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The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau: A Novel
Kristin Harmel, the New York Times bestselling author who “is the best there is at sweeping historical drama” (Kelly Harms, author of The Seven Day Switch), returns with an electrifying new novel about two jewel thieves, a priceless bracelet that disappears in 1940s Paris, and a quest for answers in a decades-old murder.
Colette Marceau has been stealing jewels for nearly as long as she can remember, following the centuries-old code of honor instilled in her by her mother, Annabel: take only from the cruel and unkind, and give to those in need. Never was their family tradition more important than seven decades earlier, during the Second World War, when Annabel and Colette worked side by side in Paris to fund the French Resistance.
But one night in 1942, it all went wrong. Annabel was arrested by the Germans, and Colette’s four-year-old sister, Liliane, disappeared in the chaos of the raid, along with an exquisite diamond bracelet sewn into the hem of her nightgown for safekeeping. Soon after, Annabel was executed, and Liliane’s body was found floating in the Seine—but the bracelet was nowhere to be found.
Seventy years later, Colette—who has “redistributed” $30 million in jewels over the decades to fund many worthy organizations—has done her best to put her tragic past behind her, but her life begins to unravel when the long-missing bracelet suddenly turns up in a museum exhibit in Boston. If Colette can discover where it has been all this time—and who owns it now—she may finally learn the truth about what happened to her sister. But she isn’t the only one for whom the bracelet holds answers, and when someone from her childhood lays claim to the diamonds, she’s forced to confront the ghosts of her past as never before. Against all odds, there may still be a chance to bring a murderer to justice—but first, Colette will have to summon the courage to open her own battered heart.
Colette Marceau has been stealing jewels for nearly as long as she can remember, following the centuries-old code of honor instilled in her by her mother, Annabel: take only from the cruel and unkind, and give to those in need. Never was their family tradition more important than seven decades earlier, during the Second World War, when Annabel and Colette worked side by side in Paris to fund the French Resistance.
But one night in 1942, it all went wrong. Annabel was arrested by the Germans, and Colette’s four-year-old sister, Liliane, disappeared in the chaos of the raid, along with an exquisite diamond bracelet sewn into the hem of her nightgown for safekeeping. Soon after, Annabel was executed, and Liliane’s body was found floating in the Seine—but the bracelet was nowhere to be found.
Seventy years later, Colette—who has “redistributed” $30 million in jewels over the decades to fund many worthy organizations—has done her best to put her tragic past behind her, but her life begins to unravel when the long-missing bracelet suddenly turns up in a museum exhibit in Boston. If Colette can discover where it has been all this time—and who owns it now—she may finally learn the truth about what happened to her sister. But she isn’t the only one for whom the bracelet holds answers, and when someone from her childhood lays claim to the diamonds, she’s forced to confront the ghosts of her past as never before. Against all odds, there may still be a chance to bring a murderer to justice—but first, Colette will have to summon the courage to open her own battered heart.
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Community Reviews
“Jewels are just jewels…They mean nothing and everything, all at once…Jewels carried the hopes and dreams of those who had crafted them, given them, worn them…jewels carry a piece of anyone who has touched them…diamonds never really belong to anyone. They’ll witness births and deaths, war and peace, feast and famine, and yet they’ll live on, for millions of years. They have witnessed the past, and they will witness a future we can’t begin to imagine…Diamonds are forever…You just need to know where to look for them.”
“I…steal jewelry. It is–it’s a family tradition that has been passed down for centuries, and with no heirs, it will die with me…I’m descended from Robin Hood, you see…he was very much a real man who raised his children to lead with their hearts in rebalancing the scales of justice. It is my family’s code that we steal only from the cruel or unkind…I sell them, and then I use the funds on projects I hope will make people’s lives better.”
“We show people the sides of us we want them to see, and we hold the other pieces close. But perhaps it is those pieces–the ones we keep nearest to our vests–that define us…We’ve all done things we’re proud of. We’ve all done things we regret. Can a lifetime of good wash away a long-ago sin? Or are the choices we’ve made crosses that we must bear through eternity?...We must look inside. We must try to do what we can to right wrongs. And we must come clean about our pasts.”
“There is a difference between a life that honors the past and a life dictated by it. When you let your history shape your future, you relinquish the ability to choose a better way forward…It is in the times of greatest danger that we must summon our greatest courage…In times of darkness, we must find a way to be daring...Because when we find ourselves in darkness, we can’t wait for the light to find us…Remember the past and try to do good in the world, for in doing so, it might just be possible to turn back the darkness.” Change is “the only way to pave the road for future generations.”
Kristin Harmel’s The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau sparkles and shines just as brightly as all the diamonds in Paris!
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