The Broken Teaglass

Unravel the mystery of words—and people—in this “droll and poignant comedy of manners full of witty insights and oddball characters, as well as a mystery with a one-of-a-kind unfolding” (The Wall Street Journal). Emily Arsenault’s “quirky, arresting debut” (Publishers Weekly) is heir to the fiercely intelligent novels of Jasper Fforde in this story about definitions- of words, of who we are, and of the stories we choose to define ourselves.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR

In the maze of cubicles at Samuelson Company, editorial assistant Billy Webb struggles to focus while helping to prepare the next edition of a dictionary. But there are distractions. He senses that something suspicious is going on beneath this company’s academic fa ade. What’s more, his (possibly) flirtatious co-worker Mona Minot has just made a startling discovery- a trove of puzzling citations, all taken from the same book, The Broken Teaglass. Billy and Mona soon learn that no such book exists. And the quotations read like a confession, coyly hinting at a hidden identity, a secret liaison, a crime. As Billy and Mona try to unearth the truth, the puzzle begins to take on bigger meaning for both of them, compelling them to redefine their notions of themselves and each other.

The Broken Teaglass is at once a literary mystery, a cautious love story, and an ingenious suspense novel that will delight fans of brilliantly inventive fiction.

Author Biography

Emily Arsenault has worked as a lexicographer, an English teacher, a children’s librarian, and a Peace Corps volunteer. She wrote The Broken Teaglass while living in rural South Africa, to pass the long, quiet evenings in her mud brick house. She now lives in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, with her husband.