SHATTERING GLASS

by Nancy-Gay Rotstein

Three Women... Three Poignant Stories...
One Crucial Question

Three talented and determined women reach the pinnacle of success and find themselves thrown together at a critical moment that will change each of their lives forever.

In her powerful novel SHATTERING GLASS, Nancy-Gay Rotstein masterfully weaves the tales of three women, who, like so many, find themselves caught between career and family, trying to maintain a precarious balance between success, independence and motherhood. With compelling realism, SHATTERING GLASS confronts these issues that remain unresolved as it follows the women through their challenges, pain, joy and triumphs. Rotstein creates three very different women, each of whom in their own way shatter the “glass ceiling” and must cope with the inner turmoil brought on by being pulled in opposite directions by her desire for career success and striving to be a good mother.

SHATTERING GLASS brings these women together at a time when all three are facing crucial questions about themselves and their relationships with their families. Each must personally confront the costs of success and examine her own life thoroughly and make difficult choices. Through her characters’ stories, Rotstein addresses many of today’s trends and realities including when a woman’s career surpasses her husband’s and single parenthood, as well as such critical social issues as child abuse, drugs and domestic violence, and the societal pressures women face every day. The result is a compelling and sensitive portrait of three women whose struggles are certain to impact and resonate with women everywhere.

SHATTERING GLASS, which first appeared in the United States, Canada, and most recently, the United Kingdom, has now been published in twelve major countries and translated into eight languages. This acclaimed contemporary novel has just been published in a new Canadian edition by Overlook Duckworth.

SHATTERING GLASS presents: Judy, a single mother who has climbed from the divorce court to the boardrooms of international finance; Dede, whose family money and glittering social life as a parliament member’s wife have helped her husband secure a Cabinet position while she provides the only source of stability for their two sons; Barbara, for years a traditional housewife and full-time mother, has transformed herself into a bestselling novelist and a darling of the New York publishing world, even as her husband’s resentment at his own stalled career finds increasingly abusive outlets. Now their lives intersect at a luxurious Italian spa where all three find they must confront the costs of their successes.

Set in the intriguing worlds of high finance, politics and publishing and played out in such power centres as Toronto, London, Washington and New York, SHATTERING GLASS is glamorous and gripping, yet wrenchingly poignant — a novel that will live in the heart of every family and every woman who knows she must stand on her own.

“Rotstein vividly outlines the lives of three successful women who reminisce about what they have sacrificed—traditional family values for career and vice versa—to get what they want.... She brings her three protagonists to life with sympathy.”
   —Publishers Weekly

“In ways tragic, lonely and heroic this novel shimmers with contemporary hopes and fears. Recommended for its dramatic plotting and riveting dialogue.”
   —The Readers Review

“What is the price of career success for women? The author takes us through the lives of three successful women, and in the inevitable juggling of home, family and career, sacrifices are made. The plot is well-crafted, the dialogue realistic and the characters well-drawn.
   —New Books: The magazine for readers and reading groups (U.K.)
 

Buy Shattering Glass now: Chapters.Indigo.ca

Read Nancy-Gay Rotstein's Biography