Family

As might be expected of a novel whose premise focuses so heavily on generational passage, Glassworks is fascinated with the consequences of family relationships. Wolfgang-Smith explores in depth the ways in which trauma and experience is passed between generations to both the advantage and disadvantage of its inheritors. Furthermore, she spends time probing at the question of what constitutes "family," and leaves room for the possibility that family is sometimes constructed rather than inherited.

Throughout the novel, characters struggle with the financial, social, and emotional burdens placed on them by their previous generation of family members. Edward, for instance, struggles to know what to make of his parents' relative indifference to him, making a series of poor life decisions that are spurred by his desire to prove himself not only independent from his parents but in some respects opposite them. Novak, similarly, oversteps Cecily's boundaries because...