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Happy Monday! Today I have a review for The Glass Ocean, publishing tomorrow by William Morrow. I’m a fan of each of these authors, and when they joined forces previously to co-author The Forgotten Room, magic happened multiplied by three. My brief gushing review of The Forgotten Room is on Goodreads. 

My Thoughts:

The Glass Ocean is a historical mystery blending time and place across three narrators, two a century in the past, and one in the present. 

In 1915, Caroline Telfair Hochstetter is a southern belle married to Gilbert, who was once attentive to her but is now distant and overworked. She plans a trip for them to London aboard the Lusitania in the lap of luxury and hopes it will be a turning point in their marriage. At the same time, an old male friend of hers is also aboard the ship, and Caroline feels a connection to him, while also restless and discontent; not exactly how she expected to feel on this alluring vacation. 

Also in 1915, Tessa Fairweather is aboard the Lusitania, and she is returning home to Devon, but that is not exactly the truth. Tessa is an American with a fake accent to boot. In truth, she’s the daughter of a famous con, and is a con in her own right, but she craves an end to that part of her life. Her partner has one more trick in mind, and then they can move on with life. 

In the present day, Sarah Blake is a bestselling author with troubled finances. She finds herself opening a chest she had promised her mother she would not open. It belonged to her great-grandfather who passed away on the Lusitania in 1915. She discovers a mystery and travels to London for help in solving it. 

Everyone knows what happens to the Lusitania on that fateful day. With one chapter ending and the next beginning with one or two words from the previous, the masterfully blended narratives build the tension of the mystery at its heart. 

I loved all three characters. They are strong women with secrets to hide and brave stories to tell. There’s a love triangle and a mystery with a backdrop of the Lusitania steaming forward towards its tragic demise. Seamless writing, a sense of adventure, and exceptional storytelling define The Glass Ocean, and I hope these three authors come together again for another spellbinding read! 

Thank you to William Morrow for the complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis:

From the New York Times bestselling authors of The Forgotten Room comes a captivating historical mystery, infused with romance, that links the lives of three women across a century—two deep in the past, one in the present—to the doomed passenger liner, RMS Lusitania.

May 2013
Her finances are in dire straits and bestselling author Sarah Blake is struggling to find a big idea for her next book. Desperate, she breaks the one promise she made to her Alzheimer’s-stricken mother and opens an old chest that belonged to her great-grandfather, who died when the RMS Lusitania was sunk by a German U-Boat in 1915. What she discovers there could change history. Sarah embarks on an ambitious journey to England to enlist the help of John Langford, a recently disgraced Member of Parliament whose family archives might contain the only key to the long-ago catastrophe. . . .

April 1915
Southern belle Caroline Telfair Hochstetter’s marriage is in crisis. Her formerly attentive industrialist husband, Gilbert, has become remote, pre-occupied with business . . . and something else that she can’t quite put a finger on. She’s hoping a trip to London in Lusitania’s lavish first-class accommodations will help them reconnect—but she can’t ignore the spark she feels for her old friend, Robert Langford, who turns out to be on the same voyage. Feeling restless and longing for a different existence, Caroline is determined to stop being a bystander, and take charge of her own life. . . .

Tessa Fairweather is traveling second-class on the Lusitania, returning home to Devon. Or at least, that’s her story. Tessa has never left the United States and her English accent is a hasty fake. She’s really Tennessee Schaff, the daughter of a roving con man, and she can steal and forge just about anything. But she’s had enough. Her partner has promised that if they can pull off this one last heist aboard the Lusitania, they’ll finally leave the game behind. Tess desperately wants to believe that, but Tess has the uneasy feeling there’s something about this job that isn’t as it seems. . . .

As the Lusitania steams toward its fate, three women work against time to unravel a plot that will change the course of their own lives . . . and history itself.

Have you read The Glass Ocean, or is it on your TBR? Have you read any books by these authors individually, or as a group? Happy Reading! ~ Jennifer THR