Canadian Audiobook

Finished September 28
A Map of Glass by Jane Urquhart, read by Hillary Huber
This story has a tale in the present and a tale in the past that are related to each other.
In the present Sylvia Bradley married her father's medical partner, Malcolm, who thinks she has a "condition" and treats her carefully in response to this. Sylvia met another man, Andrew Woodman, a historical geographer. He connected with her in a way that changed her world. A year after Andrew's death, Sylvia works up the courage to leave her community for the city and meet with Jerome McNaughton, the young artists who discovered Andrew's body.
There, she tells Jerome Andrew's story and shares Andrew's notebooks with him. This experience opens a door for Jerome into his own past and reveals secrets he didn't know.
The past story is Andrew's story, the story of his family, mostly that of his grandfather Branwell who married against his father's wishes. Branwell married an orphan French Canadian girl, and became an innkeeper and muralist painter. The story of Branwell is linked back to the present and it is the imagery that makes this book come alive. There is a lot here about surfaces and different textures. It is hard to know how to describe the book, except to say that it evokes strong images throughout.