House of Glass

January 27, 2014
In this solid, if sometimes overwrought, domestic thriller from Anthony Award–winner Littlefield (A Bad Day for Mercy), Jen Glass can tell something isn’t quite right in her marriage to Ted, who had a good job in finance until he was laid off, but it’s hard to concentrate on that when she’s trying to cope with 15-year-old daughter Livvy’s increasing surliness and four-year-old son Teddy’s selective mutism. But all attempts at keeping up the crumbling facade of perfection come crashing down the night two men force themselves into the Glass’s suburban Minnesota home. In what could be seen as an extreme version of marriage counseling, Jen and Ted—along with the terrified Livvy and Teddy—are forced to air their grievances while being trapped at gunpoint in their basement. Readers may guess the overall trajectory of the family’s internal—and external—dramas, but Littlefield is adept at character development, so even the familiar is nuanced. Agent: Barbara Poelle, Irene Goodman Literary Agency.

February 1, 2014
Littlefield (Garden of Stones, 2013, etc.) draws facts from a true crime to create a novel about vicious intruders who invade an upper-class family's home in Calumet, Minn. Jen and Ted Glass appear to have the perfect life: They live in a big house in a nice neighborhood where Jen volunteers at her children's schools, attends Zumba classes and occasionally has a girls' night out with her friends. But Ted was laid off from his job as a global management executive six months ago, and he's yet to find a new position. Jen's tried to be patient, but she's become suspicious of Ted's frequent absences and lack of results, and they often find themselves arguing. Adding to the tension is the sullen behavior of 15-year-old Livvy, who's involved in an ongoing rivalry with her ex-boyfriend's new love interest, and 4-year-old son Teddy's selective mutism. When two intruders invade their home, lock the family in the basement, ransack their house and force Jen to go to the bank the next day to empty their accounts, Jen and Ted assume the men will take the loot and the family's valuables and leave. However, the criminals remain in their home while Jen is forced to access other investments. When the older thug, Dan, drops nuggets of information about the family that only an insider would know, Jen (who's also having disturbing dreams) suspects their captivity is more than just a random occurrence. Dan's partner, Ryan, worries the couple even more with his instability and increasing interest in Livvy, who defies the brutes. Knowing he must take a stand, Ted takes heroic actions to save his family. Littleton pens a mechanically sound narrative by altering the family structure and adding her own twists to elements of the source material. But readers who recall the brutal attack suffered by a Connecticut family in 2007--and who empathize with family members and the lone survivor who must cope with very genuine memories every single day--may find it difficult to cast aside the true story and embrace the author's fictionalized version. While a solidly constructed book, certain headlines deserve respect and distance, and some may consider Littleton's account exploitative.

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March 15, 2014
Jen Glass has worked hard to put her dirt-poor childhood behind her, but her perfect suburban life is showing cracks. Her unemployed husband is possibly having an affair instead of renovating the bathroom, her young son will not talk to anyone outside the family, and her teenage daughter is, well, a teenager. After a weekend spent with her impoverished sister dealing with the death of their very estranged father, she hopes to come home and restore her happy middle-class life. Then the Glass house is broken into by two men who seem to know a lot about the family's wealth, and they want all of it, even if it takes several days. The tension is high as the Glass family is imprisoned in the basement, and every time Jen fails to seize an opportunityto grab a gun, to run for the doorthe reader sees how far she has drifted from the little girl who had to fight to survive. Don't expect a big payoff from the climax, although Littlefield goes to some unexpected places.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)