Strange book! I have no idea if I liked it or not. The overwhelming feel of it was surreal. There were two parallel stories, but it always seemed as if I were missing large chunks of each. In one, Tess Jordan, an American living in Spain, became fascinated with the company of Javier, an Argentinian political activist. In the second, Tess recalled her youth in America where her mother Elise remarried thereby thrusting two stepbrothers suddenly into her life. Flowing through both stories were descriptions of Tess as a glass artist with much florid description of her work.

Taking the book as whole, I found that it had a lyrical and haunting quality. What was missing for me was the sense that I knew what any of the characters wanted. They all seemed to be in free fall. I have no idea why most of the characters did what they did. The end was satisfying, though, because by that time the book's drifting protagonist (and I, as well) needed a bit of grounding after so much confusion. ( )