The Girl in the Glass
by Jeffrey Ford

Review by: Craig R. Stafford

Few authors excite my bookish heart more that Jeffrey Ford. Spotting another book of his on the shelf makes my pupils widen and my heart race. Quickly, I always clutch it to my chest and rush immediately to the checkout line for a purchase, as ownership is simply a must.

While this tale is not as solid as The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque (his gold standard, in my humble, yet correct, opinion), there is something so simplistically joyful about falling into the world of The Girl in the Glass-which reminded me of some of my treasured reads from the summers of my youth: Ray Bradbury, H.G. Wells, Hardy Boys, Robert Louis Stevenson.

In fact, The Girl in the Glass most reminds me of the joy of reading Stevenson's Kidnapped or Treasure Island; adventurous, safe fun with a cast of colorful and unique characters, both unsavory and otherwise. Ford peppers his novel with all the requisite denizens of black-and-white B-moviedom: G-men, freaks, ghosts, the wealthy and the scam artists. And, of course, a villain. Gotta have a villain!

Simply a perfect read anytime during the year!