This one has a clever twist on a family saga that takes place over many generations. Instead of constantly introducing all the new members of a family that it would take to fill the time between 1486 and the present day, Tracy Chevalier has devised a scenario where on the island of Murano, time doesn't move in the same way as the rest of the world, and that allows her to keep the same central characters living through many centuries. The Rosso family are glassmakers, and we are presented with an overview of the the trade as it moves from only producing quality pieces for the aristocracy in the fifteenth century to the mass production of tourist trinkets in the present day. Orsola Rosso is the eldest daughter of a glassmaking family, and as a woman she is not allowed into the workshops or to have anything to do with the production of glass. Her job is to assist her mother in the running of the house and deal with the vast quantities of laundry and cooking that are required by...