The Glass Of Lead And Gold- Cornelia Funke

Pushkin Press

Book Review By Gemma E McLaughlin

I was excited to read The Glass Of Lead And Gold when I first picked it up as it has a wonderfully charming cover design that promises a magical and equally as stunning story within. I’m not often inclined towards books based in worlds just beyond our own with various magical elements mixed in as they often feel a little tired and dull. Upon seeing this book however, I reminded myself that I am almost open to being proven wrong and so I opened to the first page and prepared to open my mind.

The story is set in a city by the name of Londra on Christmas Eve with a young homeless girl called Tabetha. She pends her days scouring the river for coins and treasures she can sell, or sometimes trade for a bowl of soup from a nearby restaurant. When she is approached by a mysterious man by the river who claims he will pay her handsomely to find a piece of glass she decides to do some research and discovers it is said to have magical properties. Along the way she makes new friends and uncovers mysteries, not as much about the magical glass but about herself and the world around her.

I desperately wanted to enjoy this book more than I did, however it simply didn’t grab me. The plot was something I found a little predictable and made it a lot more difficult to stick through until the end. I do enjoy a shorter book occasion but I feel like in this case it’s a shame there wasn’t more done with this, and perhaps if it was a little longer or more detailed it would have felt a little less forgettable.

Despite my sense of disappointment I truly loved the way that the characters were written. I found the friendships formed were cute and unique and I genuinely felt for their pain. I was simply put off by the sense that the lessons they learned and the plot they followed was a little repetitive and frankly uninspiring. I think I would adore these characters and this writing style in perhaps a different story line. It’s because of all these things that I am willing to, and very excited to read more of Cornelia Funke’s work in the hopes of finding something that truly captures me.

As someone who has a love- hate relationship with this book and is quite often wrong, this week I would like to hear the opinions of others. If you have also read The Glass Of Lead And Gold, please do feel free to tweet me and inform me that I am wrong and why. I shall eagerly await your call to respectful debate.