Breathing On Glass

Rhea - dark, intense and brilliant - and her golden, voluptuous sister Amber are not alike, but they are bound tighter than most: by love, by the loss of their father, and by the man who stands between them. Lewis is Amber's husband and the ferociously driven director of the biotech lab where Rhea is a rising star.

In search of funding, academic advancement and in alchemical pursuit of the perfect stem cell - their Holy Grail in one flawlessly reproducing genetic blueprint - Rhea and Lewis inhabit a rarefied world. Putting their trust in science, they are blinkered against the fatal human element: sex and envy, treachery and error. Amber, however, desperate for a child and embarking on fertility treatment, must confront precisely this flawed physicality, and a Faustian pact is forged. As the three are increasingly drawn into a transgressive relationship, the result is a series of betrayals that none, finally, will be able to forgive.

BREATHING ON GLASS is both coolly analytical and erotically subversive in its exploration of passion and power intertwined, and breeds a whole DNA sequence of cautionary tales: on weakness, temptation, ambition and the limits of science.

“Absorbing, authoritative, exciting, aesthetically beautiful ... Breathing on Glass is unlike anything else I've ever read . . . The triumph of the novel is that these immensely ambitious and complex intellectual themes are integrated and carried through in a narrative that is aesthetically rich and beautiful and deep”

Absorbing, authoritative, exciting, aesthetically beautiful ... Breathing on Glass is unlike anything else I've ever read . . . The triumph of the novel is that these immensely ambitious and complex intellectual themes are integrated and carried through in a narrative that is aesthetically rich and beautiful and deep -- Tessa Hadley, author of The London Train
In her gripping tale of laboratories and latex gloves, scientific one-upmanship and sibling rivalry, Jennifer Cryer puts the sex into medical research - and gives the classic love triangle a thrillingly modern twist . . . A spirited novel's wry look at the lengths scientist will go to achieve glory. But a different level of deception is also examined in the relationship between Rhea and Amber -- Genevieve Fox Daily Mail
Cryer's sensual precision works best when this part thriller, part domestic tangle deals with science . . . . The questions raised about the limits of scientific ambition are timely -- Catherine Taylor Guardian

Jennifer Cryer was born and grew up in a Northumbrian mining village. Married, she nows lives in South Wales. After studying Biochemistry and working in hospital, university and industrial laboratories, she also completed a PhD in creative writing and has combined these two interests in her first novel.

'An ambitious debut novel that examines what happens when science and human appetites collide . . . The cautionary tale goes enjoyably more rogue at every turn' Emma Hagestadt, Independent Rhea her sister Amber are bound tighter than most: by love, by the loss of their father, and by Lewis - Amber's husband and the ferociously driven director of the biotech lab where Rhea is a rising star. In search of funding and in pursuit of the perfect stem cell, Rhea and Lewis put their trust in science. But they are blinkered against the fatal human element: sex and envy, treachery and error. Amber desperate for a child and embarking on fertility treatment, has to confront precisely this flawed physicality, and a Faustian pact is forged. Soon the three find themselves trapped by their own deceptions, in a series of betrayals that none, finally, will be able to forgive. 'Compelling . . . Part thriller, part domestic tangle' Catherine Taylor, Guardian 'Breathtakingly good . . . The relationship between the sisters, its tenderness, deep history and its treacheries, is marvellously realised' Tessa Hadley 'A gripping tale of laboratories and latex gloves, scientific one-upmanship and sibling rivalry' Genevieve Fox, Daily Mail

Rhea - dark, intense and brilliant - and her golden, voluptuous sister Amber are not alike, but they are bound tighter than most: by love, by the loss of their father, and by the man who stands between them. Lewis is Amber's husband and the ferociously driven director of the biotech lab where Rhea is a rising star.In search of funding, academic advancement and in alchemical pursuit of the perfect stem cell - their Holy Grail in one flawlessly reproducing genetic blueprint - Rhea and Lewis inhabit a rarefied world. Putting their trust in science, they are blinkered against the fatal human element: sex and envy, treachery and error. Amber, however, desperate for a child and embarking on fertility treatment, must confront precisely this flawed physicality, and a Faustian pact is forged. As the three are increasingly drawn into a transgressive relationship, the result is a series of betrayals that none, finally, will be able to forgive.BREATHING ON GLASS is both coolly analytical and erotically subversive in its exploration of passion and power intertwined, and breeds a whole DNA sequence of cautionary tales: on weakness, temptation, ambition and the limits of science.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.