"The Glassmaker" - an evening with writer Tracy Chevalier at V & A

why Venice was chosen as location and what makes this book quite different from all the others written by the author

I have fallen in love with Tracy Chevalier’s writing twenty five years ago as - believe it or not, that’s how many years have gone by since “A Girl With A Pearl Earring” was first published. The book was Tracy’s second, her first, “The Virgin Blue” I am afraid I still haven’t read. Since then American by birth and British by marriage author has written ten more books and became the writer that school history teachers recommend to their pupils on their “history reading list”.

Mrs Chevalier’s latest book, “The Glassmaker” was published last week and I have had my nose buried deep in it since the publication day, savouring every page of the story. I heard about the book being published earlier this year at the talk given by Tracy Chevalier’s agent ( who remains incredibly passionate about print publishing and writers, even though he has been working in the industry for many years ). He said that the book was unlike any other book that Tracy has written so far - now I understand exactly what he meant! And in the words of book’s author it is her “most ambitious book” so far as well!

Mrs Chevalier tends to write about women in a difficult world of times past, trying to break through the glassing ceiling and unfavourable circumstances like the stems of wheat emerging from fertile soil. What does make this book different is that it’s main character will age through the decades, but not in the way that one would expect - and the fact that her main character goers through the decades and reaches her 60s is quite unusual as well. I won’t tell you more, as I don’t want to ruin the pleasure of reading the book and discovering for yourself what exactly I am talking about.

Tuesday event at Victoria and Albert Museum cosy lecture theatre was overflowing, with women ( and a few men) having to huddle closer together in order to accommodate all members of the audience. Mrs Chevalier emerged, looking exactly how you envisage her, based on her images that you see on her books hardcover sleeves, the unique touch being the custom-made red Murano earrings that have a direct link to the book’s story. And in a way we can also thank Tracy Chevalier’s husband for making Venice another main character (they honeymooned in Venice and a few years ago he suggested she looks for “an inspiring place to travel to”, preferably outside of the UK that Tracy tirelessly traverses doing her detailed research, from Kent to Winchester and Northumberland - for books past and future might I add.

In 2010 one of Tracy Chevalier’s fans approached her, suggesting that she writes about Venetian beads. In fact Tracy Chevalier readers feel so closely connected to her, they do such things regularly - a female member of the audience put herself forward as potential researcher, if Tracy needed one. But I diverged. The man pressed some booklets into Tracy’s hands, hoping I would imagine to make her curious. The leaflets gathered dust on the bookshelf in author’s home, but with the idea subconsciously germinating in writer’s mind, until one day the time felt right to reach out to them and explore the subject in more detail. Most of us know at least something about Murano’s glassmakers and probably won’t be surprised that to this day it remains a mostly male metier. How many of us know about glass beads made in Murano though, by the hands of Muranese women?