The Girl in the Glass
Read The Girl in the Glass Online
Authors: Susan Meissner
Praise for
The Girl in the Glass
“
The Girl in the Glass
is possibly the most beautiful book I’ve ever read. Susan Meissner lifted her book to the level of poetry at the same time she drew me in so deeply to the story that I was lost in the world she created. The story comes in three threads that twist together into a stunning, compelling, enchanting whole. I absolutely loved it.”
—M
ARY
C
ONNEALY
, author of The Kincaid Brides series
“
The Girl in the Glass
is a compelling story that left me begging the world to stop long enough to savor its pages. Susan Meissner is a master storyteller who weaves times and characters together with writing that paints perfect images. This time she gifts us with a trip to Florence, home of art and story.”
—C
ARA
C. P
UTMAN
, award-winning author of
A Wedding Transpires on Mackinac Island
and
Stars in the Night
“Susan Meissner has done it again with this sweeping tale that will have you turning the pages late into the night. Get caught up in the journey of Meg as she finds her life and direction in the beauty and mystery of Italy. You will be cheering
magnifico
!”
—J
ENNY
B. J
ONES
, award-winning author of
Save the Date
and A Charmed Life series
Praise for
Susan Meissner
“Meissner delivers a delightful page-turner that will surely enthrall readers from beginning to end. The antebellum details, lively characters, and overlapping dramas particularly will excite history buffs and romance fans.”
—Publisher’s Weekly
starred review
“Meissner transports readers to another time and place to weave her lyrical tale of love, loss, forgiveness, and letting go.”
—K
AREN
W
HITE
,
New York Times
best-selling author of
The Beach Trees
“My eyes welled up more than once! A beautiful story of love, loss, and sacrifice, and of the bonds that connect us through time.”
—S
USANNA
K
EARSLEY
,
New York Times
best-selling author of
The Winter Sea
“How does Susan create characters that stay with me long after I close the book? How does she address the emotions and memories that hold us hostage with such grace? I keep reading, knowing I’ll discover a fascinating story and hoping I’ll infuse some of the skill and craft that Susan weaves to make it.”
—J
ANE
K
IRKPATRICK
, award-winning author of
The Daughter’s Walk
B
OOKS BY
S
USAN
M
EISSNER
A Sound Among the Trees
Lady in Waiting
White Picket Fences
The Shape of Mercy
Blue Heart Blessed
A Seahorse in the Thames
In All Deep Places
The Remedy for Regret
A Window to the World
Why the Sky Is Blue
Rachael Flynn Mysteries
Widows and Orphans
Sticks and Stones
Days and Hours
T
HE
G
IRL IN THE
G
LASS
P
UBLISHED BY
W
ATERBROOK
P
RESS
12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921
All Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version.
Apart from well-known real people and real events associated with Medici history, the characters and events in this book are fictional and any resemblance to actual persons or events is coincidental.
eISBN: 978-0-307-73043-5
Copyright © 2012 by Susan Meissner
Cover design by Kelly L. Howard
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., New York.
W
ATER
B
ROOK
and its deer colophon are registered trademarks of Random House Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Meissner, Susan, 1961–
The girl in the glass : a novel / Susan Meissner. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
I. Title.
PS3613.E435G57 2012
813′.6—dc23
2012013005
v3.1
For Bob, because he promised to take me to Florence. And he did
.
Everything you
can imagine
is real.
—
P
ABLO
P
ICASSO
Contents
The sun is setting on my last day in Florence. Tomorrow I will marry the man my uncle has chosen for me and Florence will be at my back, perhaps forever. My soon-to-be husband will have no reason to come here after we marry, and my uncle will not expect to see me again. His responsibilities for me, such as they are, will be done.
My cousin Maria does not understand my melancholy at the prospect of leaving forever the place where my life began. “What has Florence ever brought you but heartache?” she has said more than once.
And if I’ve any kindred souls in this world besides her, perhaps they would say she is right.
But within my heart so cruelly handled, there are unseen places that have been shaped by Florence’s beauty. Florence is a coin with two sides, a room with two doors, a river with two banks. Everything that wounded me happened here. And everything that brought me solace happened here too.
Maria brought me to Rome with her to see me out of Florence, out of the maelstrom of Medici woe that she believes Florence is to me. Maria does not know that Florence alone speaks condolence to me; I couldn’t wait to return. Only Florence, in all her vast majesty, assures me that as much as people can create ugliness, they can create splendor. It is all around me in Florence: the ache of loveliness, in every work forged by human hands that can kill as soundly as they heal.
And now it seems I must bid farewell to my very soul.
Maria is calling for me. The carriage is ready. My uncle would have us leave for the Villa dell’Ambrogiana before darkness falls.
As I depart, Florence safeguards my childhood treasures, buried beneath the marble and within the frescoes and in the threads of the canvases. All my longings, whispered on dark nights and gray days, I press them now into the folds of my city, so that as my shadow falls away from Florence forevermore, I shall not be forgotten by her.
Nora Orsini
October 1592
1
