Rating: 3-1/2 out of 5
Genre:
Historical Romance
"Sometimes the memories you make from a place you've longed
to visit begin before you ever get there."

Meg Pomeroy's longing to
visit her grandmother's homeland has been brewing in her mind since childhood. A
painting of her grandmother as a child in Florence, Italy fed that desire. After
her grandmother's death, the promise of a trip to Florence is made to Meg by her
father, who tosses a promise around like a nuisance--much like the broken
marriage he had with Meg's mother.
Meg's life as an editor of travel books, ironically, does
not include much travel. Florence entices Meg to come to her, and she has always
felt that call. But she longs for her father to be the one to take her there,
share the experience, and make memories.
A spur of the moment visit by her father changes Meg's life
in a profound way--a way she never dreamed of. Her father's brief visit to her
San Diego cottage prompts him to apologize for the mess he has made in his life
and not being there for her. Shortly after his visit, Meg receives a package
with an airline ticket to Florence to travel that same evening--with an
open-ended return.
Her father then disappears, leaving Meg's stepmother and
taking some of her money. His insistence on her being on that flight led Meg to
assume he would meet her in Florence, compelling her to take the flight. Her
trip brought her face to face with two clients she has gotten to know through
skyping, e-mails, and phone calls. Lorenzo and Renata DiSantis are a brother and
sister team who create travel books. Their neighbor, Sophia Borelli, is a tour
guide who is writing an unusual travel memoir of Florence's sights. She believes
she is a descendant of Nora Orsini of the Medici family and that Nora speaks
to her through the masterpieces scattered throughout her beloved Florence.
While Meg reads Sophia's memoirs, explores Florence, and
grieves her father's absence, she develops friendships and questions her own
future as well as uncovering a dark secret.
The Girl in the
Glass is filled with hope and forgiveness, if we seek it. Although I would
like to have seen stronger inspirational and Christian references, since few
were mentioned, I found this book to be uplifting and engaging.