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The Glass Painter's Daughter

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In a tiny stained-glass shop hidden in the backstreets of Westminster lies the cracked, sparkling image of an angel.

The owners of Minster Glass have also been broken: Fran Morrison's mother died when she was a baby; a painful event never mentioned by her difficult, secretive father Edward. Fran left home to pursue a career in foreign cities, as a classical musician. But now Edward is dangerously ill and it's time to return.

Taking her father's place in the shop, she and his craftsman Zac accept a beguiling commission - to restore a shattered glass picture of an exquisite angel belonging to a local church. As they reassemble the dazzling shards of coloured glass, they uncover an extraordinary love story from the Victorian past, sparked by the window's creation. Slowly, Fran begins to see her own reflection in its themes of passion, tragedy and redemption.

Fran's journey will lead her on a search for the truth about her mother, through mysteries of past times and the anguish of unrequited love, to reconciliation and renewal.

450 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

85 people are currently reading
2486 people want to read

About the author

Rachel Hore

38 books744 followers
Rachel Hore worked in London publishing for many years before moving with her family to Norwich, Norfolk and turning to writing fiction.

Rachel is the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Dream House (2006), The Memory Garden (2007), The Glass Painter's Daughter (2009), which was shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists' Association Novel of the Year 2010, A Place of Secrets (2010), which was a Richard and Judy Bookclub pick, and A Gathering Storm (2011), which was shortlisted for the RNA Historical Novel of the year, 2012. The Silent Tide was published in 2013, A Week in Paris in 2014 and The House on Bellevue Gardens in 2015.

Her new novel, Last Letter Home, will be published on 22nd March 2018.

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5 stars
710 (26%)
4 stars
1,079 (40%)
3 stars
647 (24%)
2 stars
193 (7%)
1 star
62 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 228 reviews
Profile Image for Cath Hughes.
422 reviews10 followers
April 13, 2021
Typical story of a daughter returning home after years, to care for her father who is ill.
Add in an old diary telling Laura's story.
I never appreciated how much business a stained glass window making company could have in this modern world!!
Profile Image for Dale Harcombe.
Author 14 books426 followers
August 10, 2013
What I read wasn't an E book but a paperback with this cover.I love it when I find a new author to read and this looks to be the case with Rachel Hore. This is isn’t a compelling, fast read, page tuner but it is a charming and extremely readable story that had me from the beginning. It moves along as gentle as a beautiful song.
I was happy to settle down with this story of Fran who has come home suddenly, putting on hold for a time her musical career to care for her ill father, owner of Minster Glass. Theirs is a relationship fraught with silence and misunderstandings resulting from the death of Fran’s mother when she was a small child. Back home, Fran renews her friendship with Jo a social worker. She also meets the enigmatic Ben who is the organist for St Martin’s church and choir leader and Zac, the craftsman in her father’s shop as well as Amber, a young girl who despite her hard life has an unwavering faith in angels .
It is also the story of an old broken glass window of an angel and how it originally came to be. We read the story of the window, the lives of the Brownlow family and a love story from the past through Laura’s journal. Laura’s father was originally vicar at St Martin’s church at the time the glass window was first installed.
Of course I admit I have a fascination for stained glass, so all the little titbits about creating windows etc was interesting as was the differing reactions of people to changes in St Martin’s Choir which along with Jo, Fran joins. How you respond to this book I suspect will depend a lot on your interests. Since I adore stained glass and singing, this appealed to me. It was a very enjoyable read and I will seek out more of Rachel Hore’s books.
Profile Image for Lyn.
Author 121 books589 followers
July 12, 2011
My longtime English penpal sent me this book saying that she thought I would like it. And of course after many years, she knows me well. I loved Rachel Hore's complicated characters and the portrayal of human emotion and love. This is a love story but it's about many kinds of love and many stages. Most clearly the message that just because we love doesn't mean that our actions always follow lovingly resonates throughout. I loved the quotes about angels but the avoidance of using them as a plot device. This is kind of an English version of a inspirational romance. I will definitely read more Rachel Hore books. Thanks for sending it, Pat!
Profile Image for Sara G.
1,745 reviews
March 6, 2021
I hate to rate this book so poorly since I generally love everything that Rachel Hore has written, but this one is a real stinker. It's mainly about angels and stained glass windows, which I guess should have been my first indication that I wouldn't really like it. Subject matter aside, though, it's about the most obnoxious young woman who has a terrible relationship with her father who takes ill. She found the diary of a Victorian-era young woman who was there when a stained glass window (now smashed) was made, and it goes back and forth between their stories. Sadly, neither woman is interesting.
Profile Image for Gabija. Keista Skaitytoja.
710 reviews75 followers
March 6, 2023
Mėgstu tokias istorijas, kur praeitis susipina su dabartimi. Ir autorės prieš tai skaityta knyga mane labai sužavėjo, ši irgi pasirodė visai įdomi, nors lėta…labai. Bet kas labiausiai man kliuvo, tai pasakojimai apie bažnyčia… žinau, žinau, reikėjo to tikėtis, bet nuobodu man skaityti apie tai… na ir Lauros istorija tokia. Hm. Pergerai ir perlengvai pasibaigė, nors Fran istorijos pabaiga buvo nebloga. Na bent aš nesitikėjau tokios. 😁 tačiau apibendrinant, man patiko, nes tiesiog mėgstu tokias istorijas ar patiks, kas tokių neskaito? Nemanau. 🤷‍♀️
Profile Image for Knygų  Romantikė.
318 reviews56 followers
January 19, 2022
Graži istorija, kuri atsakymus padėjo rasti dabartyje, tik kai buvo išaiškinta praeities istorija. Graži, jausminga, įtraukianti. Knyga ne iš plonųjų, bet skaitant tikrai nesijuto, kad istorija ištęsta ar per ilga. Viskas ko reikia. Labiau trūko man kaip romantikei, tai pačios romantiškosios istorijos dalies. Dėl to 4⭐
Profile Image for Paula Vince.
Author 11 books109 followers
September 25, 2013
After years as a touring musician, Fran Morrison returns home to London after her father's sudden stroke. Minster Glass, the family lead-lighting shop, stirs up memories she'd been attempting to smother, especially concerning her relationship with her father. She'd grown tired of his secretive and controlling ways. Now, it seems he may die without her learning the mystery of her mother's death when she was a toddler.

Remnants of an antique church window which had been damaged by a bomb blast in the war have been uncovered by the local vicar. Fran embarks on a mission to restore it, with the help of Zac, her father's talented assistant. It turns out to be the image of a beautiful angel, which they aim to research and painstakingly return to its former glory. One day, Fran discovers a diary from the Victorian era. Its writer, Laura Brownlow, a minister's daughter, describes how the window was commissioned as a memorial tribute to her younger sister. The leadlight artist is Philip Russell, a brilliant and gorgeous man with a tragic story.

The threads linking Laura's story with Fran's become more pronounced. In both the Victorian and modern stories, sabotage is being attempted by people who are opposed to the angel's completion, for reasons of their own. And Laura and Fran each have two completely different men in their lives, keeping the promise of romance simmering. Most of all, it's fascinating to see the two stories unfold side by side, more than a century apart, including the fact that Zac had more modern and sophisticated tools to work with than Philip did. Anyone interested in art would have to appreciate that.

I love the way this novel highlights what a powerful, yet tenuous thing history is. The original creation of the angel was such an engrossing and significant undertaking for Philip and Laura, yet if Fran and Zac hadn't persisted in restoring his masterpiece, their beautiful contribution to the world would have remained dormant and forgotten. Laura's story also shows the importance of making choices that resonate with our hearts, even if those around us are protesting. In her case, it made an immediate difference in the lives of two precious people, and a long-term difference in the lives of many more, as the family relationship pieces are put together, just like the pieces of the angel glass. I have to say, it's one of the sweetest finishes in a book I've come across.

It's the sort of book you want to keep daydreaming about long after you finish.
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Profile Image for Rachel.
11 reviews
May 20, 2015
Got through the first 100 pages before giving up. Found this very flat and dull with uninteresting characters.
Profile Image for Claudia.
193 reviews3 followers
November 6, 2016
Enjoyed the book...so many examples of family life gone wrong. No family is perfect; we are good at pretending.
Profile Image for Alecto.
81 reviews21 followers
December 29, 2013
Fran,a young tuba player, is the estranged glass painter's daughter. She comes back from a nomadic freelance orchestra player's life to the familiy businness in London because of her father illness and while staying put to assist him, finds herself caught between two men and a family secret regarding her dead mother as well as the family and businness history.

What to say about this book? I gave two stars because it must have cost some effort to the author to write anyway, but to me as a reader it was dull and flat.
There're a lot of expectation for things to happen, expectations never actually met by the plot.
There's a mistery, which is as plain as day, disappointingly commonplace when it unravels, there're the two male charachters who promises to be inetresting while turning out boring to Death and so predictable that even a kid could have drawn them better.
Things keep happening but do not bring anything into the rythm of the story, the end is so totally faint that annoyed me.

Reading this book was like eating tastless food, you fill yourself with no pleasure at all.
Profile Image for Ariko.
54 reviews23 followers
July 21, 2014
Another absolutely beautiful book by Rachel Hore; I already read A Place of Secrets. I don't know why but I just love her writing style. She writes so authentically, and her writing never containes more than it should, or less. Every single sentense has it's own meaning and adds its part to the story, so I never had the feeling about completely needless passages or about any missing ones. And the story was so touching, her writing pulled me completely into the story that I often thought I'm just right now in that story, one of the characters. I could even think about how Fran or Laura or Zac or Frans father or whoever could've looked like.
Totally recommendable book, and definitely not one of that ordinary women fiction stuff with dull love stories and conventional intrigues!
Profile Image for Carol Kerry-Green.
Author 9 books31 followers
March 11, 2010
I loved this book, it was heart warming and intriguing, the main characters made you care about them, and the juxtaposition of Fran's and Laura's stories worked very well. I also liked it for the stained glass, which I have done a little of, it was obvious the author had done her homework, which is always a plus. This is the last of the three Rachel Hore novels currently published, now I'll have to wait until later this year before the new one is out, but I'm sure it will be as good as these three have been.
Profile Image for Cleopatra  Pullen.
1,558 reviews323 followers
August 11, 2016
This a lovely novel primarily about stained glass makers both in the 1800's and present day, however, it also touches on many other subjects such as loss of a child, angels and the nature of faith. Beautifully researched and the stories intertwine in a natural way. Some books using this method feel "clunky" but Rachel Hore has managed it seamlessly. I will definitely read her other books and hope they were as lovely as this one..
Profile Image for John.
86 reviews
July 21, 2020
A book that started with promise, and then became; contrived, complicated with many pointless sub plots, and populated by hollow characters lacking any reality.

All in all a waste of good reading time.
Profile Image for Hannah Polley.
637 reviews11 followers
November 29, 2018
It took me ages to read this book as I couldn't really get into it. I don't think it helped that stained glass and angels were a large feature of the book as they are not topics that interest me at all.

It is a bit of an odd storyline in this book, as a musician's father has a stroke and she has to go back to London and manage his shop. Sadly, her dad never recovers and dies before they can reconcile their relationship but she does discover the truth about her mother.

Fran gets into an unsuitable relationship with the most ambitious conductor of a church choir ever, before eventually realising that she is in love with her dad's assistant.

In the meantime, the shop is set on fire by a person who is not much to do with the main plot. Also, her friend has an affair with an MP. It is a minor storyline to the book but I couldn't see the point of it.

In addition to all of this, part of the book is made up of a diary from Laura who lived around 100 years previously and was actually related to Fran. She has the most unrealistic courtship and ends up with her lover too.

The book felt all over the place to me. I didn't believe in Fran & Zac's relationship at the end of the book either and I felt he should have moved to Austrailia to be closer to his daughter.
190 reviews2 followers
February 17, 2017
This author knows her stuff when it comes to the world of stained glass! I have now learnt a whole lot more about how windows are made, from the individual panels to the assembly of the whole. She also dwells in the world of choral singing, which I know well - lovers of the Dream of Gerontius will enjoy this book.
And the story itself? A heart-warming love story spanning different generations of the same family, the tale moves between modern-day Fran, forced to leave her musician's life to be with her sick father and take over the family business, and Laura, vicar's daughter in the 1880's. Both find love through stained glass. I loved this book and can't wait to read more of Rachel Hore's work.
1,426 reviews25 followers
February 5, 2015
Our story starts with a phone call. Fran's father has had a serious stroke and she is needed at home. Fortunately, Fran works as a travelling musician and she is between gigs when she gets the call. Hurrying home she finds her dad nearly comatose with the doctors having no clear prognosis to offer. While he can't respond to her she is convinced he can hear her and she assures him that she will be taking care of his shop, Minster Glass.

Fortunately, Fran had grown up around the business. Her mom had died at an early age leaving Fran and her dad on their own. The two had lived in the flat above the store and spent hours together working on the glass. All that training comes back to her now as she deals with customers and helps Zac, the glass artist, fill orders. When they receive a request to restore a stained glass angel window for the local church Fran finds herself taking on the role of researcher as well. All they have are the shattered bits of glass that were saved after the window was blown out in a bomb blast during WWII. Looking through the old papers at their shop Fran is amazed to find the diary of a woman named Laura and her love story from the Victorian past. Soon, Fran sees that the angels all around her have history, some with a very close tie to her.

This story is an interesting look at how our past informs our present. Fran and her father had had a troubled relationship and it is only as all the secrets get the dust blown off them that she is able to come fully to peace with her father, her self and their joint history. As that happens Fran also finds herself putting down roots for the first time in her adult life - and finally forming the kind of romantic relationship she always wanted. The romance was a bit rushed for me, the story a bit slow paced but I found it an overall enjoyable read.

Profile Image for Jud.
164 reviews
March 18, 2013
I really enjoyed this book despite it being very predictable from early on.

The story begins with Fran who is abroad having finished a tour playing as part of an orchestra. She has just found out that her fling is actually engaged and saw her as his final bit of fun before settling down with his wife-to-be. On top of this she receives a phone call from her Dad’s ‘assistant’ Zac to tell her that her dad has taken seriously ill with a stroke and she must return home immediately.

Once she gets home she takes over the glass workshop her Dad owns and starts to unravel the mystery of the Angel Window that was discovered in the local church. This leads her to find the diary of a girl called Laura Brownlow who was the daughter of the family who commissioned the window and which reveals a lot more than just the history leading up to the creation of the window.

Overall the story is well written but feels a little bit clunky/unpolished at times. It’s a lovely light read and I would recommend it.
845 reviews
July 30, 2015
I’m not going to spend a whole lot of time reviewing “The Glass Painter’s Daughter” because I ended up feeling somewhat indifferent about the whole story. As far as stars, just 2 1/2 from me.

Classical musician Fran returns to England when her father has a debilitating stroke. He is a stained glass artist and the shop is now Fran’s responsibility. She becomes involved in the local choir and the characters around her become her family. A window of an angel that needs to be repaired for the local church holds a mystery that helps Fran unlock some of her own life challenges.

The basic premise intrigued me, but it just had way too many details in all aspects: glass, family backgrounds, relationships, choir/music, etc. It just became an uphill reading battle that became tedious over 450 pages. This particular Rachel Hore book will not make it to the shelves of my personal library. (I will add here that I would certainly read her works again though. I really liked "Gathering Storm".)
116 reviews1 follower
August 24, 2012
The glass painters daughter is Rachel Hore's third book.

Fran Marrison's returns home after a phone call telling her that her father has suffered a stroke. Fran and her father have over the last decade have had an uneasy relationship. Her father owns Minster Glass in Westminster which Fran when younger worked. Fran takes her place in her fathers shop alongside Zac. They accept a commission to restore a shattered glass picture of an angel. Alongside this story Fran uncovers a diary written to Caroline from her sister Laura dated a century earlier. The link between the Fran and Laura is the angel. I enjoyed this book and read it with ease. I would recommend this book.
Profile Image for Connie53.
1,233 reviews3 followers
September 5, 2019
Fijn boek, maar niet opvallend. Fran keert terug naar huis omdat haar vader een beroerte heeft gekregen en neemt de winkel en werkplaats van hem over. Haar vader maakt glas-in-lood objecten maar ook kerkramen. En daar gaat Fran mee aan de gang, samen met Zac, de assistent van haar vader. Omdat haar vader in coma ligt moet Fran ook op zoek naar papieren en dergelijke die te maken hebben met de opdracht. Daarbij komt ze een dagboek tegen van Laura, een jonge vrouw die 100 jaar eerder vaak in het zelfde huis kwam. Dan gaat ze op zoek naar de geschiedenis van Laura en ze probeert er ook achter te komen wie haar moeder was. Een 7, maar hier een 6.
34 reviews2 followers
August 30, 2013
I find this a difficult book to review. At times I found I didn't want to put it down, and times, I found I was reading it, because I just did not want to give up. I never really engaged with the cast, and could not understand truly why the lead females Fran and Laura would have done. I feel in the main they were one dimensional, and in some cases almost only there for additional padding. This all said, I would not want to say I gained no enjoyment, as the story itself was a peaceful backdrop, both to the characters and my current hectic lifestyle. Thus warranting me not awarding a two.
Profile Image for Jo.
738 reviews15 followers
May 13, 2018
Well it is “nice”, but a bit too twee and predictable for my liking. I enjoyed reading about the stained glass, the churches and the history but even then, it seemed like the author had tried to get in all the facts about the making of stained glass so carefully and accurately that it lost any of the genuineness of a stained glass workshop. The end was predictable from the start and just too convenient for words. A shame as the subject had drawn me to the novel. One for the charity shop I think!
Profile Image for Farnoush Bikdeli.
31 reviews1 follower
August 10, 2015
I loved this book. It makes for a sweet and light read. Book follows the story of Fran, who is a musician and an artist, her circle of friends in SW London, her dad's stained glass shop and Laura Brownlow Who lived hundred years earlier and their quest for love, happiness and truth and now the book is finished I miss them. There are lots of theological discussions but they do not make the book a heavy read.
79 reviews7 followers
May 27, 2019
The first book I read of Rachel Hore (I think) and it made a good impression because I kept reading and buying her books. With this book I found a writer that made me read more romantic story's.

This has a nice setting, a nice atmosphere. A feel good story with depth. Ideal for summer days in the sun on a terrace, or on wintery days under a blanket in the couch.


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Profile Image for Jane(Janelba).
409 reviews41 followers
December 3, 2011
I loved this book. It was a family journey looking back over time and finding out where you came from. Sadness, death, happiness, love and romance. This book has it all and really likeable characters too.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 228 reviews

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