The Love of Stones by Tobias Hill
The Love of Stones by Tobias Hill
2001 Faber & Faber Limited, London
This delightful book was sitting on my in-law’s bookcase- a perfect vacation read!
A “historical thriller”, this novel examines the history and travels of a piece of jewelry known as the “3 Brethren” for the 3 large, rectangular, perfectly matched, balas rubies that dominate the piece. This piece of jewelry also includes 3 large round pearls and one teardrop shaped pearl, and at the center a huge diamond shaped like a pyramid.
It was (fiction!) commissioned by the Duke John the Fearless the 3rd Valois Duke of Burgundy around 1400 and worn by him into battle. When he was defeated by the enfant Dauphin, the jewel passed to ownership by its first Royal.
The gem is broken up and reunited more than once. One subplot features 2 Iraqi brothers who took some of the stones from it to London and rebuilt it for Queen Elizabeth, who was one of the most important amongst this gem’s owners. It sometimes languished in the hands of a dealer because no one could afford to buy it!
The book begins and ends with a young British woman who is on the trail of the gem. Her story weaves through the flashbacks of the gem’s progress through the world. As she put it, "My life is part of the story of the Three Brethren, not the other way around.... The Brethren has been the turning point of many lives, and mine is only one."
It is packed with tidbits about pearls and other gems, as well as smidges of exotic gem markets across time and space.
You can buy this book for $1 + postage- can’t beat that!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/off...?condition=all
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Originally Posted by Caitlin Williams
