The novel
the Strength ofSHATTEREDGLASS
A Novel of Loss, Resilience, and Becoming
About the book
When everything shatters, something sacred remains.
The Strength of Shattered Glass follows one woman's profound and deeply personal journey as she navigates the ancient rites, traditions, and spiritual depths of conversion to Judaism. Set against the backdrop of a world that rarely pauses to ask the hardest questions — Who am I? What do I believe? Where do I belong? — this novel is a meditation on identity, belonging, and the quiet courage it takes to rebuild a life around faith.
Readers of Rabbi Rubenstein's prequel, Weddings By The Glass, will remember how Hillary — Hillie — Gordon found and married the love of her life, Jacob "Jay" Jaworski. It is the losses that follow that love which set this new story in motion. After a series of devastating blows, Hillie finds herself at a crossroads. Drawn toward the warmth and wisdom of a Jewish community she barely knows, she begins a journey she never anticipated — one that will ask everything of her and give back more than she imagined possible.
Along the way, Hillie encounters Bleue Céleste — a young woman of rare wisdom and quiet depth, whose insight seems to reach far beyond her years. It is Bleue who becomes Hillie's most unexpected guide, helping her navigate the tangled terrain of grief and loss, and pointing her, gently but surely, toward growth, resilience, and a life she could not yet see for herself.
Written with the tenderness of someone who has guided many seekers through this very passage, Rabbi Marc brings to life a story that is at once intimate and universal. This is a novel for anyone who has ever stood at the edge of something new and wondered whether they had the strength to step forward.
"In the breaking, she found what had always been whole."
What the book explores
Themes that endure
Spiritual Transformation
A woman's interior journey through doubt, discovery, and devotion — and the moment faith stops being a question and becomes a home.
Loss & Resilience
How grief, when met with honesty and courage, can become the very ground from which a new life grows.
The Courage to Belong
What it truly means to choose a faith — and to discover, in that choosing, who you have always been.
Bleue Céleste
Wise beyond her years and impossible to forget — Bleue Céleste walks into Hillie's life at its darkest hour and becomes the unexpected light that helps her find her way home.
About the edition
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