House of Glass

The impact of secrecy and toxic dysfunction is one of the novel’s most important and overt themes. Deception, lies, and omission are all shown to have a corrosive effect on both individual family members and familial relationships, and House of Glass illustrates how difficult it is for people to thrive and maintain healthy connections when dishonesty remains at the core of familial interactions. However, the novel also suggests that healing is ultimately possible, as each of the dysfunctional families manages to heal and move into healthier relational models of forgiveness and acceptance.

The Barclay family is the ostensible focus of the narrative, and their household is characterized by secrecy and deep dysfunction. Beth and Ian have a fractured relationship, and Ian’s serial cheating and the couple’s fundamental disconnect impact multiple areas of their marriage. They do not share common interests, beliefs, and values, and they disagree on how to raise their daughter. Against the backdrop of her parents’ fraught marriage, Rose becomes a solitary and withdrawn child. Because of her keen intellect and emotional intelligence, Rose is acutely aware of the abnormality of her household, which profoundly impacts her well-being. The Barclay family also constructs a complex web of lies to shield Rose from prosecution for Tina’s murder. The further that Stella delves into the case, the more she realizes that everyone “seems to be hiding something” (69). Ironically, however, Rose is not Tina’s murderer, and if the family had been open and honest during the police investigation, they would have been able to provide enough detail to cast proper suspicion on Harriet, the true killer. Yet, despite this secrecy and dysfunction, the Barclays do arrive at a place of emotional health and happiness at the end of the novel, committing themselves to providing Rose with the stability she needs to heal and thrive.

Stella also comes from a family marred by dysfunction. After her mother lost her husband to a tragic automotive accident, she descended into a state of acute emotional distress and addiction and neglected Stella despite her love for her daughter. On top of the trauma of having an unstable caregiver, Stella discovered her mother’s body after her mother overdosed on heroin. This set of experiences propelled her toward child-focused law, and in many ways, the dysfunction in her past provides her with a uniquely helpful perspective on the lives of the children she is trying to assist. Of her clients, she notes, “By the time I see them, any trust my clients had in adults has been shattered” (4), and the narrative thus implies that her ultimate goal is to restore their trust in adults who are worthy of it. When she adds that she has “borne witness to some of the worst things family members can do to one another” (56), it is clear that her own experiences have heavily influenced her perspective as a best interest attorney. Significantly, it is only when she fully processes her own unexamined family dysfunction that she is able to see her past in a kinder light and realize that her mother was prone to anxiety even before her father died. She therefore recognizes her mother’s heroin use as a form of self-medication rooted in extreme grief and hopelessness and forgives her mother rather than holding a grudge. This profound internal shift indicates that compassion is a key part of healing from dysfunction.