The Cottage at Glass Beach: A Novel

Heather Barbieri

May 2012 · Harper Collins

About this ebook

“The Cottage at Glass Beach, an enchanting novel about mothers and daughters on an isolated island, is a romantic, delicious read. Barbieri’s beautiful writing and beguiling world view revel in the realities and the mysteries of the sea and of life itself.” — Nancy Thayer, New York Times bestselling author of Heat Wave

Heather Barbieri follows her acclaimed Gaelic-tinged drama The Lace Makers of Glenmara with the resonant tale of a woman who, in the wake of scandal, flees to a remote Maine island to reconnect with her past—and to come to terms with the childhood tragedy that has haunted her for a lifetime.

Married to the youngest attorney general in Massachusetts history, Nora Cunningham is a picture-perfect political wife and mother. But her life falls to pieces when she, along with the rest of the world, learns of the infidelity of her husband, Malcolm.

Humiliated and hounded by the press, Nora packs up her young daughters and takes refuge on Burke's Island, a craggy spit of land off the coast of Maine. Settled by Irish immigrants, the island is a place where superstition and magic are carried on the ocean winds, and wishes and dreams wash ashore with the changing tides.

Nora has not been back to the remote community for decades—not since the summer her mother disappeared at sea. One night while sitting alone on Glass Beach below the cottage where she spent her childhood, Nora succumbs to grief, her tears flowing into the ocean. Days later she finds an enigmatic fisherman named Owen Kavanagh shipwrecked on the rocks nearby. Is he, as her friend Polly suggests, a selkie—a mythical being of island legend—summoned by her heartbreak, or simply someone else trying to find his way in the wake of his own personal struggles?

Just as she begins to regain her balance, her daughters embark on a reckless odyssey of their own—a journey that will force Nora to find the courage to chart her own course and finally face the truth about her marriage, her mother, and her long-buried past.

Ratings and reviews

Interesting, relevant read about a newly singled mother redefining herself while discovering her family & island history. The fantastical spin to this story however, is vague and assumes the reader is well-versed in silkie lore. The conclusion feels rushed and unresolved.

Centered around Nora, a woman who has just been devastated by her husband's affair that has gone public, she decides to go back to the last place where she felt safe. With the help of her aunt, she starts to put back the pieces and find a new direction to take for her life.

About the author

The author of two previous novels, The Lace Makers of Glenmara and Snow in July, Heather Barbieri has won international prizes for her short fiction. She lives in Seattle with her family.