I enjoy reading stories where the characters are all highly unlikable, if those characters are also very interesting. I could not find either main character in this book interesting, and so could not finish it.

Paperback version, donated to my local public library. ( )

http://www.victorialautman.com/media/alice_hoffman.mp3 Interview with author about this book

She says the moral of the story is to "go forward, open the next door. no matter what, open the next door."

rabck from dove-i-libri; etherical, magical type of book. When John gets lost, Arlyn finds and marries him. They move into his family home made of glass in Connecticut, where Arlyn dotes on son Sam and teaches him fantasy and fairytales. She beings an affair with the house's windowwasher, and gives birth to a daughter, no realizing John Moody knows the truth. When Arlyn dies of cancer in her 20s, he allows her lover to be by her side, and after her death, her son unravels, while John sees Arlyn everywhere - ghost or specter? John marries Cynthia, the next door neighbor and has another child, while Blanca doesn't know John isn't her father. Sam and Blanca are close, until the drugs take him away for periods of time and eventually forever Could anyone have rescued Sam? ( )

Arlyn Singer, red-headed, young, and driven by fantasy, chooses her future husband by fate. He is so shocked by her actions that he can't help falling for her. Through three generations, Arlyn has an influence. For her husband, John Moody, she follows him literally after her death.

We track Arlyn, John, their son Sam, his sister Blanca, and grandson Will, as each tries to navigate life, particularly in a glass house.

Hoffman indulges in other worlds here, yet the story stays grounded. In the end, we wonder if Arlyn's sense of fate had it right.

Not a fan of ghosts myself, I nevertheless was not particularly bothered by this one. ( )

The first book I read by Hoffman was such an exciting find...she wrote about connections with forces not seen, which I enjoy reading about.
There is some of that in this book, but the tale is much more disjointed. It feels like she was tossing in as many unusual events as she could think of, without care for how disconnected they were from the story. Yes, I can kind of see how she wanted to weave a tale of what happens when you just follow thru on spur-of-the moment impulses, but it's not a clear read. It actually took over a year to read it, & the only reason I finished is that I had it stored in my car as an emergency book for times when I had to wait & didn't bring a preferred book. At no time did the story get me involved to the point where I wanted to bring it into the house & get it finished. I just feel a sense of relief that it's done. ( )