My Review of The Glittering Hour by Iona Grey

The Glittering Hour was a delightful and most surprising read that had me so engrossed that the real world dissolved into insignificance. It's exquisitely written and I'm not ashamed to admit that the pages blurred with my tears as my heart broke for the Selina, Lawrence and Alice on more than one occasion.  Iona Grey lulls the reader into thinking that The Glittering Hour is a love story of thwarted and frustrated love but it's not just that, it's so so much more.

Set in post World War One England and Grey expertly depicts both the hedonistic 20's and the sombreness of the 1930's. She portrays how the post war sense of loss was palpable and largely unspoken and also the demarcation between those who were There and those who weren't, and the seemingly unbridgeable chasm between the two. Grey has the action flow seamlessly between the two decades and increases the visceral tension of the reader through the use of the dramatic irony revealed in Selina's epistolarian missives and also our the reader's adult understanding versus the nine year old Alice.

There's a poignancy to The Glittering Hour that pervades every page with a sense of lost love; but that's not to say that The Glittering Hour is a depressing read because it most certainly is not. The narrative is brimful of hope and joy and the overriding and affirming message that love never ends. It evolves and transforms but love is always there and palpable if you are open to it. 

Grey has clearly researched the relevant decades and transports the reader to them with ease. Spanish influenza decimated the world in 1918 with over 200,000 succumbing in Great Britain alone, the cruelty of this is manipulated devastatingly in The Glittering Hour but also deftly handled. 

On a final note, although a thesis would be easy on this majestic novel, Grey reminds the reader of the power of Art with its musicality and magical ability to time travel back to a memorable time and place. Bravo Iona Grey on a wonderful novel that I have no hesitation in awarding 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟.

Thanks to Anne Cater and Simon & Schuster UK for my gifted copy of the book.