A review by mat_tobin
The Glassmaker's Daughter by Jane Ray, Dianne Hofmeyr

4.0

Much like [b:Cinnamon|13389825|Cinnamon|Neil Gaiman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1499999325s/13389825.jpg|18620713], this is fairy-tale like in the theme of a quest to make a girl happy. Set in 13th century Venice, Hofmeyr weaves in the city's illustrious glass-making history and tells a story about a young girl who is deeply unhappy. Her father challenges anyone who can make her smile to winning a vast palace of glass. What wins her over in the end is a nice message about looking inwards to affect how we look outwards - a more forward-thinking change from those traditional tale tropes. I also liked the fact that both men and women took on the challenge of making the daughter smile rather than a host of men. Ray's illustrations show her at the very peak of her skill; I found them rather wonderful.