Through a Glass Darkly is a 1986 historical fiction novel by American author Karleen Koen. A former magazine editor, Koen had never before written a novel and spent four years developing it while living as a housewife with her family. She sold the hardcover rights to Random House for $350,000, which was then a record for a new novelist. The circumstances behind the work's publication led to Koen becoming the subject of much media attention in the late 1980s.
Koen's story is set in the midst of the turbulent politics of the English and French aristocracy as well as the South Sea Bubble. The novel begins in 1715 England, when teenage protagonist Barbara Alderley becomes married to the handsome, older Earl Devane. Though in love with him, Barbara soon discovers a secret from his past that threatens to tear their relationship apart. Barbara must learn to navigate courtly intrigues and financial crises while experiencing personal tragedies.
Released on July 12, 1986, by Random House, Through a Glass Darkly landed on The New York Times Best Seller list. Critical reception was largely mixed, with reviewers focusing on the novel's prose and attention to historical detail. It has been translated into more than ten languages.
Background
Through a Glass Darkly was the first novel written by American author Karleen Koen. She had previously been a reporter for the Houston Business Journal and also served as the editor of Houston Home & Garden before leaving to spend more time with her husband and two children. Desiring to once again have her name in print, Koen was persuaded by her husband to write a novel to help keep busy in between housework. At first sceptical at writing fiction, Koen began mentioning the idea at parties to avoid appearing as a mere housewife. "When you're at home raising children your status is – well, there is no status," Koen later recalled. Commencing the novel in 1980, she wrote three long drafts during a four-year period; the final manuscript ultimately contained 1,300 double-spaced pages.
Koen found inspiration from her interest in the eighteenth century. Rather than use the "virginity-sexual tango" trope of most historical romance novels, Koen sought to circumvent the "rules" of the genre and concentrate on characterization. Koen engaged in an intensive research period on the eighteenth century using approximately 300 books, which she often obtained from a local university's library. She also traveled briefly to England and France. Koen found writing the novel to be "a very intense thing" and became very attached to her characters, even the villains. She sought to "hook the readers emotionally and make them care. I guess it's soap opera (but) there's a kind of sigh you heave when you finish a certain type of book. I wanted that sigh." She added:
To gain a publisher for her novel, she sent the manuscript to several literary agents she had discovered in Writer's Digest. Though two turned her down, one agent, Jean Naggar, encouraged Koen to continue finishing the book, believing it to be "the launching of a major author." Naggar mailed the manuscript to five major publishing companies, with Random House purchasing it for a "whopping" $350,000 in August 1985, which was at the time a record for a new novelist. Random House's publisher, Howard Kaminsky, wanted to publish "Oprah Winfrey-type books" in the "how-to-be-the-best-you-can-be" genre. He reasoned, "I'm sure that's up there with the highest prices ever paid for the hardcover rights alone to a first novel. But then it is not that big a price when you consider that it's such a deserving novel – and it will undoubtedly go for a very large amount in paperback later."
Plot summary
In 1715 England, fifteen-year-old Barbara Alderley lives with her widowed grandmother, the Duchess of Tamworth, and her younger siblings on their family's country Tamworth estate. Barbara's indebted and calculating mother, Lady Diana Alderley, arrives to inform them of Barbara's possible marriage to Roger Montgeoffry, Earl Devane, a former aide to the deceased Duke. Barbara is pleased with the news, believing herself to be in love with the handsome, wealthy, and popular earl despite his age (nearly thirty years her senior).
