The novel follows Vincent Ettrich and his lover, Isabelle Neukor, who were central to the plot of White Apples. Having died, Vincent is once again alive, recently resurrected for some mysterious reason. Isabelle, pregnant with their child, discovers that their unborn son is destined to play a crucial role in the cosmic struggle between chaos and order.
The stakes are high as the forces of chaos, represented by a group of powerful and malevolent beings, seek to manipulate the unborn child for their own ends. The narrative weaves through various dimensions and states of existence, blurring the line between the living and the dead. Characters move freely between life and the afterlife, where reality itself seems to be constantly shifting.
In the afterlife, which is depicted as a surreal, dreamlike landscape, Vincent and Isabelle must navigate a series of strange and dangerous encounters. They meet bizarre and memorable characters, each with their own role in the unfolding cosmic drama. Among them is a particularly sinister figure who seeks to disrupt the balance of the universe and plunge everything into chaos.
As the story progresses, the boundary between dreams and reality becomes increasingly porous and dangerous for the couple while they must fight with everything they have to protect their child.
Praise for Glass Soup:
"An ambitious retelling of the cosmic struggle between good and evil... make Carroll's latest a delicious dish... This is a marvelous comic feast." — Publishers Weekly
"Carroll's clever and spellbinding tale offers fans and newcomers alike startling perspectives on time and reality, an afterlife made of dreams, a glimmering vision of the divine, and a sweet tribute to love." — Booklist
Jonathan Carroll has published more than twenty novels including The Land of Laughs, The Wooden Sea, and Outside the Dog Museum, two story collections, and a collection of short nonfiction pieces, The Crow's Dinner. His work has been translated into over thirty languages. He's won a Pushcart Prize, World Fantasy award, British Fantasy award, French Fantasy award twice, and the Bram Stoker award. His novella Black Cocktail was dramatized in a one man show at the Edinburgh Festival. For many years he was a teacher at the American International School in Vienna while secretly writing his novels under the covers at night, lit only by hope and a dull flashlight. Carroll's latest novel is Mr. Breakfast (2023).