House of Glass (24 page)

Acknowledgments

This book was conceived over a lunch with two of the most dedicated publishing folks I know: my agent, Barbara Poelle, and my editor, Erika Imranyi. Little did they know that the fairly straightforward back-of-the-napkin outline I took home in my purse would take us on such an interesting journey. I would like to thank them for both high expectations and the grit to see the process through: this one is also for you two.

Thank you, also, to the Harlequin team for making me feel welcome at every step of the way. From warehouse to conference room to rooftop, you set the bar high, and I’m honored to be a part of the endeavor.

House
of
Glass

SOPHIE LITTLEFIELD

Reader’s Guide

Questions for Discussion

1. The Glasses’ marriage is somewhat fragile at the
   beginning of the book. Are the issues genuine, or a product of Jen’s
   imagination? Is she justified in doubting Ted?
   
2. Livvy is also at odds with her parents at the outset
   of the book. Is this normal teen behavior, or is there something more
   concerning at work? How does it affect her development as the story
   progresses?
   
3. Teddy has a condition in which he doesn’t speak. Ted
   and Jen handle this very differently. Who is right? How does this
   condition affect the family and the Glasses’ marriage? How does Teddy’s
   decision to speak near the end of the book fit into the
   story?
   
4. Jen and her sister, Tanya, grew up under difficult
   circumstances. How did these dictate the choices each made in
   adulthood?
   
5. Sid’s death brought up a variety of emotions for the
   sisters, especially given their estrangement. Are there lessons here on
   the consequences of grown children attempting to distance themselves
   from painful childhood memories?
   
6. Several red herrings cast suspicion on a variety of
   characters, including Sid, Livvy’s boyfriend and even the family
   gardener. Given the circumstances, did Jen’s speculation make sense, or
   was it merely the product of her hysteria?
   
7. Livvy endures a horrific encounter with Ryan. Where
   does she get the strength to endure and fight back?
   
8. Tanya’s arrival marks a turning point in the course
   of events, but also results in her grave injury. Is she the true heroine
   of the story? Are there limits to what she would do for her sister and
   her family?
   
9. Ted’s final moments are spent reliving the choices
   he made that led to the invasion. Does he ultimately bear the largest
   share of the blame, even posthumously? When, if ever, did he behave
   heroically?
   
10. As a mother, what are some of the challenges that
    Jen faces during the events of the novel, and how does she rise to
    confront them? How do you feel about her actions? Would you respond
    similarly or differently, and how?
    

A Conversation with Sophie
Littlefield

House of Glass
is an emotionally charged, ripped-from-the-headlines
thriller about a family put to the ultimate test. What was your inspiration
for this story?

A number of years ago, a home invasion took place in
Connecticut. A family of four was imprisoned, abused, and all but the husband
killed. Details of the case, and the subsequent trial and conviction of the
killers, held the country in thrall and dominated the news for weeks.

I was unable to watch or read accounts of the case. Though I
often write about violent characters and dark impulses, I have a low tolerance
for real evil and suffering, and often take the coward’s path, burying my head
in the sand until the story is supplanted by fresher news.

But several aspects of the case were impossible for me to
forget. One in particular: the mother was taken from the home by one of the
killers and driven to a bank where she was forced to withdraw money. She
believed that when she handed over the money, her family would be freed. She
knew her husband had been beaten and her children were vulnerable and
defenseless.

I can’t imagine a more desperate moment for a mother. I
decided to retell the story with a different outcome, giving her a bit of luck,
a few unexpected allies and strength she didn’t realize she possessed, from a
source she had forgotten.

Like
House of Glass,
your previous novel,
Garden of Stones,
also featured a mother in a harrowing situation, forced
to make a difficult decision in order to save her family. Is this a
recurring theme in all your novels? What is the message you’re trying to
send about motherhood?

When my agent, Barbara Poelle, pointed out this recurrent
theme, I was surprised. I hadn’t noticed that it was such a consistent thread.
Soon, though, I came to see that it is the element that binds my work in all my
disparate genres.

It’s probably no accident that all my published novels were
written in 2007 or later. In that year, my children were twelve and fourteen, no
longer children but not yet adults, and I had experienced some of the challenges
of raising adolescents and glimpsed the long shadow of the challenges to come. A
mother of an infant is fiercely protective; a mother of a teen—a person with
some autonomy—must face the terrifying fact that she can’t protect against all
the danger in the world. I think my stories were an effort to direct all this
helpless maternal protectiveness and fear.

Now that my children are nineteen and twenty-one, they have
experienced and survived any number of hurts, and I have been forced to admit
that I am no longer the axis around which their lives turn. This, too, is an
aching change for a mother. But there is recompense: the older they get, the
more frequent the glimpses of their own strength and capability.

In
House of Glass
, both
children are instrumental in helping the family survive. I didn’t realize it at
the time, but I think this reflects my own shift to seeing my children as
powerful on their own.

Is there a message there? Other than “Parenthood is not for
the weak,” I’m not sure. Maybe it would be more apt to see my work as a sort of
therapy journal....

What was your toughest challenge, your
greatest pleasure and your biggest surprise as you were writing
House of Glass?

I was going through a divorce while writing this book, and as
a result, my poor fictional couple was saddled with all kinds of angst that
wasn’t the least bit germane to the story. There was a memorable three-way phone
call in which my agent and editor gently broke it to me that I had to go back to
the drawing board and, in essence, reimagine these characters while remembering
that they are not me. I don’t think I will ever really learn this lesson—all my
characters are me in some sense, from the most heinous criminal to the bratty
kid down the street—but this experience did teach me to create a little distance
in a very crowded creative realm.

My greatest pleasure was probably joking around with my
sister about “her” character. Early in the first draft, Jen’s sister, Tanya, was
a feckless sort who brought about her own ignominious end—and also drank too
much and had really trashy taste. I loved calling Kristen up and saying “You’ll
never believe what you did today.” I figured it was only fair, since the early
version of Jen was uptight, snobbish and dismissive. As the book progressed, I
was able to report to Kristen that “her” character got stronger and wiser while
Jen had to learn a few hard lessons. I’m very lucky that Kristen is a forgiving
sort.

As for my biggest surprise—I suppose it would be the
effortlessness of writing Ted, the husband. As someone who spends a fair amount
of time bashing middle-aged white guys for any number of sins and irritations, I
was surprised to find that I not only understood his motivation, his emotions
and shame and longing, but that I had great compassion for him.

Can you describe your writing process?
Do you outline first or dive right in? Do you write scenes consecutively or
jump around? Do you have a schedule or a routine? A lucky charm?

I am still searching for my best process, and I’m getting the
feeling that search will last a lifetime! True to my restless nature, I try lots
of different things. I’ve written with detailed outlines and none at all; in
chronological order and jumping around.

I do keep a detailed guide for every book and series. This
includes a table of characters with their most salient characteristics, a
timeline and a list of significant places. As for schedule…I adore the fact that
this job lets me set my own hours. I work throughout the day—from first sip of
coffee through the glass of wine that marks the end of most evenings—but I take
breaks whenever I feel like it: to do chores, go to the gym or hiking, have
lunch with friends, hang out with my daughter after school.

I have a variety of talismans in my office. There are three
little plastic penguins, a mini Etch A Sketch on which my son wrote I Love You
when he was eight or ten, a tiara given to me by a writing friend and the card
that came with the flowers my brother sent to mark the publication of my first
novel.

What can you tell us about your next
novel?

In January of 2013, I visited a “man camp” in an oil boomtown
in western North Dakota and was moved to write a story set against that
backdrop. All of my assumptions were challenged: from what a rig would look
like, to what an oilman—or woman—would be like, to how it would feel when my
little prop plane touched down on a toy-sized runway on a zero-degree winter
night. The story itself came to me in one blinding flash: two twenty-year-old
boys go missing from their oil rig jobs, and their mothers must join forces to
find them.

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ISBN-13: 9781460327067

HOUSE OF GLASS

Copyright © 2014 by Sophie Littlefield

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