Behind The Book House Of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen 

In 2023 I did a regular Q&A & my very first Behind The Book with New York Times Bestselling author of mystery thriller Sarah Pekkanen. Last year’s Behind The Book was on her book Gone Tonight. This Behind The Book will be about her novel House Of Glass which came out on August 6^th 2024 & is available to read now! I was so grateful to read an early arc on Netgalley!

Q: The novel House Of Glass is about the death of a nanny that took place and everyone including nine year old Ruth Barclay is a suspect. Where did the idea for House Of Glass come from?

A: I was chatting with a mom who I’ve gotten to know through our kids (we both have three boys). One day I asked what her life was like before having children, and she said, “Oh, I was a BIA.” I must’ve looked blank. Then she said, “You know, a GAL.” I still didn’t get it. Finally, she explained she was a lawyer who represented children in high-conflict divorce cases, and I instantly knew I had a book.

Q: How long did it take you to write House Of Glass? 

A: House of Glass took a bit longer than my usual novels – I wrote for close to 8 months. Part of the reason is because I only had one narrator, Stella Hudson, so I couldn’t use my usual tricks like leaving a character in a precarious situation at the end of a chapter, then picking up another character’s story. The fastest I’ve ever written a book is Gone Tonight, which took about four months. 

Q: What makes House Of Glass different from your past novels that you wrote solo & with Greer Hendricks? 

A: It might be easier to start with what the books have in common. I have the same publisher and editor – the incredible Jen Enderlin at St. Martin’s Press – as I did with my co-authored thrillers. And I continue to be enthralled by female narrators who live relatively uneventful lives, until something unexpectedly plunges them into a dangerous world. One change is that my first 8 solo books weren’t thrillers – they were more along the lines of Taylor Jenkins Reid and Jen Weiner novels. I’m now blending some of the deep character development and interpersonal relationship elements that I focused on in those early books into my thrillers. 

Q: Who would you cast this time around to play Rose, her parents, her grandmother, Stella & the rest of the characters from House Of Glass if Hollywood (if they haven’t already) got the novel?

A: This is a bit of a tricky question, as I’m hoping to be able to announce some news before long. So, I have to side-step this one for now!

Q: Are there any lessons you want readers to learn, after reading House Of Glass? 

A: As a psychiatrist in House of Glass tells Stella, “Art is subject to interpretation. People can look at the exact same image or read the same book and come away with very different impressions. Often, what we see in art is a reflection of us. Of our optics. Our mindset. Have you ever tried to read a novel and not enjoyed it, then gone back at another point in time and loved it? The story didn’t change. But you did. This is an insight into who we are at any given moment and what we bring to our unique intersection with art.” 

So I leave it to readers to take away their own impressions and lessons.