Shattering Glass

Martha Wilson is Canadian correspondent for the Japan Times (Tokyo) and
a Toronto-based freelance editor and writer.

The women at the centre of Shattering Glass are battling various demons
as they search for purpose in their lives. Judy, Dede, and Barbara meet
at a spa in Italy. Very private women, they share little of their
personal histories with one another, and consequently don’t realize
how much they actually have in common. When a tragic message from Canada
reaches the spa, it could be intended for any one of them—all have
families in various stages of panic and loss.

Judy is a lawyer who forged her way through school after her divorce
settlement left her penniless. She is determined to succeed, but does so
at the expense of her relationship with her son. Dede is married to a
career politician who views her as part of his public image. Barbara is
a writer whose husband reacts brutally to her newfound success and
independence.

The women’s situations are interesting, but Rotstein sometimes
manipulates them in improbable ways that intrude on an otherwise
realistic tone. It jars when, for example, the author uses the tired old
device of the supermarket check-out line to show Judy’s humiliation
(Judy needs food stamps and an old friend just happens to be standing in
the line).

Rotstein has a good ear for dialogue, and her workmanlike prose is
smooth and imaginative. Ultimately, however, the novel gives a sense of
having received insufficient attention from a critical eye.