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Ali Shaw

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Girl with Glass Feet Hardcover – January 1, 2009

by Ali Shaw (Author)

3.7 290 ratings

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Strange things are happening on the remote and snowbound archipelago of St Hauda's Land. Unusual winged creatures flit around icy bogland; albino animals hide themselves in the snow-glazed woods; jellyfish glow in the ocean's depths...And Ida MacLaird is slowly turning into glass. A mysterious and frightening alchemical metamorphosis has befallen Ida Maclaird - she is slowly turning into glass, from the feet up. She returns to St Hauda's Land, where she believes the glass first took hold, in search of a cure. Midas Crook is a young loner, who has lived on the islands his entire life. When he meets Ida, something about her sad, defiant spirit pierces his emotional defenses. As Midas helps Ida come to terms with her affliction, she gradually unpicks the knots of his heart, and they begin to fall in love...What they need most is time - and time is slipping away fast. Will they find a way to stave off the spread of the glass? "The Girl with Glass Feet" is a dazzlingly imaginative and gripping first novel, a love story to treasure.

Print length

288 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Atlantic Books
Publication date

January 1, 2009
Dimensions

6.18 x 1.18 x 8.5 inches
ISBN-10

1843549182
ISBN-13

978-1843549185
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Atlantic Books; Main edition (January 1, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1843549182
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1843549185
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.23 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.18 x 1.18 x 8.5 inches

Customer Reviews:
3.7 290 ratings

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3.7 out of 5

290 global ratings

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Lola

My new favorite piece of fiction!

Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2010

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I was not prepared to be swept away by this book...but it grabbed me from the first page, and I could not put it down until the end! It is refreshing, unexpected and unusual. The descriptive passages are quite wonderful, and I found myself reading some of them over and over again.

2 people found this helpful

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Sharon G. Mensing

Adult Fairy Tale

Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2010

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This book was like a fairy tale brought to life. The dreary, boggy land of St. Hauda is very well described, and the characters feel very real. In fact, it's the developing relationship between Ida and Midas that carries the book -- Ida who is turning to glass and Midas who seems incapable of feeling. As Ida becomes literally harder, Midas finds it possible to feel her (and for her). The world of this fairy tale more "real" because of the ambiguity and lack of easy answers that mirror real-life but make it less like a children's fairy tale. I wanted to find a message in the book, and I'm not sure I did. But this fantastical world with tiny flying cattle, a creature that turns things white by looking at them, jellyfish that create light shows as they die, and Ida turning to glass was a place I kept wanting to return to.

4 people found this helpful

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Michelle Boytim

Glass and white- cold and inpenetrable

Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2012

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Set in the remote island of St. Hauda in the north, with the former whaling industry gone, the island population has decreased. Ida has come back to the island in hopes of finding the answer to her unusual problem- her feet have turned to glass, and the condition is slowly spreading. She hopes to find the man she met on her last visit who kept tiny flying cows and told her other stories of the island including a creature who turns all it sees white, and glass bodies in the bog. She meets photographer Midas, a young man who seems to have some form of autism spectrum disorder. Intermixed with their story is Carl, who was in love with Ida's mother and seems a little obsessed with Ida herself, and also worked with Midas' father. While the fantastical elements could have lent some lightness to the story, the overall feel is cold, stark and white. We learn of others who had the glass condition as the trio seek to find a cure, but slowly, and inexorably, the glass continues to creep. I was intrigued by the concepts and ideas held within this story, but it never fully came together for me.

2 people found this helpful

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Danielle

Interesting read

Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2014

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Very original story, characters and way of narration. Characters were in depth and pulled you in. I would recommend this read to a friend.

One person found this helpful

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MyOwnSatellite

Just Okay

Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2014

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This wasn't a bad book, it was actually pretty well-written style-wise, but going simply by what the designated stars mean it was simply "OK" for me.

The side characters were never really fleshed out enough for me. Their side stories never quite fit with the main one, and didn't seem to add much to the actual narrative other than their existence. None of them help Midas or Ida in any tangible way, aside from Gustav (quite literally) at the end. Ida and Midas are simply existing in this sea of people who don't like other people and have nothing to give. Any back story that was included, and any tangents the author went into were never completed or given relevance that met my expectations.

Ida and Midas as characters aren't exactly the most shining examples of human beings, but at least Midas gets a bit of a personality "expansion" by the end. I guess you could say that was the book's one saving grace.

I was moved by the end, but that was the only part that made me feel anything besides indifference. And the only reason I felt something was because ***SPOILER***earlier in the book Henry had mentioned that it was possible the glass hadn't actually killed the man in the bog, and that maybe he was still alive. When Midas pushes Ida out of the boat after her transformation, I felt like there was a complete disregard for the possibility she was still alive in there. Her transformation was also heartbreaking because even though I knew it was coming, it was hard to read her desperation in her last seconds***END SPOILER***.

I closed the book feeling unsatisfied. Perhaps it was because I was expecting a bit more magic (you know, aside from people turning to glass), a bit more folklore, a bit more of something else that this book just wasn't. But it felt like there was so much more that needed to be said, while the author may have been valuing brevity of sorts rather than developing the narrative.

4 people found this helpful

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Catherine C. Wilke

One Star

Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2014

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Questions never get answered. I didn't care for this book.

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Kylie Parsons

A magical love story

Reviewed in Australia on May 20, 2015

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A very absorbing read. A subtle study of human quirks and frailties with a magical twist.

Pamela Roach

Eerie and beautiful

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 22, 2011

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The Girl With Glass Feet is one of those rare reads that grab you and hold you hostage, unflinchingly until you have devoured the story. It has the eerie, almost ethereal qualities like the Time Traveller's Wife, but also firmly footed in our reality.

Ida Maclaird returns to the strange St Hauda's Land. The first time she visited, it was for a holiday. Now it's for a cure. Ida encounters the recluse and socially awkward Midas Crook as he is lost in his world of photography. As a native islander, Ida hopes Midas can help her find the one person she believes can give her the answers she has been searching for.

When Midas stumbles into Ida's life, it opens up a life time of old wounds that had never healed, only scabbed partially over. The story flits effectively from the present to the past, revealing a loveless and often cruel father and a lifetime of regrets that come from almost every character. Except Ida herself.

It struck me as ironic that the Ida, the girl with glass feet, has nothing to fear. She has lived a full life and even though she is slowly turning into a hardened mineral, she is the wholest of all the cast of characters, the only one who does not fear what is to happening to her. She has no regrets.

The Girl With Glass Feet is a romantic story with a warm heart, but it wasn't until I finished the book that I realized it was a cleverly disguised paranormal romance. With strange creatures that have the ability to turn anything it looks at to pure white, or the cattle-moths, or glass bodies hidden in bogs, St Hauda's Land is like no other place. It has an other-wordly quality to it that at times feels fantastical, at others like it could easily happen.

I cannot recommend this book enough. Ali Shaw has created something very special, and it should be adored by everyone. Seriously.

One person found this helpful

Rabenfrau

Ein wunderschönes, melancholisches Werk

Reviewed in Germany on January 12, 2011

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Ida McLairds Füße verwandeln sich in Glas. Beginnend an den Zehen breitet es sich nun immer weiter aus. Sie kehrt zurück nach St. Hauda's Island, denn dort hat die Transformation ihrer Meinung nach begonnen. Ihre letzte Hoffnung ist Henry Fuwa, ein eher seltsamer Inselbewohner, der ihr nicht nur notgedrungen sein größtes Geheimnis offenbarte, sondern auch ein Heilmittel besitzen könnte...

Auf der Suche nach Henry begegnet sie Midas Crook, einem äußerst schüchternen jungen Mann, der noch nach Jahren im Schatten seines längst verstorbenen Vaters lebt. Leicht widerwillig wird Midas zu ihrem Vertrauten und Weggefährten.

Zwischen den Beiden entspinnt sich eine feine Beziehung, doch ihnen bleibt kaum Zeit sich ihrer Gefühle füreinander klar zu werden, denn Ida's Verwandlung schreitet mit großen Schritten voran.

Doch gibt es überhaupt eine Möglichkeit, Ida zu heilen?

Mit "The Girl with Glass Feet" von Ali Shaw ist mir ein wahrer Buchschatz in die Hände gefallen.

Die Geschichte berührt den Leser auf eine seltsame Weise. Shaw nimmt sich enorm viel Zeit, seine Figuren zu charakterisieren. Er schafft ein dichtes Geflecht an zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen: Henry Fuwa, der heimlich in Midas Mutter verliebt war; Carl, der in Ida ihre Mutter sieht, in die er Jahre lang unglücklich verliebt und der ebenfalls der Forschungspartner von Midas verstorbenen Vater war...

Alle Charaktere weisen eine unglaubliche Tiefe auf, und Shaw gelingt es meisterhaft, diese doch schwierigen Figuren glaubhaft darzustellen. So erschafft er eigenwillige, komische, und doch absolut liebenswerte und menschliche Charaktere, die alle ihr eigenes Kreuz zu tragen haben.

Shaw erzählt langsam und ruhig, mit einem ganz wundervollen Schreibstil und passend zur Handlung. Viele Rückblenden geben einem die Erklärung für das jetzige Verhalten der Figuren. Gleichzeitig schwingt immer ein trauriger Unterton mit, denn zum Lachen ist Ida's Schicksal und die daraus resultierende Dramatik um die Beziehung zwischen ihr und Midas keinesfalls. Alles umgeben von der fast schon märchenhaften Atmosphäre der Insel: kleine Kühe mit Schmetterlingsflügeln, ein Tier das alles und jedem die Farbe entzieht, der es anschaut, ein Quallenfriedhof und Menschen die zu Glas werden.

"The Girl with Glass Feet" ist eine melancholische Geschichte, ein fast schon modernes, trauriges Märchen, über ein Mädchen das zu Glas wird und einen jungen Mann der das Leben kennenlernt, versehen mit einem wunderschönen, passendem Ende. Absolut lesenswert. Eine Geschichte, die im Kopf des Lesers nachklingt.

One person found this helpful

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nicky

寒く、冷たく、詩的な、不治の病のメタファー

Reviewed in Japan on February 3, 2011

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丁寧に練られた本だと思いました。

St.Hauda's Landという、箱庭のような島。
そこで育ったMidasは、小さな頃から写真の世界にのめりこみ、今日も森の中で求める光を追いかけていました。
そこで彼は不思議な、というか、変わった少女Idaに出会います。
細い体には不相応に大きいブーツを履いて、足を庇って歩く彼女は、その足の不思議な病の治療法を求め、ある男を捜していました。

その男のことと両親の因縁から、知らないと答えてしまったMidasですが、勤めている花屋に訪ねてきたIdaと親しくなり、彼女の足の真実を知り、その男に会いに行きます。
そこで彼が知った、彼女の病の行く末。

Midas、Idaの両親のそれぞれの過去。
とりかえせない時間・チャンスと後悔の中を生きているように見える、両親の世代。
Idaの病気を通して、過去と向き合わなければならなくなったのはMidasも同じでした。
だんだんと病気が広がっていき、望みを失う中で、Midasを過去から開放していくIda。
純粋なふたりの数日が美しいです。

閉ざされている島の不思議な世界はファンタジックですがリアリティーもあって、緻密だと思いました。
瞳まで白い動物たち。沼に沈むガラスの男。さまざまなガラスの破片。
一瞥で見られたものを白くしてしまうという魔法の存在は、島に特有の病をいうのでしょうか。
物語はずっと冬で、その寒さ、雪、雨、暗さと白さが肌に感じられるようです。
不治の病のファンタジックなメタファーと読むこともできます。
詩的な結末で、悲しいけれど純粋で美しいです。
登場人物が皆、大事な誰かを失って求めている中、Midasの友人と娘がMidasを支えるのがほっと暖かく感じました。

今までにない世界で、読み応えがありました。

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Kate Hopkins

A Weird and Memorable Modern Fairytale

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 19, 2020

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Ali Shaw's debut novel takes the theme much beloved of opera (Traviata, Bohème) and literature of boy meets girl-who-has-only-got-a-short-time-to-live and they fall in love, mixes it with more than a touch of Hans Christian Anderson's dark fairytales and some modern thoughts about the autistic spectrum and trauma, and produces a result that is extremely memorable and compelling, if not always convincing.

Shaw sets his story on the imaginary island of St Haulda, which I'm presuming is somewhere in the Hebrides (though it has Scandinavian hints to it too). St Haulda is a strange place, where the animals include albino squirrels and moth-winged cattle (moths with the bodies of bulls and cows), where bits of glass bodies are found in the bog, and where snow regularly falls, covering everything in unearthly whiteness. When Ida McLaird visits St Haulda, she contracts a strange malady which appears to be slowly turning her to glass from the toes upwards. She returns to St Haulda to seek help, either from Henry Fuwa the breeder of 'moth-winged cattle' who she met on her first visit, the healer Emiliana Stallows or from her mother's old friend Carl, a classics lecturer now living on St Haulda. But the only person who in fact does seem to be able to communicate with her effectively is Midas Crook, a young man suffering from a traumatic past and who possibly has Asperger's, which makes him happiest communicating behind a camera. Can Ida infuse Midas with human warmth and help him confront his past - and can he halt the deadly process of the glass that is invading her warm human body?

This query alone makes the book pretty unputdownable - one just has to read on to see if the unlikely couple are able to ever make a go of it. But mystery is not the only strength of 'The Girl with Glass Feet'. Shaw's descriptions of his imaginary island are rather wonderful, and impressively pictorial (though I slightly balk at the moth-winged cattle, who felt a step too far). The theme of potentially doomed love - between. Henry and Evalina, Carl and Freya (if she loves him at all), Emiliana and Carl, Emiliana and Hector, Ida and Midas - is woven through the book rather poetically, and at times Shaw can write some quite profound stuff on it. The weird relationship between Carl and Freya is particularly memorable, would there was more about it, and the finale to this plot strand is rather beautiful. I liked the way Shaw wove classical myth into the story too, though the myth of Midas, who destroys everything he touches by turning it to gold, felt a bit obvious. And the writing in general is of a very high level - some fine dialogue, some wonderful descriptions (not just landscape but also food, animals, people).

At the same time the extreme dreaminess and wistfulness of mood can get frustrating. We want to know WHY Ida (and others like the mysterious Saffron) start turning to glass, and this is never made clear. The sense that everyone on the island tends to give up on relationships too - Midas's father (also Midas) disengages from everyone, Henry doesn't really go after Evalina, Emiliana can't settle with either her husband or a lover - can get irritating, and one occasionally wants to shout at the characters for their passivity. Most tricky of all is the relationship between Midas and Ida - Shaw spends so long writing poetically about Midas's fear of touch and his traumatic memories, and the hypnotic process of Ida's transformation into glass that he never really explains WHY these two people are drawn to each other. This is problematic, as usually in the case of intense sudden relationships there is a powerful reason. In La Traviata, for example (to go on with the operatic comparisons, Shaw's work being somewhat larger-than-life), Violetta and Alfredo fall passionately in love because he's the first man to really care for her rather than use her. In La Bohème, Mimì and Rodolfo bond over poetry. In Die Walküre (and most Wagner operas) the lovers bond because of shared values and feeling alienated from the rest of society - and through compassion. But I'm never really sure what leads Ida and Midas to feel so strongly about each other. Midas never really develops that much from the strange, awkward and inarticulate young man of the start, and Ida never explains, even to herself, why she becomes so keen to be with him. There's little real sense of any kind of profound communication between them (unless it's that Midas provides an invaluable escape from the controlling Carl). The Carl-Ida relationship is rather confusedly handled too - does Carl love Ida sexually, or does he regard himself as a father-figure? Shaw couldn't seem to decide. In any case, I felt that the lack of a sense of a really strong bond between Midas and Ida meant there was somewhat of a small void at the centre of the love story.

Nevertheless, I'm inclined to still give the novel four stars, because of Shaw's intense imagination and wonderful poetic language, and because there were moments when he really appeared to get to the heart of emotions. It's certainly a book that will stay with me.

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