The Jeweler of Stolen Dreams by M.J. Rose #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Brilliance Audio for the ALC and Get Red PR and Blue Box Press , #partner, for the finished copy of The Jeweler of Stolen Dreams in exchange for my honest review.

Publisher: Blue Box Press / Brilliance Audio

Published: February 7, 2023

 

Summary:

A captivating tale of two passionate women separated by decades but united by a shared vision. One, the famous jeweler Suzanne Belperron, fighting to protect her company and rescue the man she loves. The other, a young auctioneer whose exceptional gifts reveal a secret that endangers her very life.

“Only one thing saves you, and that is not losing sight of beauty.”

Paris, 1942. Suzanne Belperron is known as one of the most innovative jewelers of her time. Elsa Schiaparelli and the Duchess of Windsor are just two of her many illustrious clients. What no one knows is that Suzanne and her dear friend, American socialite Dixie Osgood, have been helping transport hundreds of Jewish families out of France since the war began. But now, the war has come to Suzanne’s front door—the Nazis have arrested her business partner and longtime lover, Bernard Herz.

New York, 1986. Violine Duplessi, an appraiser for a boutique auction house, is summoned to visit the home of Paul Osgood, a scholarly lawyer and political candidate who aspires to take over the Senate seat of his recently deceased father. Paul has inherited everything inside Osgood Manor, from the eighteenth-century furniture to the nineteenth-century Limoges china. But a vintage Louis Vuitton trunk is what calls to Violine, with the surprising but undeniable thrum of energy that can only be one thing: the gift passed down to her by La Lune, the sixteenth-century courtesan.

Since childhood, Violine has been able to read an object’s history and learn the secrets of its owners by merely touching it, but she silenced her psychometry when it destroyed her last relationship. Why has it returned now?

While inspecting the trunk, she senses it holds a hidden treasure and finds a hoard of precious jewels that provoke nightmarish visions and raise a multitude of questions. Who owned these pieces? Why were they hidden inside the trunk? Were they stolen? Could their discovery derail Paul’s campaign and their burgeoning attraction to each other?

So begins a search that takes Violine to Paris to work with the Midas Society, a covert international organization whose mission is to return lost and stolen antiques, jewels, and artwork to their original owners. There, Violine will discover both her and Paul’s surprising connections to the trunk—and to Suzanne Belperron, who silently and heroically hid an amazing truth in plain sight.

Told through Violine’s first-person account and Suzanne’s diary entries, The Jeweler of Stolen Dreams is a riveting story of magick, mystery, romance, and revenge. Inspired by the real-life legend Suzanne Belperron, it marks yet another masterpiece by New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author M.J. Rose.

 

My thoughts:

I’m still relatively new to M.J. Rose’s books. I read the trilogy she co-wrote with C.W. Gortner and absolutely loved those and and I’ve read one other of the books that M.J. Rose wrote by herself and I just love her writing style and that her books always somehow include jewels, this latest one included!

This book captivated me right from the start and I found myself completely enthralled by the story. And when you add in the fact that I ended up learning some new things while reading it…it makes it that much better! This is why I love reading historical fiction – I continue to learn such fascinating tidbits that make me dig a little deeper into what the story has taught me. I’ve read a lot of books set during WWII but I firmly believe there are still so many stories out there that still need to be told.

This dual-narrative is part historical fiction, part romance and part mystery with just a little magical realism thrown in. Usually with two timelines I am drawn to one over the other, but here I was equally invested in both characters. I loved how they were both driven to do what was right even though it wasn’t always the easiest or safest path. And they each had such fascinating careers – Suzanne being a jewelry designer and a member of the French Resistance during WWII and Violine an appraiser for an auction house in the 1980s.

I loved the way the author blended fact and fiction here to tell her story and of course without reading the author’s note at the end, you don’t really know what’s true or not. This is why I always make sure to read those author’s notes…they really provide such a wealth of information.

Another beautiful story by a fantastic author. I can’t wait to see what she gives us next!

 

Audio thoughts:

This audiobook was done so well. Narrated by Tavia Gilbert and Caroline Hewitt, I thought each narrator really did a fantastic job of bringing these characters and the story to life. Their pacing was just right and they infused just the right amount of emotion and tension into their voices as needed.