The Glass Lake: Difference between revisions
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{{short description|1994 novel by Maeve Binchy}} |
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{{Infobox book <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books --> |
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| name = The Glass Lake |
| name = The Glass Lake |
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| image = |
| image = MaeveBinchy TheGlassLake.jpg |
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| caption = First edition |
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| author = [[Maeve Binchy]] |
| author = [[Maeve Binchy]] |
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| country = [[ |
| country = {{flagicon|Ireland}} [[Ireland]] |
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| language = [[English language|English]] |
| language = [[English language|English]] |
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| media_type = Print ([[Hardcover|Hardback]] & [[Paperback]]) |
| media_type = Print ([[Hardcover|Hardback]] & [[Paperback]]) |
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| pages = 608 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| pages = 608 pp (first edition, hardback) |
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| isbn |
| isbn = 1-85797-950-8 |
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| isbn_note = (first edition, hardback) |
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'''''The Glass Lake''''' is a 1994 novel by the [[Ireland|Irish]] author [[Maeve Binchy]]. The action takes place in a rural Irish village as well as in [[London]] in the 1950s. It is notable as the last of Binchy's novels to be set in the 1950s. Binchy explores the roles of women in Irish society and inconstant lovers, and uses an operatic plot to hold the reader's attention. |
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'''''The Glass Lake''''' is a novel by [[Maeve Binchy]]. Similar to other Binchy novels, this book is set in a rural Irish village. The story focuses on Kit McMahon and her relationship with her mother. |
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Helen McMahon disappears when her daughter Kit is 12 years old, and it is suspected that she drowned in the local lake. Kit finds a letter from her mother and burns it before reading it, fearing that a suicide note will prevent her from meriting a church burial.<ref name=pw>{{cite web |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-385-31354-4|title=The Glass Lake|work=[[Publishers Weekly]]|accessdate=December 31, 2018}}</ref> In fact, Helen has left her kindly but unexciting husband Martin and two children to run off to London to be with her dashing lover,<ref name=kirk>{{cite web |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/maeve-binchy/the-glass-lake/|title=The Glass Lake|date=December 1, 1994|accessdate=December 31, 2018|work=[[Kirkus Reviews]]}}</ref> and left the note to let them know that she would like to keep in touch with her children as they grow up. |
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| ⚫ | Kit struggles to grow up without her mother and with the stigma of her mother's death. While Kit has many friends and mentors to help her grow, she forges a close relationship via a [[pen pal]] relationship with a woman named Lena Gray, who claims to have been a close friend of Helen.<ref name=kirk/> The story then traces the fallout of Kit finding out that her mother is not dead and is in fact Lena Gray. Other characters in the novel who play significant roles in Kit's life are her on-again, off-again friend Clio Kelly, the doting Philip O'Brien who has wanted to marry her all his life, Stevie Sullivan who owns the car garage across the street, and Sister Madeleine, a reclusive older woman who shares everyone's confidences. |
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| ⚫ | |||
{{spoiler}} |
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When the beautiful and glamorous Helen is deserted by her lover, she marries the kindly Martin McMahon and moves to the small village of Lough Glass. Although Martin and Helen have two children, Helen still pines for Louis, the man that broke her heart. Helen seems restless and unhappy living in Lough Glass. Then one day, Helen disappears, leaving behind only a note for Martin. Kit, Helen and Martin's 13-year old daughter, finds this letter, and burns it without opening it. Kit knows that her mother was unhappy and assumes that her mother has committed suicide. A suicide note would mean that her mother could not be buried in 'consecrated' ground according to Catholic tradition. However, Helen hasn't committed suicide. Rather, she decided to run away to England with her former lover. |
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==Themes== |
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| ⚫ | Kit |
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Like ''[[Tara Road]]'', in which Binchy introduces an American character to an Irish town, ''The Glass Lake'' offers readers a look at the lives of women in another country – namely, England, to which Lena escapes with her lover. This plot device plays up the "Irishness" of the other protagonists and reinforces the self-identity of Binchy's Irish women readers.<ref>{{citation|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=quocyNYLbLcC&pg=PA21|chapter=Maeve Binchy (1940– )|first=Rebecca|last=Steinberger|title=Irish Women Writers: An A-to-Z Guide|editor-first= Alexander G.|editor-last=Gonzalez|year=2006|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=0313328838|page=21}}</ref> |
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Priests, brothers, and nuns are all featured in this and other early works by Binchy. In ''The Glass Lake'', Binchy creates the character of Sister Madeleine, an all-knowing, tolerant, and giving woman who lives as a hermit on the edge of town. Binchy's husband, [[Gordon Snell]], asked her to "tone down" Sister Madeleine's goodness after reading the first draft and finding the character "too soppy" and "too sentimental". However, "she remains the most wholly admirable person in the story".<ref>{{cite journal|title=Irish and Catholic Values in the Work of Maeve Binchy|first=Mary|last=Kenny|journal=Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review|volume=93 |issue=372|date=Winter 2004|page=431|jstor = 30095714}}</ref> |
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==Characters== |
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Important characters in the story are: |
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==Reception== |
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'''Kit McMahon:''' The main character of the story. She is the daughter of Helen and Martin McMahon. At the start of the book, Kit is 13. By the end of the book, Kit is a Hotel Management student working to build her career. Kit grows up to be a strong woman that take no nonense from anyone. She has inherited her mother's striking looks. |
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The ''[[Detroit Free Press]]'' notes that ''The Glass Lake'' differs from previous Binchy titles in being plot-driven rather than character-based. This review, which gave the book 2½ out of 4 stars, called the overlay of "mystery and tragedy swirling around the main character" unsettling, and accused Binchy of "in some cases neglect[ing] the credibility of her characters" in favor of the plot.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=50595372&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjk5MjI3MDExLCJpYXQiOjE1ODkwNTUyMjEsImV4cCI6MTU4OTE0MTYyMX0.DAQviYpnXK_Vr8kUaX6FC_VOd7EyJteaFo-qJsgCcLA|title=Mystery creeps into Maeve Binchy's latest novel|first=Judy|last=Gerstel|newspaper=[[Detroit Free Press]]|date=February 26, 1997|page=77|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}{{open access}}</ref> The ''[[Star Tribune]]'', in contrast, felt the major characters were credible but reflected a strong [[gender bias]]: |
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<blockquote>Binchy's women, once again, tend to be the "good guys." They are capable and loving, ambitious and intelligent. They are disappointed in their relationships with men. Male characters, the "bad guys", lack motivation, discipline and commitment. They are, more often than not, the source of the women's problems.<ref name=lib>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50597615/glass-lake/|title=Irish writer Binchy sails 'Glass Lake'|first=Katherine|last=Bailey|newspaper=[[Star Tribune]]|date=March 12, 1995|page=75|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}{{open access}}</ref></blockquote> |
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This review suggests that the gender bias could be traced to Binchy's upbringing in Ireland's male-dominated society, and her coming-of-age during the [[Women's liberation movement in Europe#Ireland|women's liberation movement]].<ref name=lib/> |
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'''Helen McMahon/Lena Gray:''' Kit's mother and Martin's wife. She is beautiful and is unhappy and restless living in Lough Glass. She runs aways with Louis Gray to live in London and assumes the name Lena Gray. Lena works at an employment agency and is very successful in her career in England. |
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The ''[[South Florida Sun-Sentinel]]'' praised Binchy for writing "strong and realistic female characters" who possess an inner fortitude to survive the ups and downs of daily life.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50596968/glass-lake/|title=Set in Ireland, the saga of a family torn apart|first=Mary H.|last=Danforth|newspaper=[[Sun-Sentinel|South Florida Sun-Sentinel]]|date=June 4, 1995|page=73|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}{{open access}}</ref> The ''[[Quad-City Times]]'' also lauded Binchy's eye and ear for describing the people, conversations, and settings of Ireland of the 1950s.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50600411/quad-city-times/|title='Glass Lake' explores bittersweet adolescence|first=Julia|last=LaBua|date=June 4, 1995|page=34|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}{{open access}}</ref> |
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'''Martin McMahon:''' Kit's father and the town chemist. He loves living in Lough Glass, and playing golf with his best friend. He is a kind man that makes an effort to raise his children with high regard for their mother. |
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As of 1998, ''The Glass Lake'' was Ireland's best-selling book of all time.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/1998/sep/01/fiction.maevebinchy|title=The Storyseller|first=Dina|last=Rabinovich|date=September 1, 1998|accessdate=December 30, 2018|work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> |
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'''Emmet McMahon:''' Kit's younger brother. He doesn't have much of a role in story till later. His obsessive love for Anna Kelly mirrors his mother's obsessive love for Louis Gray. |
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==Adaptations== |
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'''Clio Kelly:''' Clio is Kit's best friend. Clio and Kit have a contentious relationship. However, they fight with each other almost as much as they support each other. Clio is smart and beautiful. Her main purpose for attending university is to land a rich husband. |
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''The Glass Lake'' was produced on an abridged [[audiobook]] with a running time of six hours.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50598871/the-cincinnati-enquirer/|title=Heard a Good Book Lately?|first=Kate |last=Seago|work=[[Los Angeles Daily News]]|publisher=[[The Cincinnati Enquirer]]|date=August 29, 1995|page=22|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}{{open access}}</ref> |
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==References== |
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'''Louis Gray:''' Lena's feckless lover. He is very handsome and has numerous affairs while posing as Lena's husband. |
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{{reflist}} |
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{{Maeve Binchy}} |
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'''Stevie Sullivan:''' Kit's eventual boyfriend. He is a very handsome and has numerous affairs with the women of Lough Glass. Kit tries to hook Stevie as a favor to her brother - who doesn't want to lose his girlfriend to Stevie's attentions. However, much to everyone's surprise, Kit and Stevie end up falling in love. Lena worries about Kit's relationship with Stevie because she thinks her daughter maybe following in her mother's foot steps by being with a handsome man with a history of infidelity. |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Glass Lake, The}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glass Lake, The}} |
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[[Category:1994 Irish novels]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Fiction set in the 1950s]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Novels by Maeve Binchy]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Novels set in Ireland]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Novels set in London]] |
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Latest revision as of 16:56, 6 June 2024
 First edition | |
| Author | Maeve Binchy |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Romance novel |
| Publisher | Orion Publishing |
Publication date | 2 September 1994 |
| Publication place |  Ireland |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 608 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | 1-85797-950-8 (first edition, hardback) |
The Glass Lake is a 1994 novel by the Irish author Maeve Binchy. The action takes place in a rural Irish village as well as in London in the 1950s. It is notable as the last of Binchy's novels to be set in the 1950s. Binchy explores the roles of women in Irish society and inconstant lovers, and uses an operatic plot to hold the reader's attention.
Plot
[edit]Helen McMahon disappears when her daughter Kit is 12 years old, and it is suspected that she drowned in the local lake. Kit finds a letter from her mother and burns it before reading it, fearing that a suicide note will prevent her from meriting a church burial.[1] In fact, Helen has left her kindly but unexciting husband Martin and two children to run off to London to be with her dashing lover,[2] and left the note to let them know that she would like to keep in touch with her children as they grow up.
Kit struggles to grow up without her mother and with the stigma of her mother's death. While Kit has many friends and mentors to help her grow, she forges a close relationship via a pen pal relationship with a woman named Lena Gray, who claims to have been a close friend of Helen.[2] The story then traces the fallout of Kit finding out that her mother is not dead and is in fact Lena Gray. Other characters in the novel who play significant roles in Kit's life are her on-again, off-again friend Clio Kelly, the doting Philip O'Brien who has wanted to marry her all his life, Stevie Sullivan who owns the car garage across the street, and Sister Madeleine, a reclusive older woman who shares everyone's confidences.
Themes
[edit]Like Tara Road, in which Binchy introduces an American character to an Irish town, The Glass Lake offers readers a look at the lives of women in another country – namely, England, to which Lena escapes with her lover. This plot device plays up the "Irishness" of the other protagonists and reinforces the self-identity of Binchy's Irish women readers.[3]
Priests, brothers, and nuns are all featured in this and other early works by Binchy. In The Glass Lake, Binchy creates the character of Sister Madeleine, an all-knowing, tolerant, and giving woman who lives as a hermit on the edge of town. Binchy's husband, Gordon Snell, asked her to "tone down" Sister Madeleine's goodness after reading the first draft and finding the character "too soppy" and "too sentimental". However, "she remains the most wholly admirable person in the story".[4]
Reception
[edit]The Detroit Free Press notes that The Glass Lake differs from previous Binchy titles in being plot-driven rather than character-based. This review, which gave the book 2½ out of 4 stars, called the overlay of "mystery and tragedy swirling around the main character" unsettling, and accused Binchy of "in some cases neglect[ing] the credibility of her characters" in favor of the plot.[5] The Star Tribune, in contrast, felt the major characters were credible but reflected a strong gender bias:
Binchy's women, once again, tend to be the "good guys." They are capable and loving, ambitious and intelligent. They are disappointed in their relationships with men. Male characters, the "bad guys", lack motivation, discipline and commitment. They are, more often than not, the source of the women's problems.[6]
This review suggests that the gender bias could be traced to Binchy's upbringing in Ireland's male-dominated society, and her coming-of-age during the women's liberation movement.[6]
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel praised Binchy for writing "strong and realistic female characters" who possess an inner fortitude to survive the ups and downs of daily life.[7] The Quad-City Times also lauded Binchy's eye and ear for describing the people, conversations, and settings of Ireland of the 1950s.[8]
As of 1998, The Glass Lake was Ireland's best-selling book of all time.[9]
Adaptations
[edit]The Glass Lake was produced on an abridged audiobook with a running time of six hours.[10]
References
[edit]- ^ "The Glass Lake". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
- ^ a b "The Glass Lake". Kirkus Reviews. 1 December 1994. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
- ^ Steinberger, Rebecca (2006), "Maeve Binchy (1940– )", in Gonzalez, Alexander G. (ed.), Irish Women Writers: An A-to-Z Guide, Greenwood Publishing Group, p. 21, ISBN 0313328838
- ^ Kenny, Mary (Winter 2004). "Irish and Catholic Values in the Work of Maeve Binchy". Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review. 93 (372): 431. JSTOR 30095714.
- ^ Gerstel, Judy (26 February 1997). "Mystery creeps into Maeve Binchy's latest novel". Detroit Free Press. p. 77 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Bailey, Katherine (12 March 1995). "Irish writer Binchy sails 'Glass Lake'". Star Tribune. p. 75 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Danforth, Mary H. (4 June 1995). "Set in Ireland, the saga of a family torn apart". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. p. 73 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ LaBua, Julia (4 June 1995). "'Glass Lake' explores bittersweet adolescence". p. 34 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Rabinovich, Dina (1 September 1998). "The Storyseller". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
- ^ Seago, Kate (29 August 1995). "Heard a Good Book Lately?". Los Angeles Daily News. The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.