The Glass Room
The Glass Room by Simon Mawer is a digital original published by Abacus in 2010, featuring 405 pages in English. This novel presents a detailed portrait of individuals navigating the complexities of life during tumultuous times, particularly against the backdrop of World War II. The narrative centers on the Landauer House, a striking architectural marvel built for newlyweds Viktor and Liesel Landauer, whose lives are profoundly affected as the war disrupts their world.
Readers will find a rich exploration of themes such as family life and the impact of historical events on personal relationships. As the Landauer family faces the encroaching dangers of war, the story unfolds through the house’s journey, reflecting the broader historical shifts in Eastern Europe. The Glass Room intricately weaves together elements of desire, confession, and the struggle for order amidst chaos, making it a compelling read for those interested in historical fiction set in the 20th century.
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SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE
‘A passionately detailed portrait of individuals struggling to snatch order and happiness from frightening, irrational times’ Sunday Telegraph
‘Mawer embeds…provocative aesthetic and moral issues in a war-torn adventure story that’s eerily erotic and tremendously exciting….[a] gorgeous novel’ Washington Post
Cool. Balanced. Modern. The precisions of science, the wild variance of lust, the catharsis of confession and the fear of failure – these are things that happen in the Glass Room.
High on a Czechoslovak hill, the Landauer House shines as a wonder of steel and glass and onyx built specially for newlyweds Viktor and Liesel Landauer, a Jew married to a gentile. But the radiant honesty of 1930 that the house, with its unique Glass Room, seems to engender quickly tarnishes as the storm clouds of WW2 gather, and eventually the family must flee, accompanied by Viktor’s lover and her child.
But the house’s story is far from over, and as it passes from hand to hand, from Czech to Russian, both the best and the worst of the history of Eastern Europe becomes somehow embodied and perhaps emboldened within the beautiful and austere surfaces and planes so carefully designed, until events become full-circle.
The inspiration for the major motion picture The Affair, available on demand.
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