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The Glittering Hour
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An unforgettable historical novel about true love found and lost and the secrets we keep from one another from an award-winning author
Selina Lennox is a Bright Young Thing. Her life is a whirl of parties and drinking, pursued by the press and staying on just the right side of scandal, all while running from the life her parents would choose for her.
Lawrence Weston is a pe ...more
Selina Lennox is a Bright Young Thing. Her life is a whirl of parties and drinking, pursued by the press and staying on just the right side of scandal, all while running from the life her parents would choose for her.
Lawrence Weston is a pe ...more
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Hardcover, 480 pages
Published
December 10th 2019
by Thomas Dunne Books
(first published May 30th 2019)
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Start your review of The Glittering Hour
Any book that can make me cry like that is deserving of a solid 5 stars!
I will start by saying that the synopsis of this novel didn’t attract or stand out to me. However, when I received this book in the mail from the publisher, I simply had a good feeling about it and when my Traveling Sister Brenda suggested starting it right away, I dove right in. Wow - these characters really got to me! In fact, I have to admit, I have a huge “book crush” on Lawrence - one of the main characters. He had me ...more
I will start by saying that the synopsis of this novel didn’t attract or stand out to me. However, when I received this book in the mail from the publisher, I simply had a good feeling about it and when my Traveling Sister Brenda suggested starting it right away, I dove right in. Wow - these characters really got to me! In fact, I have to admit, I have a huge “book crush” on Lawrence - one of the main characters. He had me ...more
3.5 stars
He had no place in her world, amongst her people, and no more did she belong in his.
Love, Secrets, Tragedy, Choices, Love Lost, Longing...
Selina Lennox grew up in luxury. She was at the hottest parties and events. Staying out late, partying and enjoying her life. Lawrence Weston was a poor photographer and painter who has a chance meeting with Selina. That chance meeting was all it took to change their lives forever.
The beginning was an extremely slow burn for me. If it weren't fo ...more
He had no place in her world, amongst her people, and no more did she belong in his.
Love, Secrets, Tragedy, Choices, Love Lost, Longing...
Selina Lennox grew up in luxury. She was at the hottest parties and events. Staying out late, partying and enjoying her life. Lawrence Weston was a poor photographer and painter who has a chance meeting with Selina. That chance meeting was all it took to change their lives forever.
The beginning was an extremely slow burn for me. If it weren't fo ...more
Oh my goodness! This book! Don’t you love it when a book with that kind of cover comes into your life, one you have been anticipating reading for months now, and it lives up to your every expectation? The Glittering Hour was just that kind of read for me.
The Glittering Hour is set in England during the 1920s and 30s, in the time leading up to WWII. Immediately, I was excited about this time period as a nice change from all the traditional WWII fiction I read.
Selina Lennox is a “Bright Young Thin ...more
The Glittering Hour is set in England during the 1920s and 30s, in the time leading up to WWII. Immediately, I was excited about this time period as a nice change from all the traditional WWII fiction I read.
Selina Lennox is a “Bright Young Thin ...more
Dec 05, 2019
Brenda ~Traveling Sisters Book Reviews
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
traveling-sister-reads,
print-from-publisher
3.5 stars
With my wine glass in hand, I started my own glitter hour and was swept away into the glitter and secrets of our endearing characters.
Glittering Hour is a slow-burning dramatic, flamboyantly written story that explores lost love and family secrets. It's a bit wordy and I found myself lost in the words and losing focus for the story at times. I loved both timelines and enjoyed the world of the "Bright Young People" who are famed for their "extravagant parties and lavish lifestyle." Endea ...more
With my wine glass in hand, I started my own glitter hour and was swept away into the glitter and secrets of our endearing characters.
Glittering Hour is a slow-burning dramatic, flamboyantly written story that explores lost love and family secrets. It's a bit wordy and I found myself lost in the words and losing focus for the story at times. I loved both timelines and enjoyed the world of the "Bright Young People" who are famed for their "extravagant parties and lavish lifestyle." Endea ...more
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I received an ARC of this and decided to read it on a whim because something about the idea of reading a book set in the roaring twenties while in the 2020s felt like achieving parity. I wasn't really sure what to expect of THE GLITTERING HOUR, but reading it was a lot like reading one of those bloated, sensationalist historical epics that were so popular in the 1970s. Honestly, if we're getting a resurgence of those, I will be so glad, ...more
I normally compose my reviews right after finishing a book but after finishing The Glittering Hour I had to wait – I had to compose myself first. So with tears still in my eyes, I would like to share how deeply this book moved me. First of all, it completely transports the reader to both timelines - in 1925 when we meet free-spirited Selina and then in 1936 when we meet her daughter Alice. Both timelines are equally interesting and engaging. The life of Selina and her fellow Bright Young Things
...more
4.5 stars
When I was first asked to join the blog tour for Iona Grey’s latest novel The Glittering Hour , I was a little apprehensive at first, as I had never heard of this author before and of course hadn’t read her debut novel Letters to the Lost , which came out back in 2015. After reading the summary for the book though and seeing that it fell into one of my favorite genres (historical fiction), I decided to take a chance with this one and see where it would take me. Looking back now af ...more
When I was first asked to join the blog tour for Iona Grey’s latest novel The Glittering Hour , I was a little apprehensive at first, as I had never heard of this author before and of course hadn’t read her debut novel Letters to the Lost , which came out back in 2015. After reading the summary for the book though and seeing that it fell into one of my favorite genres (historical fiction), I decided to take a chance with this one and see where it would take me. Looking back now af ...more
Favorite Quotes:
Blackwood Park was full of ghosts. Its empty corridors echoed with the whispers of lost voices and snatches of old laughter. It was a house where the past felt more vivid than the present, which was nothing more than a stretch of endless days fading into uniform blankness.
… there was a bowl of paperwhite daffodils on the table by her armchair. Their delicate perfume was fresh in a room that smelled of stopped clocks and old paper.
I resented the rules and restrictions and the rigi ...more
Blackwood Park was full of ghosts. Its empty corridors echoed with the whispers of lost voices and snatches of old laughter. It was a house where the past felt more vivid than the present, which was nothing more than a stretch of endless days fading into uniform blankness.
… there was a bowl of paperwhite daffodils on the table by her armchair. Their delicate perfume was fresh in a room that smelled of stopped clocks and old paper.
I resented the rules and restrictions and the rigi ...more
I was excited for The Glittering Hour because it was a historical fiction novel not set in the WWII era. As much as I love that time period (honestly, it's my favorite), it has become overdone in novels recently. We need variety as readers and this book seemed to give us that reprieve.
The Glittering Hour is set in dual time periods, in 1925 with The Bright Young People, a frivolous set of British society's youth and 11 years later in 1936 with a young girl stuck in her grandparents' home while h ...more
The Glittering Hour is set in dual time periods, in 1925 with The Bright Young People, a frivolous set of British society's youth and 11 years later in 1936 with a young girl stuck in her grandparents' home while h ...more
3.5*
A lovely book tinged with sadness. A story about a big love and secrets told in two parts. I especially enjoyed the time period and tone of the book.
The story is about Selina Lennox, who was a young socialite in England. She marries in 1926 to a man that her family deems to be acceptable and gives birth to a daughter, Alice. The story begins in 1936 as Selina accompanies her husband on a business trip to Burma. She has to leave her daughter in the care of her up-to-do family. As she knows it ...more
A lovely book tinged with sadness. A story about a big love and secrets told in two parts. I especially enjoyed the time period and tone of the book.
The story is about Selina Lennox, who was a young socialite in England. She marries in 1926 to a man that her family deems to be acceptable and gives birth to a daughter, Alice. The story begins in 1936 as Selina accompanies her husband on a business trip to Burma. She has to leave her daughter in the care of her up-to-do family. As she knows it ...more
Nov 02, 2019
Karren Sandercock
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
edelweiss-above-the-tree-line,
kindle-reads
The Glittering Hour, is a story with a dual timeline, it flows seamlessly between 1925 and 1936.
In 1925 the war is over, Selina is a member of the "Bright Young People" she spends her time going to parties, staying up late, drinking way too much, going on silly treasure hunts with her friends and she's footloose and fancy free. Really, Selina is very insecure due to her strict upbringing, her mother is a stern, cold, distant woman and she finds her youngest daughter rather flighty. Selina misse ...more
In 1925 the war is over, Selina is a member of the "Bright Young People" she spends her time going to parties, staying up late, drinking way too much, going on silly treasure hunts with her friends and she's footloose and fancy free. Really, Selina is very insecure due to her strict upbringing, her mother is a stern, cold, distant woman and she finds her youngest daughter rather flighty. Selina misse ...more
This was my first book to read of the year and was also a 5 star read, and a SOLID 5 start read at that!
I loved this book, and I can't really gush enough. Iona Grey has done an amazing job, and we are blessed for that. We have made sure to stock this book in our family's bookstore, Books 'n' Bears and I have been recommending it left and right. My customers that have read it have only had positive things to say about it.
After reading this book, I had to give myself some time before I wrote this ...more
I loved this book, and I can't really gush enough. Iona Grey has done an amazing job, and we are blessed for that. We have made sure to stock this book in our family's bookstore, Books 'n' Bears and I have been recommending it left and right. My customers that have read it have only had positive things to say about it.
After reading this book, I had to give myself some time before I wrote this ...more
Sniff....
Sniff, sniff....
Sniff....
This is a good one to read when you want to lose yourself in another place and time. It might feel a bit too slow at times, but when you get deeper into the book, you may find yourself with damp cheeks and a lump in your throat and an ache in your chest. Then you'll see what the author was doing when the story felt like it was dragging. Gently, ever so gradually, she was showing you why you should love these characters. You might not notice how much you've come ...more
Sniff, sniff....
Sniff....
This is a good one to read when you want to lose yourself in another place and time. It might feel a bit too slow at times, but when you get deeper into the book, you may find yourself with damp cheeks and a lump in your throat and an ache in your chest. Then you'll see what the author was doing when the story felt like it was dragging. Gently, ever so gradually, she was showing you why you should love these characters. You might not notice how much you've come ...more
Pass the tissues, please.......
The Glittering Hour is immersed in the fraility and in the strength of human nature. Once you start turning pages here, you are going to be caught up in life plans that are dashed and life plans that follow their timeless fate.
Iona Grey introduces us to Selina Lennox who is wrapped in the party life of the 1920's where silver trays of champagne and filmy female costumes float across the well-carpeted floors of upscale homes. Selina's life is taken over by one socia ...more
The Glittering Hour is immersed in the fraility and in the strength of human nature. Once you start turning pages here, you are going to be caught up in life plans that are dashed and life plans that follow their timeless fate.
Iona Grey introduces us to Selina Lennox who is wrapped in the party life of the 1920's where silver trays of champagne and filmy female costumes float across the well-carpeted floors of upscale homes. Selina's life is taken over by one socia ...more
Dec 11, 2019
Book of the Month
added it
Why I love it
by Evie Dunmore
"You're so scared of death that you're meeting it halfway.”
How much I love a book is directly proportional to how hard it can wrench my heart. As such, The Glittering Hour dazzles on my 2019 favorites list—I solidly sobbed my way through the last third of it. I hadn’t seen it coming; the book builds gradually, and the quiet poignancies and understated elegance of the prose snuck up on me, then pounced at the twist.
Selina Lennox is young, aristocratic, beautiful, and l ...more
by Evie Dunmore
"You're so scared of death that you're meeting it halfway.”
How much I love a book is directly proportional to how hard it can wrench my heart. As such, The Glittering Hour dazzles on my 2019 favorites list—I solidly sobbed my way through the last third of it. I hadn’t seen it coming; the book builds gradually, and the quiet poignancies and understated elegance of the prose snuck up on me, then pounced at the twist.
Selina Lennox is young, aristocratic, beautiful, and l ...more
Mesmerizing, enthralling, and incredibly moving!
The Glittering Hour is set in London and the English countryside during 1925, as well as 1936, and is told from two different perspectives. Selina, a young woman in her prime who often finds herself and her friends gracing the pages of the gossip rags for their outrageous behaviour and antics, and Alice Carew, Selina's nine-year-old daughter who after being relegated to her grandparents country home while her parents are abroad embarks on a treasur ...more
The Glittering Hour is set in London and the English countryside during 1925, as well as 1936, and is told from two different perspectives. Selina, a young woman in her prime who often finds herself and her friends gracing the pages of the gossip rags for their outrageous behaviour and antics, and Alice Carew, Selina's nine-year-old daughter who after being relegated to her grandparents country home while her parents are abroad embarks on a treasur ...more
Rating: 5 emotion-packed stars
As I first started reading this book, I was not sure that I would be that impressed or affected by it. As a historical fiction aficionado, I’ve read a fair share of books set between WWI and WWII. This one started out over some familiar territory, but its characters soon pulled me into their world. I quickly grew to love little Alice. It took me longer to warm up to her mother Selina, but by the end, I was putty in their hands. I rarely cry actual real tears while r ...more
As I first started reading this book, I was not sure that I would be that impressed or affected by it. As a historical fiction aficionado, I’ve read a fair share of books set between WWI and WWII. This one started out over some familiar territory, but its characters soon pulled me into their world. I quickly grew to love little Alice. It took me longer to warm up to her mother Selina, but by the end, I was putty in their hands. I rarely cry actual real tears while r ...more
The Glittering Hour is a beautifully written, tragic love story set in England in 1920-30s. Selina Lennox comes from a privileged, noble family, she spends her days and nights partying with her wealthy friends. Lawrence Weston is a struggling photographer, who supplements his income by painting portraits. Their lives are vastly different, they move in different circles, but one night their paths unexpectedly collide and change both Selina and Lawrence forever. What follows is a story of a star-c
...more
I cannot even begin to tell you how achingly beautiful this book is.
Iona Grey has broken my heart all over again.
I know my words will never, in a million years, do this book the justice it deserves. You need to read it for yourself to understand. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
I absolutely adored Iona Grey's previous novel, Letters To The Lost. I talk about it, a lot! I have been patiently waiting (for four years) for her next book and I can tell you that The Glittering Hour has most certai ...more
Iona Grey has broken my heart all over again.
I know my words will never, in a million years, do this book the justice it deserves. You need to read it for yourself to understand. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
I absolutely adored Iona Grey's previous novel, Letters To The Lost. I talk about it, a lot! I have been patiently waiting (for four years) for her next book and I can tell you that The Glittering Hour has most certai ...more
I have been eagerly awaiting the release of this new novel for four years, after devouring Iona Grey’s brilliant, award winning debut novel ‘Letters to the Lost’. I was very excited at being chosen to review this novel which totally blew me away and exceeded all of my expectations.
This new novel is set in the intervening years between the two world wars and mainly at the family country house Blackwood or in London. ‘It Girl’ Selina Lennox is living the high life of swigging champagne, dancing th ...more
This new novel is set in the intervening years between the two world wars and mainly at the family country house Blackwood or in London. ‘It Girl’ Selina Lennox is living the high life of swigging champagne, dancing th ...more
Book of the Month asked me to read & review The Glittering Hour, and I'm so glad they did - one of my 2019 favourites:
"You're so scared of death that you're meeting it halfway.”
How much I love a book is directly proportional to how hard it can wrench my heart. As such, The Glittering Hour dazzles on my 2019 favorites list—I solidly sobbed my way through the last third of it. I hadn’t seen it coming; the book builds gradually, and the quiet poignancies and understated elegance of the prose snuck ...more
"You're so scared of death that you're meeting it halfway.”
How much I love a book is directly proportional to how hard it can wrench my heart. As such, The Glittering Hour dazzles on my 2019 favorites list—I solidly sobbed my way through the last third of it. I hadn’t seen it coming; the book builds gradually, and the quiet poignancies and understated elegance of the prose snuck ...more
Visit the locations in the novel
Sometimes there comes a novel that moves you so much that you have to write your review just to get your emotions out. A book that moves you so much that you have to stop blubbering long enough so you can write your thoughts down. A love story so exquisitely drawn that you finish the book and start to feel like you’ve been in it with them and now feel bereft that they’ve gone.
The Glittering Hour, as its name suggests, sparkles, and it’s not just the love story. Th ...more
So convincing is Selina Lennox, heroine of The Glittering Hour, that I googled her after reading, even though this is a period I know quite a lot about. In fact, Selina is a composite of the hard-living British socialites in 1920s London who were nicknamed the Bright Young Things. Figures such as Brenda Dean Paul, Elizabeth Ponsonby and Olivia Plunket Greene took part in elaborate treasure hunts across town, went to great lengths to design imaginative costumes for fancy-dress parties, drank heav
...more
this novel was a slow burner and told ages to get going in the end. the latter part of the novel was better when every thing fitted together but could of been shorter though.
I loved this book! Nine year old Alice is staying with her grandparents at Blackwood, the old family estate, while her mother and father travel. To help pass the time, and to teach Alice about her mother's secrets, her mother Selina and her maid Polly devise a "treasure hunt" consisting of clues about Selina's past. Told in dual timelines, I was thoroughly engrossed with both the stories of Alice and Selina. Though this was a lengthy novel, I read it fairly quickly because I couldn't wait to fin
...more
Song/s the book brought to mind: My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion
For me, The Glittering Hour by Iona Grey can be perfectly described in one word: beautiful. I loved the story and I'm so sad it had to come to an end.
The story of Selina and Lawrence broke my heart, but I loved it all the same and I especially enjoyed the dual timelines. The mid-1920s timeline is told mostly from Selina's perspective, and the mid-1930s timeline is mostly told from her nine-year-old daughter Alice's. I don't alway ...more
For me, The Glittering Hour by Iona Grey can be perfectly described in one word: beautiful. I loved the story and I'm so sad it had to come to an end.
The story of Selina and Lawrence broke my heart, but I loved it all the same and I especially enjoyed the dual timelines. The mid-1920s timeline is told mostly from Selina's perspective, and the mid-1930s timeline is mostly told from her nine-year-old daughter Alice's. I don't alway ...more
Although the title of the book is The Glittering Hour, it’s the glittering few hours I spent reading this book that is uppermost in my mind at the moment.
Events unfold over the course of a decade with the story alternating between 1936, as nine year old Alice embarks on a treasure hunt of a kind to uncover the secrets of her mother’s past, and 1925 in which Selina recalls her heady days as one of the ‘Bright Young People’ and the chance meeting that changed everything for her. Interspersed are ...more
Events unfold over the course of a decade with the story alternating between 1936, as nine year old Alice embarks on a treasure hunt of a kind to uncover the secrets of her mother’s past, and 1925 in which Selina recalls her heady days as one of the ‘Bright Young People’ and the chance meeting that changed everything for her. Interspersed are ...more
Thank you, St. Martin's Press for my copy of The Glittering Hour, in exchange for my honest review. This title releases December 10, 2019.
I'm participating in the Blog Tour for this title between December 1-14.
This was such a moving and powerful story about hidden family secrets, and the pain of losing love. Written with a dual timeline, the story follows Selina and her daughter, Alice between 1925 and 1936 across two storylines that connect in a compelling way. A beautiful story that will br ...more
I'm participating in the Blog Tour for this title between December 1-14.
This was such a moving and powerful story about hidden family secrets, and the pain of losing love. Written with a dual timeline, the story follows Selina and her daughter, Alice between 1925 and 1936 across two storylines that connect in a compelling way. A beautiful story that will br ...more
Reading the blurb, I thought I would enjoy this book, but it ended up being a bit boring. The pacing was slow, and I had a hard time caring about Selina, a rich, entitled "Bright Young Thing" who falls for a starving artist in the 1920s. The last 25% was more engaging, but it took a long time to get there. Borrowed from the library.
...more
Sometimes I get pitched books months and months in advance and sometimes I simply forget a title until I pull up my calendar for the following month to see what I have coming up to read.
That’s what happened with this book. I pulled up my December calendar…..the day after I made my Book of the Month selection for December. If you guys didn’t know, this book was a Book of the Month pick for December and Evie Dunmore who wrote Bringing Down the Duke (one of my favorite read of the year) recommended ...more
That’s what happened with this book. I pulled up my December calendar…..the day after I made my Book of the Month selection for December. If you guys didn’t know, this book was a Book of the Month pick for December and Evie Dunmore who wrote Bringing Down the Duke (one of my favorite read of the year) recommended ...more
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Iona Grey has a degree in English Literature and Language from Manchester University, an obsession with history and an enduring fascination with the lives of women in the twentieth century. She lives in the rural North West of England with her husband and three daughters. She is the award-winning author of Letters to the Lost, and her new book The Glittering Hour is on sale October 17 2019 (UK) an
...more
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