Jane and David Vincent are travelling to Venice to try and experiment more with recording glamour in glass, with the famous glassblowers of that city, when they are waylaid by pirates and left destitute. An apparently kindly gentleman takes them in, but they eventually discover that it’s all been a huge ruse, and start plotting the ultimate heist to get back what is theirs.
This is a great fun, fairly lightweight regency story, with a bit of magic. I’ve enjoyed all of Kowal’s Glamourist Histories so far, and this was no exception. Jane’s a great character: determined, loyal and kind, but not above a bit of petty revenge, when given the opportunity – something that makes her more human and relatable.
I was on tenterhooks for the first half of the book, knowing that the Vincents were going to get scammed, and it still took me by surprise. But then we have the pleasure of pulling the heist together for the back half. A heist that involves not just the Vincents, but, in proper heist movie style, they pull together a gang to help them out – a gang that includes nuns, a puppeteer and Lord Byron! Oh, and speaking of, I loved Kowal’s adaptation of some of his poetry to talk about glamour (not that I’ve read the originals, and only knew they were adapted because of the afterword).
I like the very nuanced view that the book takes of motherhood, especially since Jane had suffered a miscarriage in the past. She’s clear that she’s happy, and whether or not she’s able to have them in future, she doesn’t really know within herself if she’d like to have children at all. No simple, false dichotomy here, and I appreciate that. The other thing that I appreciate is the strength of the Vincents’ marriage. They have squabbles and argue, especially after they lose everything and are struggling to put food on the table, but they communicate clearly and honestly with each other (a lack of which is becoming more and more a pet peeve with me these days).
A great fun story and I look forward to getting on to the next, and final, book in the series soon.