The Girl in the Glasshouse by Anna Stothard #thegirlintheglasshouse @annastothardwrites @amazonpublishing #bookreview

 

A perfect family. A missing child. But everyone is lying.

On the idyllic island of Guernsey, twelve-year-old Celeste Everett vanishes from her bed during a storm.

The last people to see Celeste were her best friends—identical twin sisters who refuse to tell the whole truth about that night.

The Everetts are one of the island’s wealthiest and most powerful families, while the twins’ mother, Jess, is a struggling single parent with secrets of her own. But when suspicion begins to circle her daughters, Jess is drawn into the search for the missing girl—and into the orbit of a family used to getting exactly what they want.

As the magical island turns in on itself, Jess must decide how far she is willing to go to protect her children. Because in a small community, you’re always being watched. And someone knows exactly what happened that night.

The Girl in the Glasshouse by Anna Stothard is published on 16 November 2026 by Lake Union Publishing. My thanks to the author who sent my copy for review. 

This is the third of Anna Stothard’s books that I have read and I’m increasingly fascinated by her writing. There’s something quite unique about it, an ethereal, almost other-worldly quality that makes even the most ordinary moments feel slightly strange and unsettling.

The Girl in the Glasshouse begins with the disappearance of twelve-year-old Celeste Everett from her bed during a storm on Guernsey. Her best friends, identical twins, are amongst the last people to see her. Getting to the truth of what happened that night is far from straightforward.

I’ve always found twins fascinating, particularly identical twins and that closeness that those of us who aren’t twins can never really understand. The author makes such great use of this in this novel. There’s something almost uncanny about the girls, their private world and the sense that they know far more than they are prepared to reveal. Their relationship adds another layer of mystery to an already deeply atmospheric story.

Guernsey is equally important. An island can be idyllic, beautiful and seemingly safe, but there is another side to living within such a small community. People know one another. Families have histories. Secrets are difficult to keep and yet, they can stay hidden for years. Anna Stothard captures that sense of claustrophobia beautifully. The sea, the landscape and the changing weather become such an important ppart of her story. 

At the heart of the novel is Jess, the twins’ mother, whose instinct to protect her daughters brings her increasingly close to the wealthy and powerful Everett family. Issues of motherhood, privilege, loyalty and the stories families tell about themselves are there, throughout the narrative.

This isn’t simply a missing-child mystery. It’s stranger and more dreamlike than that. The author creates an atmosphere that feels slightly off-kilter from the beginning, and I found myself completely drawn into her version of Guernsey.

Haunting, atmospheric and beautifully unusual. Highly recommended. 

Anna Stothard was born in London and studied English Literature at Oxford University before completing a Screenwriting MFA at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. 

She is the author of five acclaimed novels, which have been published all over the world. 

Her writing often explores themes of identity, belonging, and obsession. 

After living in Beijing, LA and Berlin, Anna now writes by the sea on the west coast of Guernsey.

Instagram: @annastothardwrites