Rating: 
Summary: Endeavour Award winner
Review: Compared to her well-done trilogy, this book is like it's written by an different writer. The characters are poorly developed and one-dimensional. This makes it hard to really care about them. More interesting was the portion of the story set in the 1700's; Eilish was somewhat interesting. Erin seemed too weak and whiny of a character to be the other half of the book. Likewise, it's hard to feel any sympathy or care about Charlie and whether he walks again or not. He's just there.The plot is also thin--I kept thinking "When is something going to happen?" There's not enough foreshadowing of some of the events that occur towards the end in Erin's part, and a miraculous event near the end seems too convienently resolved. Finally, in the trilogy, Ms. Marley made us a part of the music and in undestanding how it works and affects other people. This one never quite reaches that height.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Compared to her well-done trilogy, this book is like it's written by an different writer. The characters are poorly developed and one-dimensional. This makes it hard to really care about them. More interesting was the portion of the story set in the 1700's; Eilish was somewhat interesting. Erin seemed too weak and whiny of a character to be the other half of the book. Likewise, it's hard to feel any sympathy or care about Charlie and whether he walks again or not. He's just there. The plot is also thin--I kept thinking "When is something going to happen?" There's not enough foreshadowing of some of the events that occur towards the end in Erin's part, and a miraculous event near the end seems too convienently resolved. Finally, in the trilogy, Ms. Marley made us a part of the music and in undestanding how it works and affects other people. This one never quite reaches that height.
Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't quite gel...
Review: Don't get me wrong, this was not a bad book. The writing was decent and the two stories were interesting. However, from reading the summary of the book, I expected the lives of the two main characters to intertwine in a more dramatic way. The book is written with the past and future characters' stories in alternating chapters. However, when they finally mesh, it seems sort of anticlimatic. It's like "Is that it?" I'd been expecting a ghost story, focusing on Erin being haunted by the ghost of Eilish, and maybe some time travel or at least a better conclusion. But by the time I reached the end of the book, I felt like I'd been reading two separate stories - one a historical drama, one a futuristic SF. Even though they both revolved around the healing power of music and the glass harmonica, the stories themselves did not intertwine as much as I had hoped. I had trouble relating to the futuristic story, because the author invents a lot of gadgets but doesn't really explain what they are. It took me a while to realize what a "picture window" might have been as opposed to a "viewing window" or a TV screen. There's really no romance or sex, which I hadn't been expecting, but maybe some of you might have. I give it three stars because the writing was good and the individual stories were interesting. However, the whole point of the story was to see how the past and future characters intertwine, and I felt they never really did. A decent book, but not something I'll read very often.
Rating:
Summary: Endeavour Award winner
Review: I bought this book because it won the Endeavour Award, and also because I'm interested in Ben Franklin. I loved this book! Historical detail, interesting scientific speculation, vivid characterization, and clear writing. Really a great read.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting concept, but ultimately pointless
Review: I couldn't put this book down... Was this a historical novel, or a ghost story? Was this a commentary on the future, or story of love transcending time? Then it ended, like opening a prettily wrapped package to find nothing inside. The historical facts about the invention of Franklin's glass armonica are fascinating. However, the author's antiseptic future is difficult to identify with, unless you find the idea of being trapped in a plastic playground of idealized pseudo-history appealing. The neurotic main characters are obsessed with passion: passionate music, passionate love, passion to overcome great obstacles. Yet they are bloodless and uninteresting. Her "past" character is so passionless she overcomes nothing, submitting to her illness and relinquishing her musical destiny. When past and present bridge the barriers of time, no great truths or emotions are exchanged or revealed. It is fitting that Anne McCaffrey praises this novel: it's the same sort of pulp Sci-Fi/ mass-market romance.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Trip Between the Past and the Future
Review: I loved this little book. It had some bit of good history to it also. Louise Marley really drew her characters well. I liked the way she presented Benjamin Franklin. As I would read the words, I could actually smell the scents in both the past and the future with her writing. This book drew me in & took me for a trip. The theme of music helping to heal is an interesting & thought provoking one. I will be reading the other books by Louise Marley.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I started this book with high expectation from the previous reviews, but I found the plot to weak and the characters to be very, very...thin...underdeveloped...two dimensional. The two parts of the book are disjointed and painfully parallel at the same time. The section that happens in the past is far more interesting than the part that occurs in the future. Reading the chapters that happen in 2018, I found myself all too ready to rid myself of the whiney characters and get back to the past.
Rating: 
Summary: Sweet, but slight.
Review: I'd really give this three or three-and-a-half stars, but I'm being generous because it is clearly well-researched and also well-written. Marley has written a knowledgeable and sensitive book about two musicians living 250 years apart. Eilish Eam is an orphaned street player who attracts the attentions of Benjamin Franklin while Erin Rushton is a famous glass harmonica player based in Seattle of the early 20th century. Their presence somehow comforts each other across the ages and Erin learns an important lesson about her own life and the purpose of her art. The problem with the novel is that there simply isn't enough there there-- while Eam's world is incredibly detailed, Erin's is only hinted at. It's obviously quite different from our world in 2003, but exactly how is never made clear. I realize that the focus was meant to be on Eam, but I think that since the plot really turned around Erin that took some of the punch that the book should have delivered out of the mix. Since the decisions all rested on Erin, I wanted to know more about her-- the ending felt a little unearned since I never felt as though we were grounded enough in the pivotal character's world. That said, the book was good enough that it made me want to try other books that Marley wrote. She writes about 18th century London in a way that felt both sharp and real. I also enjoyed reading it-- it kept me going and interested. Promising signs pointing towards a writer whose other works I might enjoy more.
Rating:
Summary: A Harmony: Future and Past
Review: Louise Marley has proven herself again! An author who has established herself in the genres of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Marley has now added a touch of historical fiction to the mix. The Glass Harmonica combines an expertise in music and medicine with future and past worlds that are meticulously developed. The two characters, Eilish and Erin, are compelling...and the addition of real historical characters such as Ben Franklin and Mozart makes this a convincing and insistant read. Brava!
Rating:
Summary: More Marley Magic
Review: Louise Marley's first sci-fi trilogy really impressed me. Her latest novel The Glass Harmonica, is another winner. The book shifts deftly between 1770's London and a near future time. In the London section, a poor street musician meets the inventive Benjamin Franklin and helps him develop his glass harmonica, an instrument of spinnning glass cups that is played with clean, damp fingertips to create an etherial, pure sound. She is somehow connected to a musician in the future who is a virtuoso on the glass harmonica, which is enjoying a revival. As usual, Marley (an opera singer when she isn't writing novels) calls upon the magical, spiritual power of music as a theme. The "Dickensian" quality of the London scenes is well-done. The glass harmonica is exotic and adds the right touch to a deftly-written science fiction novel. Brava, Louise!
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