and the Powell/Loy movies that followed, and mixes that with deft dashes of magic and some darker tones. Set in the bitter Depression year of 1932 on a Long Island from which the Great Gatsby would have only recently departed, the novel catches the special mystery of a lost time and place where rural back roads, led to lavish beach-front estates and liquor smuggling was a local industry.

Young Diego, a Mexican immigrant, is a wonderfully engaging narrator. Through him we see Thomas Schell and Anthony Cleopatra, a master con man and his assistant, making hay among the well to do and easily fooled. Then, in the middle of a phony séance, Schell, a dealer in sleight-of-hand, a collector of exotic butterflies sees the inexplicable reflection of a girl on a pane of glass. Against a backdrop of kidnapping and murder, both Diego and Schell find romance and the fly underworld of carnival freaks and flim-flam collides with the deeply disturbing one of eugenics cults.

I came to love this little band of scam artists enough that I was sorry when the pages ran out and the book ended. In summer or in any other season, I think you'll love them too.

Girl in the Glass drew me in from the first paragraph and kept me engrossed till the end. Few novels of late can boast of doing the same with me. Jeffrey Ford not only creates/recreates a time period and a very distinctive subculture, he tells one heck of a story utilizing this setting.

Every character in this book comes to life. Antony in particular is a character that will live for a long time in my memory. I sometimes find myself in situations where I would not mind having an Antony handy.

The butterfly motif here would shame even Nabakov.

All in all, I find myself not wanting to say too much to ruin this book for you. I will say this--you should read Girl in the Glass. You will not be disappointed.

I give this book a full recommendation.

This is the story of three con men working the rich but gullible in the depression years of 1930s Long Island: it is told through the eyes of seventeen year old Diego who, along with his mentor Schell and sidekick/bodyguard Anthony, provides séances to contact their recently departed loved and not so loved ones. During a routine scam in some millionaire's mansion Schell actually does see the `ghost' of a girl gone recently missing and puts their 'normal' work schedule on hold while he and his two accomplices set out to solve the mystery of the girl's whereabouts.

Ford has conjured up a wonderful confection with echoes of Faulkner's The Reivers; evoking the time if not the place. It's a funny, sad, lyrical but above all beautifully written coming of age tale that also manages along the way a quick detour into the heart of darkness! No mean feat! This book could quite easily be read in one sitting - if you ever decide to give yourself a real treat - buy it, take the phone of the hook and lock yourself away!

I absolutely adored this book a whole bunch. It's about con men who trick people to believe they are talking to a dead lost relative inorder to make a living and Jeffrey Ford does a really good job on giving an excellent background throughout the entire book. Soon though one of the con men see's "the girl in the glass" during one of their schemes and investigates the girl. The excitement never dies down through the book even when the main chracter (an immigrant) isn't getting chased down by some type of crook. There's relationships also in the book which is always good to have when your dealing with the criminalish atmosphere the book gives. A DEFINITE buy for almost everyone.... This book has a lot of drug content and one sexual scene one point in the book so don't get it unless your atleast in your later teens.

As he has done times before, Jeffrey Ford has captured my attention and my heart. This novel is captivating on all levels. The characters are deep, real, and full of life. The plot is well paced, the themes heartbreaking and hopeful, and the motifs, well, blue morpho? monarch? white pine? anybody? yeah, they are there too.

If you are familiar with Fords work, then you know what to expect. If your not, then you are in for a treat. Ford's words flow like a stream off of the page. He is simple to read, yet his writing holds untold depths. By far one of the best writers working today.

Other reviews offer a solid synopsis, so I will refrain from restating it again. Suffice it to day that this is a mystery novel first and foremost. Don't expect a supernatural thriller or a fantasy thrill ride. On a purely entertaining level, Ford offers the twists and turns you would expect from any well written mystery. You will be turning the pages at a steady pace just to find out where the latest clue leads.

On a literary level, this novel takes leaps and bounds. Ford has done his research into the 1930's era depression and he portrays it well. Your heart will break at the poverty that is around the city while the rich live in lavish (sound familiar?). He fits in the 'pop culture' of carnies, details about the KKK that flourished on Long Island at the time, and a look at one of America's most disturbing experiments: eugenics. As an added bonus he backs all of this up with his end acknowledgments by offering his readers the sources he used complete with titles and internet links when available.

This book delivers on all levels. Whether you are looking for a fun mystery, a depression era / history study, discussion of racial / social equality, or something a bit different. This book is HIGHLY recommended (and this all comes from a reviewer who is not a fan of mysteries).

The novelist's talent lies in creating genuine, warm characters that we relate to (and, in some cases, react to) like the orphan Diego, who narrates this amusing ghost story about psychic swindlers who may or may not have seen an actual ghost, which leads them into the world of the KKK in Long Island. The novel is set in Depression-era New York, and it's obvious from the detail that the author did his homework (also check out the bibliography at the end where he names his sources). All in all, an excellent read and I'm looking forward to reading more of his books.

The Girl in the Glass by Jeffrey Ford is fabulous. His writing is weird and funny as are the characters he creates. The heroes are 3 con-artists who stage seances for rich folks on Long Island, bringing back "mother" or "long lost child" using smoke and mirrors. The heroes are the manager of the group, a teen-aged Mexican-American boy, and a gigantic muscle man who has almost miraculous skills he uses to extricate them from all kinds of dangerous traps.

The story concerns a missing child that our trio of heroes is hired to find using their "powers".

Frankly, Mr. Ford writes so sublimely that his story could be about procedures used in the canning of tuna, and I'd be fascinated.

His use of language is especially rich, and his characters, especially the side-show "freaks" that appear late in the book, are amazing.

The story is sweet, tender, harsh and hilarious. This guy can WRITE!

It is rare to find an author that strikes every chord right, but Jeffrey Ford did that for me in this book. It's engaging, intelligent, well-written, and funny as hxll.

This is the first book of Ford's that I have read; but, happily, will not be the last. Do yourself a favor. Just read the first page. You will be captured.

This was my first experience with the author and I was very pleased. This is a fast read, with lots of twists and turns and intrigue. Excellent plot devices, clean character development, and a solid ending. Everything a book of the genre should have.