Glass Houses
'A devastatingly compelling new voice in literary fiction' - Louise O'Neill
Published on 13. February 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
336 pages
978-1-4722-7228-7 (ISBN)
Description
'Desire, class and Welsh nationalism prove a combustible combination in this brooding literary romance' Observer
'At once a love story and a simmering tale of class, identity, and masculinity' i paper
'Evokes North Wales in all its complexity, in water, resin and sky' Jessica Andrews
_______
Geth and Olwen live in different worlds. Olwen left North Wales for London to become a filmmaker and lives with her banker husband. Geth stayed in their rural hometown and works as a forester. They were in love once, but now they are strangers to each other.
That is, until Olwen returns, moving into the lakeside house that Geth looks after for absent English owners; the house he has come to think of as his own. Before they know it, they find themselves pulled back together - back into the past and what could have been - or still could be. Taking us from the incendiary world of radical politics in Thatcher's Britain to the housing crisis of the present day, Glass Houses is a story about love and friendship, about class and rural life, and about the disappointments of those who leave and those who stay.
_______
'A beautiful novel about class, first love and how places can define us' Good Housekeeping
'A cinematic page-turner' Buzz Magazine
'At once a love story and a simmering tale of class, identity, and masculinity' i paper
'Evokes North Wales in all its complexity, in water, resin and sky' Jessica Andrews
_______
Geth and Olwen live in different worlds. Olwen left North Wales for London to become a filmmaker and lives with her banker husband. Geth stayed in their rural hometown and works as a forester. They were in love once, but now they are strangers to each other.
That is, until Olwen returns, moving into the lakeside house that Geth looks after for absent English owners; the house he has come to think of as his own. Before they know it, they find themselves pulled back together - back into the past and what could have been - or still could be. Taking us from the incendiary world of radical politics in Thatcher's Britain to the housing crisis of the present day, Glass Houses is a story about love and friendship, about class and rural life, and about the disappointments of those who leave and those who stay.
_______
'A beautiful novel about class, first love and how places can define us' Good Housekeeping
'A cinematic page-turner' Buzz Magazine
Reviews / Votes
At once a love story and a simmering tale of class, identity, and masculinity * i paper, 'Best Books of May 2024' * A razor-sharp commentary on social class, Welsh identity, and whether we have ownership over the places we come from. Through a dewy sheen of teen nostalgia, Reece deftly explores the weight of political events on individual lives. Her supple, visceral prose evokes North Wales in all its complexity, beautifully rendered in water, resin and sky -- Jessica Andrews, author of Saltwater and Milk Teeth Glass Houses has the rare quality of handling heavy subjects with a real lightness of touch - how people shape places and how places shape people in turn, how the complexities of cultural identity are braided into the complexities of selfhood, how what we own will so often, in the final reckoning, come to own us -- Keiran Goddard, author of Hourglass A magnificent, murderous grin of a novel: sharp-eyed and sharp-toothed in its modern appraisal of class and sexual tensions. Wittily, Reece shows us how hearts, houses and histories are claimed, and how many forms of capital are acquired by self-deception -- Tom Benn, author of Oxblood Glass Houses is such a beautifully observed novel. A story of class and misunderstanding for and of our time, it flits between the eras, the churning emotions of its characters and the pretensions of today with sadness, compassion and humour. Through dazzling descriptive language, Francesca Reece draws us into the heart of Wales and the pain of relationships that cannot be resisted -- James Clarke, author of Sanderson's Isle It was so refreshing to read about North Wales in this way and I've never seen the Welsh language presented so naturally within the prose and dialogue - this place, these characters, this community feel so real to me. I'm glad this novel exists and I can't wait for more people to discover this often overlooked history of our country. Gorgeously luscious and atmospheric, Gethin and Olwen are two characters that perfectly encapsulate the two halves of my heart and the gentle push and pull of North Wales -- Gwenllian Ellis, author of Sgen I'm Syniad A beautiful, compelling, intuitive voice -- Adele Parks MBE * Platinum Magazine * Desire, class and Welsh nationalism prove a combustible combination in this brooding literary romance... Flickers of menace are enhanced by atmospheric prose * Observer * Forester Gethin Thomas acts as caretaker for Ty Gwydr, a stunning lakeside house that has stood empty for so long he considers it his own. When the owners decide to sell up - which coincides with the return of the girl who broke his heart - the upheaval throws him off course. A beautiful novel about class, first love and how places can define us * Good Housekeeping * Explores the impact of gentrification and second homes in north Wales * Guardian * A cinematic page-turner -- Buzz MagazineMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Headline Publishing Group
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 195 mm
Width: 128 mm
Thickness: 26 mm
Weight
240 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4722-7228-7 (9781472272287)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Francesca Reece
Glass Houses
'A devastatingly compelling new voice in literary fiction' - Louise O'Neill
E-Book
05/2024
Tinder Press
€3.99
Available for download
Person
Francesca Reece is a writer from North Wales. Her debut novel, Voyeur, was published by Tinder Press in 2021. Her second novel Glass Houses was shortlisted for Wales Book of the Year. She was the 2019 recipient of the Desperate Literature Prize, and has had work featured in The London Magazine, Banshee, Literary Review, Elle UK and on BBC Short Works. She lives in London.