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GLASS FACTORY, THE
by K. J. A. Wishnia
Signet, March 2001
256 pages
$5.99
ISBN: 0451197518


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

What a month March 2000 was for books Chez Shechter. I read some really fine books, including some excellent firsts, and now I've discovered k.j.a.Wishnia. And he is good. He knocked my socks off with this fast-moving book (and very nice socks they are too I might add). And Wishnia has done something few writers do - he has written a very credible first-person female protagonist. Yesss! [insert image of reviewer pumping fist in air]

One warning for fussy readers (and trust me, I am one); this book is written in the present tense and I suspect I've just lost half of you. Please try this book anyway. I suspect that is one reason it moves so quickly, but to be honest, perceptive reader that I am, it took me half the book to realize it.

Filomena Buscarsela is - like Jenny Siler's Allie Kerry from the knock-out Easy Money and Barbara Seranella's Munch Mancini - a very new, very interesting protagonist. Filomena is from Ecuador, now living in New York and until recently, was trying to cope with the still-fairly-common white boy network that is the police department. She's dealing with some severe lung problems as the result of a prior case, and is responsible now for a little girl, Antonia. Filomena decides that, if the diagnosis of lung cancer is for real, she is going to get back at the monster who caused her problems before she dies - bring him to justice whatever.Ý

She is a powerhouse of a woman, coping with rudeness, abruptness, and racism and is very determined to find her way out of whatever problems she can. She wants to provide for Antonia and feels that she has little time left. She's even willing to date a sleazeball lawyer to get information to nail the polluting creep who has poisoned her.Ý

I like strong women and I like reading abut them. I admire the risks they take and the way they won't take no for an answer. Filomena can be rude, but usually only in response to rudeness, and she can be kind when others are kind. I'd like to be as tough as she is when I needed to be. I know that if I were in New York and needed help, oh, man, would I be glad to see Filomena show up.

This guy's good. The New York is a little grittier than I tend to like (as my friends, I hate "grit"), but it's real. The cops, clerks, subway riders are all the types of people that John Rocker loves to hate - and they make up what is good, bad and indifferent about New York. Buscarsela is passionate and alive, she knows what is right and is smart and savvy about what she sees; she is able to put things together intelligently, without jumping to conclusions, as we all often do. Because she is female, and is not exactly white, people underestimate her; but it is exactly because of who she is that Filomena can reach people, can connect with the secretaries and the women who are ignored by egocentric bosses. She is educated and smart, and does not put up with crap, except if Antonia is threatened, but even then, she does not back down, but finds another way to fight.

Wishnia was nominated for an Edgar for best first novel for this book, and it deserved the nomination. His choice of tempo might drive some readers nuts, but it is worth reading past the initial surprise of tense to get into the hectic and very rewarding New York he writes about. Wishnia's wife is from Ecuador, which adds, I'm sure, to the awareness about the culture and the people that Filomena portrays and talks about in The Glass Factory. After reading The Glass Factory., I immediately followed up by reading 23 Shades Of Black, the Edgar nominee. I expect to read Soft Money after that - it has a most intriguing first paragraph, and that's more than enough. --

This review is based on the out of print hard cover edition

Reviewed by Andi Shechter, April 2000

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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