Book Review: House Of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen

Stella Hudson is an unusual type of lawyer. She generally works at the behest of divorce court judges to advocate for children at the center of the most difficult and contentious custody cases. As a best interest attorney, or guardian ad litem, her sole focus is on what’s best for the children she represents.

Her devotion to her career is partially due to her own troubled childhood. As such, she usually only takes on teenagers, as younger children too often prove an unsettling reminder of that tough time in her life. But when her mentor asks her to take on the case of eight-year-old Rose Barclay as a personal favor to him, she can’t say no.

Rose’s parents, Ian and Beth, are locked in a bitter custody dispute, each seeking sole physical custody of their daughter. Their divorce was seemingly set off by the tragic death of Rose’s live-in nanny. Young, beautiful Tina de la Cruz had plummeted to her death from the window of her attic apartment in the Barclay’s historic Potomac mansion, while Rose and her grandmother Harriet had been gardening below. The investigation into Tina’s unattended death revealed not only that she’d been pregnant, but that she’d been having an affair with Ian and wanted him to leave Beth for her. The police had taken a good hard look at all the Barclays, but there was no proof that Tina had been the victim of anything more than an unfortunate accident. The scandal had proven too much for the Barclays’ marriage though, and so Stella has been asked to intervene in their child custody arrangements, thoroughly investigating the family in order to make the best choices for Rose.

The atmosphere in the Barclays’ home is poisonous as the adult members of the household maneuver around one another, each with their own secret agenda. But Stella notes, with growing unease, that Rose just might be the most sinister figure of them all. As Stella interviews all the important people in Rose’s life, with her position granting her access to information she likely wouldn’t get otherwise, she learns more and more unsettling things about her young client. Even Rose’s therapist, Dr Gina Markman, feels the need to preface her evidence with caveats:

“Art is subject to interpretation,” she tells me. “People can look at the exact same image or read the same book and come away with very different impressions.”

 

“I understand.”

 

“Often, what we see in art is a reflection of us. Of our optics. Our mindset. Have you ever tried to read a novel and not enjoyed it, then gone back at another point in time and loved it? The story didn’t change. But you did. This is an insight into who we are at any given moment and what we bring to our unique intersection with art.”

 

She’s preparing me for something. What am I going to see in that folder?

The more Stella investigates the Barclays, the more convinced she becomes that Tina was murdered. But which of them did it, and why? None of them will tell her the truth, and at least one of them is ready to kill again.

This inventive thriller had me in a figurative headlock one Sunday afternoon as I ignored everything else in my life in order to race to the end of the book, desperate not only to unravel the Barclays’ secrets but also to unlock the mystery of Stella’s own childhood. The way the two stories converged was breathtaking, and I felt personally invested in Stella’s ongoing happiness, especially as she grappled with thorny issues of both honesty and forgiveness. Most of all, I loved her commitment to doing the right thing, especially for troubled, vulnerable Rose:

But I won’t stop fighting for Rose. If this case ends in the way I fear, I’ll work to get Rose the best possible help. The Barclays have means. They can afford for Rose to stay inpatient at a place where the caregivers are knowledgeable and kind, where ample time is taken to find the best combinations of medicines, intensive therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy. There are such places for children who seem beyond hope.

 

And every once in a while, with massive early intervention, a child manages to emerge and live a productive, healthy life. They are the outliers, but who’s to say Rose won’t be among them?

I’m not sure whether House Of Glass was meant to be a riff on the Agatha Christie classic Crooked House, but I found this book just as gripping as its predecessor. Smart, compelling and above all compassionate, this felt like the 21st century update of a murder mystery that was definitely of its time. Fortunately for us, there are better modern alternatives to literally dying of shame, as Sarah Pekkanen so wisely displays in this excellent novel.