The Sound of Glass by Karen White

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The Sound of Glass by Karen White


                When Merritt Heyward moved to South Carolina she was hoping to start a new life far away from her hometown in Maine. Her husband Cal was a fireman who had died on the job. His grandmother Edith had left him the home that had been in the Heyward family for generations. Since he was also deceased the home passed to Merritt, who had never been to South Carolina and didn’t know anything about Cal’s family. Moving to South Carolina would change Merritt and her outlook on life. Not just moving to a new home, meeting Cal’s brother Gibbes, and realizing a cycle of abuse. But meeting her half-brother, Owen and her stepmother Loralee, the woman who had damaged her relationship with her father. 
                The Sound of Glass is a well written, enjoyable, fascinating story about women, relationships, physical abuse and secrets. Merritt is the main character of this novel and she is shattered beyond belief. She blames herself for the death of her mother, she fractured her relationship with her father before his death and she had an abusive husband. Merritt is the POV character through most of the novel, with third person views of both Loralee and Edith. All of the female leads were well rounded characters with believable and interesting story arcs, with motivations that it took time to understand and who I genuinely liked.
                Karen White did a pretty good job entrenching me in this story. From the beginning the emotions were heavy, the scars were obvious and there was a hint of mystery and scandal laced throughout. I enjoyed seeing the characters develop and their lives change. This novel was simply well executed. The plot slowly unfolded but didn’t drag. White handled a very painful topic in a very sensitive and yet honest manner. Some pains and cuts run very deep. It takes time for those wounds to heal. Sometimes the most unexpected situations can be exactly what you need to heal and grow. I would recommend this book and give it 4 out of 5 stars. This wouldn’t be a bad summer read at all!


Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this book in exchange for an honest review. 

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