The Glassmaker

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains descriptions of racism and enslavement.

The Rosso family is depicted as close-knit and caring despite their struggles to weather the tensions and conflict that ensue over the centuries. They are deeply influenced by their strong emotional bonds, and their economic livelihoods are also enmeshed, for they know that if the business succeeds or fails, all members of the family will be impacted. Both the workshop and the family’s domestic life function via collective labor. For example, long before Orsola becomes a mother herself, she cares for her younger sister, nieces, and nephews as if they are her own children. The enmeshment of the Rosso family often requires individual members to unflinchingly make personal sacrifices for the collective good. For example, when Nicoletta must be isolated with the other plague victims, Laura immediately volunteers to go with her daughter-in-law, exclaiming, “Who will look after her? Who will look after my grandson when he’s born?” (111). Because Nicoletta is heavily pregnant, Laura does not hesitate to risk her own life to protect two generations of the Rosso family, and her courage is the reason for the infant Raffaele’s survival.

Likewise, even though Orsola is deeply in love with