Review: The Pilgrim Glass by Julie K. Rose

Title: The Pilgrim Glass
Author: Julie K. Rose
Publisher: Lulu.com
Publish Date: November 22, 2010
Source: Received a copy from the author. This didn't affect my review.

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You're a historical fiction fan.
• You like a little mystery.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "The Pilgrim Glass is the story of an artist, a priest, and a photographer, and the restoration of a stained glass one summer in Vézelay, France. This is no ordinary glass, however; it has a strange, almost hypnotic effect on them, changing them in positive and destructive ways.

Jonas Flycatcher, a well-respected but prickly artisan is contracted to repair a stained glass found deep in the ancient altar of the cathedral of Mary Magdalene at Vézelay. Traveling from California to Burgundy for the project, he meets Abbot Dubay, a worldly priest with a painful secret.

He begins the laborious work of restoring the stained glass offering, but when he meets Meredith, an ex-pat photographer who seems to be channeling a 12th century pilgrim, his carefully constructed world - and the ancient glass - are threatened."

My Two Cents:

I really enjoyed this book! I read it pretty quickly as I couldn't put it down. Jonas Flycatcher (how great is that name?) is charged with fixing the stained glass window of Mary Magadalene in the church in Vezelay, France. He's instantly taken with Meredith, a gorgeous photographer, who is hiding something.

The setting is fantastic. I've never been to France but had no problem envisioning how the French countryside might look or the awe I may feel taking in the gorgeous stained glas...moreI really enjoyed this book! I read it pretty quickly as I couldn't put it down. Jonas Flycatcher (how great is that name?) is charged with fixing the stained glass window of Mary Magadalene in the church in Vezelay, France. He's instantly taken with Meredith, a gorgeous photographer, who is hiding something.

The setting is fantastic. I've never been to France but had no problem envisioning how the French countryside might look or the awe I may feel taking in the gorgeous stained glass windows in the church.

This book has a little history, a bit of a mystery and a dash of romance. It was wonderful to watch it all come together and to be able to figure out what exactly was going on with Meredith. This book does have some sort of paranormal elements to that (specifically a whiff of reincarnation), which was sort of interesting.

The only criticism that I have is that there is a lot of French in the book although this was not a dealbreaker. I really struggled with this and although I don't speak French, I can generally figure out what's going on when authors use this element but I was kind of lost in this book. I believe that done in the right way, including parts of a foreign language that everyone understands helps to pull the reader into the story more and to give them a more authentic experience. I read a lot of the book on the Metro and with Metro's shoddy service, looking up what the French meant on my iphone was out of the question. This element definitely took me out of the story a little bit.