One of my favorite reads of the year!

After the success of her first book, author Sarah Blake is waiting for the next story to find her. Unfortunately, she’s running out of time (read: money) to keep waiting. Faced with the prospect of no longer being able to provide care for her aging mother, Sarah prepares to break a promise that both she and her mother have kept all of their lives. In doing so, Sarah journeys to England and into the path of John Langford, a handsome member of Parliament with a potentially dubious family history. With John’s help and cooperation, Sarah digs into the events surrounding the sinking of the RMS Lusitania, on board which were both Sarah’s ancestor and John’s. If Sarah’s hunch that John’s ancestor was actually involved in an act of espionage aboard the liner is correct, it could rewrite the whole Langford family history–and resurrect Sarah’s floundering career.

The Glass Ocean is told in turn by three women–Sarah, Caroline (Southern belle and socialite), and Tess (daughter of a travelling con man). All of the women are connected, but, as readers, we don’t immediately know how. That’s one of the best parts of the story: fitting the pieces together to see how two women from 1915 (Caroline and Tess) influence the life of a modern day author (Sarah). The story is richly detailed and sumptuous, with mysteries to solve and romance to be found in the pages. I’ll admit to getting to swept up into the story that I stayed up way, way, way past my bedtime because I just couldn’t bear not knowing how everything turned out. (Ladies, I’ll need a note for my boss to excuse my poor work performance due to your masterful writing!)