From M.J. Rose, New York Times bestselling author of Tiffany Blues, “a lush, romantic historical mystery” (Kristin Hannah, The Nightingale), comes a gorgeously wrought novel of ambition and betrayal set in the Gilded Age.
New York, 1910: A city of extravagant balls in Fifth Avenue mansions and poor immigrants crammed into crumbling Lower East Side tenements. A city where the suffrage movement is growing stronger every day, but most women reporters are still delegated to the fashion and lifestyle pages. But Vera Garland is set on making her mark in a man’s world of serious journalism.
Shortly after the world-famous Hope Diamond is acquired for a record sum, Vera begins investigating rumors about schemes by its new owner, jeweler Pierre Cartier, to manipulate its value. Vera is determined to find the truth behind the notorious diamond and its legendary curses—even better when the expose puts her in the same orbit as a magazine publisher whose blackmailing schemes led to the death of her beloved father.
Appealing to a young Russian jeweler for help, Vera is unprepared when she begins falling in love with him…and even more unprepared when she gets caught up in his deceptions and finds herself at risk of losing all she has worked so hard to achieve.
Set against the backdrop of New York’s glitter and grit, of ruthless men and the atrocities they commit in the pursuit of power, this enthralling historical novel explores our very human needs for love, retribution—and to pursue one’s destiny, regardless of the cost.
M.J. Rose returns with another captivating historical mystery/romance, this time set in 1920s New York City and featuring one of her most likable heroines yet. Vera Garland, a child of wealth and privilege, longs for something more than playing the role of society matron, which her sister and mother both embrace. Vera instead spends her time pursuing social justice as an undercover reporter, living two very different lives as the pampered, privileged Vera and the tough-as nails-reporter Vee Swann.
Despite Vera’s privilege, she experiences several traumatic incidents, with the death of her beloved father triggering a life change that will rock her to the core. During her search for justice for her father and the man who betrayed his secret, Vera finds and loses love, and uncovers a shocking secret kept by her mother. Adding to all of this personal intrigue is the Hope Diamond and Pierre Cartier, the jeweler brave enough to sell it.
1920s NYC glam plus a cracking good plot make this one winner.
Publication Date: January 28, 2020
Published By: Atria Books
Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy
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