Top 10 Books of 2020: Number 7

The Glass Ocean by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig & Karen White

As you know, I’m a big fan of Lauren Willig. I read a book by Beatriz Williams last year and enjoyed that quite a bit too – Karen White is still a mystery to me.

The Glass Ocean is set in the early 1900’s, and the story mainly revolves around the sinking of the Lusitania, to be exact. Caroline Hochsetter is crossing the ocean with her husband Gilbert. He is making the crossing to do a business transaction, while she is hoping to rekindle their marriage. However, her friend Robert Langford is on the voyage too, and she finds herself spending a lot more time with him than her cold husband.

Meanwhile, in the early aughts, author Sarah Blake is looking for an idea for her next novel. She is in financial difficulties while taking care of her ailing mother. She is looking into her family’s history, which intertwines with the sinking of the Lusitania, and she reaches out to the descendant of the Langford family to find answers.

The Glass Ocean is a novel with multiple layers of intrigue and romance. It certainly wasn’t clear to me how things were all going to shake out, other than the ship sinking. That I knew.
I wouldn’t necessarily have guessed that three authors worked on this book. While different characters have distinct voices, it’s no different than any other novel with multiple narrators. I found myself trying to guess what chapters were written by Willig – and I still don’t really know.

I will admit, there was a certain amount of bias coming into this novel. As a fan of two of the authors writing in one of my favorite genres, the odds were stacked in its favor. But still, I had a very good time with it. Because I couldn’t help but want to get other things done in order to find out what happens next, The Glass Ocean sails onto my top 10 list at number 7.