Glassworks Summary
Olivia Wolfgang-Smith

Everything you need to understand or teach Glassworks by Olivia Wolfgang-Smith.

  • Glassworks Summary & Study Guide

Glassworks Overview

Olivia Wolfgang-Smith's multi-generational novel Glassworks follows the lives of the Novak family—both found and inherited—over a roughly hundred-year period as each generation struggles to find space for themselves against the backdrop of industrial and commercial progress. Set in a number of American locations but primarily unfolding in the northeastern cities of Boston and New York, the novel focuses on the movements and adaptations of four separate generations. As the novel unfolds, it addresses themes of family, gender, capitalism, queerness, and ability.