Content Warning: Both the source text and this guide contain descriptions of pregnancy loss, racism, and enslavement.

The prologue introduces Venice and the neighboring island of Murano, an important center for glassmaking. The narrative hints that time functions differently in these places, and it is revealed that “the artisans of the City of Water and the Island of Glass seem to be aging more slowly than the world beyond” (viii).

The story begins in Murano in 1486. Orsola Rosso is nine years old and lives with her family, which consists of her mother Laura, her father Lorenzo (a well-known glassmaker), and her two brothers, Marco and Giacomo. One day, Orsola falls into the canal, and Laura suggests that she warm up at the workshop of a rival glassmaking family, the Baroviers. Orsola goes alone to the Barovier workshop, where she is surprised to see Maria Barovier engaging in glassmaking, which is traditionally a male occupation. When she is spotted, Orsola flees and makes her way home, where Laura questions her. Orsola reports that she saw Maria making glass beads, and Laura suggests to her husband that the Rosso workshop should expand into bead making.