Girl in the Green Glass Mirror

A shared obsession with a Victorian painter brings together two strangers in Elizabeth Cooke’s extraordinary novel about the timelessness of art and love

Catherine Sergeant loses people. First her parents died, leaving her alone in the world. Now her husband, Robert, has just walked out without warning or explanation. Catherine conceals her pain and sticks to life’s comforting routines, reporting for work as usual at the fine-arts auction house she co-owns. Then she meets widowed architect John Brigham.

Catherine and John feel an immediate connection. They are both fascinated by the paintings of Richard Dadd, a Victorian artist who murdered his father and was locked away in an insane asylum. Interweaving the present with fleeting snapshots of the past—Dadd in moments of lunacy and lucidity that culminate in the act of creation—The Girl in the Green Glass Mirror takes readers to that exalted place where reality and creativity intersect. Filled with vibrant, unforgettable characters, it is a novel of discovery, reawakened passion, and the ability of art to shape lives and transcend madness, tragedy, and even time itself.