3 Review(s)

In this "glittering, Gatsby-esque" (Publishers Weekly) novel, two generations of Quincy women-a bewitching Jazz Age beauty and a young lawyer-are bound by a spectacular and mysterious Indian necklace. Always the black sheep of the tight-knit Quincy clan, Nell is cautious when she's summoned to the elegantly shabby family manor after her great-aunt Loulou's death. A cold reception from the family grows chillier when they learn Loulou has left Nell a fantastically valuable heirloom: an ornate necklace from India that Nell finds stashed in a Crown Royal whiskey bag in the back of a dresser. As predatory relatives circle and art experts begin to question the necklace's provenance, Nell turns to the only person she thinks she can trust-the attractive and ambitious estate lawyer who definitely is not part of the old-money crowd. More than just a piece of jewelry, the necklace links Nell to a long-buried family secret involving Ambrose Quincy, who brought the necklace home from India in the 1920s as a dramatic gift for May, the woman he intended to marry. Upon his return, he discovered that May had married his brother Ethan, the "good" Quincy, devoted to their father. As a gesture of friendship, Ambrose gave May the necklace anyway. Crisp as a gin martini, fresh as a twist of lime, The Necklace is the charming and intoxicating story "written with wit, compassion, and a meticulous attention to period and cultural detail" (Kirkus Reviews) of long-simmering family resentments and a young woman who inherits a secret much more valuable than a legendary necklace.