Elizabeth McGregor The Girl in the Green Glass Mirror

The Girl in the Green Glass Mirror

Elizabeth McGregor

Bantam, Aug 2005, $24.00

ISBN: 055380359X

Art appraiser Catherine Sergeant thought their marriage was perfect until her husband Robert left her without warning just vanishing. Feeling betrayed and unable to confide in anyone even her friend and partner Amanda, she turns even deeper into her fixation, Victorian painter Richard Dadd, who spent four decades in Bedlam after slicing his father's throat with a knife that he insists Osiris told him to do to free his sire; there he painted his masterpieces.

That helps a bit, but not much as she still mourns the loss of her relationship. Fleeing from London to Dorset to find solace, Catherine meets architect John Brigham, two decades older than her. They find commonality when she learns he is the grandson of the attendant at the insane asylum that housed Dadd. He not only knows a lot of insider information on the crazed artist, but owns several works. John insists that Catherine resembles a character in one of the paintings he possesses. As they begin to have an affair, Catherine learns that her lover suffers from heart disease that will soon prove fatal.

THE GIRL IN THE GREEN GLASS MIRROR is a remarkable tale that contains a strong lead protagonist and a powerful support cast in London and Dorset that enables further insight into Catherine and to a lesser degree John. A subplot that takes the audience inside 1840s Bedlam is a stunner that will horrify the audience. Though the climax starring John's sister Helen in a key role seems contrived fans of character driven novels that focus on the arts will appreciate Elizabeth McGregor's portrait of an obsessed woman in trouble.

Harriet Klausner