The glass of time : the secret life of Miss Esperanza Gorst

Format:

Book

Title:

The glass of time : the secret life of Miss Esperanza Gorst

Author:

Cox, Michael, 1948-2009.

ISBN:

9780393067736

Edition:

1st ed.

Publication Information:

Physical Description:

586 pages ; 25 cm

Summary:

Taking a job as a Victorian lady's maid in the household of baroness Tansor, nineteen-year-old orphan Esperanza Gorst hides the truth about her mission to uncover her mistress's secrets about a past injustice that has affected Esperanza's own life. By the author of The Meaning of Night.

Subject(s):

Identity (Psychology) -- Fiction.

Lady's maids -- Fiction.

Secrets -- Fiction.

Great Britain -- History -- Victoria, 1837-1901 -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Great Britain -- History -- Victoria, 1837-1901 -- Fiction.

Great Britain

Genre:

Psychological fiction.

Thrillers (Fiction)

Fiction

History

Psychological fiction

Suspense fiction.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Salem Main Library	Cox, M.	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Like its "beguiling" and "intelligent" (New York Times Book Review) predecessor, The Glass of Time is a page turning period mystery about identity, the nature of secrets, and what happens when past obsessions impose themselves on an unwilling present. In the autumn of 1876, nineteen year-old orphan Esperanza Gorst arrives at the great country house of Evenwood to become a lady's maid to the twenty-sixth Baroness Tansor. But Esperanza is no ordinary servant. She has been sent by her guardian, the mysterious Madame de l'Orme, to uncover the secrets that her new mistress has sought to conceal, and to set right a past injustice in which Esperanza's own life is bound up. At Evenwood she meets Lady Tansor's two dashing sons, Perseus and Randolph, and finds herself enmeshed in a complicated web of seduction, intrigue, deceit, betrayal, and murder. Few writers are as gifted at evoking the sensibility of the nineteenth century as Michael Cox, who has made the world of Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins his own.

Author Notes

Michael Cox was born on August 30 1948 in Northamptonshire, England. In 1989 he started work at the Oxford University Press. In 1983, Cox published his first book, a biography M. R. James, a Victorian ghost story writer. Between 1983 and 1997 he compiled and edited several anthologies of Victorian short stories for Oxford University Press. His first novel, The Meaning of Night, was published in 2006. Michael Cox died of cancer on March 31, 2009.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Set in 1876, Cox's gripping second gothic thriller (after The Meaning of Night) follows the fortunes of 19-year-old orphan Esperanza Gorst, whose guardian charges her to go undercover as a lady's maid. Without knowing precisely why she's doing so, Gorst insinuates herself into the inner circle of Baroness Tansor, the fiancEe of the preceding volume's villain, Phoebus Daunt. The fake maid soon learns that her mistress has many secrets, and may, in fact, have been complicit in the death of a former servant. Cox excels at conveying his heroine's conflict over deceiving her employer, especially after learning the role the lady played in her own difficult personal history. While readers unfamiliar with the first book will find themselves deeply engaged by the elegant descriptive prose, those with the benefit of the full context and nuances of The Meaning of Night will better appreciate this sequel. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Booklist Review

The author's first novel, The Meaning of Night (2006), set in London in 1854, was told from the viewpoint of a scholar turned murderer, but this sequel, set some 20 years later, is narrated by an innocent, 19-year-old Esperanza Gorst. Orphaned as a child, she has been raised in relative luxury in Paris by her guardian and given an excellent education by her tutor. However, her world is upended when they inform her that she is to leave for England in two months, where she will be employed as a lady's maid by the widowed Baroness Tansor on the vast estate of Evenwood. It is to be the first step in what they call the Great Task, but Esperanza's ultimate goal will only be revealed to her in phases. Although she appears far too refined for her occupation, Esperanza is immediately embraced by the family, but Lady Tansor proves to be a difficult employer, given to hysterics due to her tragic past the love of her life, the pretentious poet Phoebus Daunt, was murdered by an old friend. Cox so cleverly incorporates the plot of his first novel that his new one can be read by both those who are familiar with The Meaning of Night and those who have never read it. Great period atmosphere, a cunning plot, and an intelligent narrator make this one a special treat for those who like some history with their mystery.--Wilkinson, Joanne Copyright 2008 Booklist

Library Journal Review

After his stunning debut, The Meaning of Night, Cox returns with the tale of Esperanza Gorst, a 19-year-old orphan in 1870s England sent by her guardian to serve as lady's maid to Baroness Tansor--and to uncover her secrets. Reading group guide. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.