Under Glass: The Girl with a Thousand Christmas Trees

by Jen Hirt

According to Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders, when she went back to Ohio, her city was gone. For Jen Hirt, her Strongsville, Ohio, greenhouses were gone. Her ancestry, bloodlines, memories, and her complete identity were replaced by a large-chain pharmacy store. Four generations taken away by the wrecking ball; fourteen greenhouses dismantled and shattered. Under Glass traces the rise and fall of the family business and the family itself. Hirt is the girl with a thousand Christmas trees growing up surrounded by life and vitality. She is the greenhouse filled with hope and growth. Then the rubble sets in. Financial pressures, a brutal divorce, and the demolition of her past, literally. The story is Hirt's memoir told with poignancy and honesty—as honest as the greenhouse tattoo she has on her arm. For Hirt, the greenhouse metaphor, in its richness, is the soul of America and her life.

Genres: Memoir

200 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Jen Hirt is the author of the memoir UNDER GLASS: THE GIRL WITH A THOUSAND CHRISTMAS TREES (Ringtaw Books/University of Akron Press 2010), which won the Drake University Emerging Writer Prize for 2011; the poetry chapbook TOO MANY QUESTIONS ABOUT STRAWBERRIES (Tolsun Books 2018); and the essay collection HEAR ME OHIO (University of Akron Press 2020). Other award-winning writing includes "Students of the Route" (Terrain contest finalist); "Glow in the Dark" (Gabehart Prize); and "Lores of Last Unicorns" (Pushcart Prize). She has had four essays make the list of notable essays in the Best America Essays series. She is the co-editor of CREATING NONFICTION: TWENTY ESSAYS AND INTERVIEWS WITH THE WRITERS (SUNY 2016) , which won "Gold" at the Foreword INDIE Book of the Year Awards in the anthology category. She is also the co-editor of KEPT SECRET: THE HALF-TRUTH IN NONFICTION (MSU 2017). Her creative work has been published in journals such The Gettysburg Review, The Colorado Review, TriQuarterly, Salamander, and Redivider. She holds a B.A. in English from Hiram College, an M.A. in English from Iowa State University, and an M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Idaho. She lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and teaches at Penn State Harrisburg.

Reviews

[Karen]

While not a linear read, Jen Hirt's Under Glass: The Girl with a Thousand Christmas Trees is a great memoir about the author's relationship with her family greenhouse business. She blends personal history, with family history and science, making readers (including me!) learn more how greenhouses play into our world.

[Debbie]

I grew up in the Cleveland area (although not Strongsville - I only got down there a few times) around the same time as Jen did, so I was really interested in this local history kind of book. It truly satisfies my need for personal narrative while allow weaving bits of related history and science, sometimes without me noticing the shift in focus. I hate that the Hirt family has gone through so much trouble, especially since Jen's descriptions of her family's greenhouses are so full of feeling that I would love to visit them, but it feels like she tried really hard to finish off the book with a "don't weep for us" kind of mood... which I don't. My favorite section: the collage-like essay "Stronghold." After reading a book like this, I want to really work at turning my black thumb into a green thumb, put the Grotto of Redemption on my bucket list, and research exotic fringe plants and their uses.

[The University of Akron Press]

Under Glass: The Girl with a Thousand Christmas Trees by Jen Hirt (2010)