The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau - by Kristin Harmel (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

"Colette's feisty spirit--both as a young girl and later as an older woman reassessing her life and her choices--makes this story joyous and ultimately triumphant. I loved it." ----Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Stolen Queen

"A dazzling diamond of a novel.... Kristin Harmel has a rare ability to touch the heart." ----Hazel Gaynor, New York Times bestselling author of Before Dorothy

"A fabulous tale of heartbreak and bravery and just how hard one will fight for those they love. ... Kristin Harmel has done it again." ----Madeline Martin, New York Times bestselling author of The Booklover's Library

"A rousing historical heist novel, but at its core, it's about family, unfaltering love, tragic loss, and the choices--good and bad--that become our legacy." ----Sarah McCoy, New York Times bestselling author of Whatever Happened To Lori Lovely

"This stunning and fastidiously researched story examines the complexity of morality, and the power that ordinary people have to enact change in the world around them. I never wanted to reach the end."-- --Colleen Oakley, USA Today bestselling author of Jane and Dan at the End of the World

About the Author

Kristin Harmel is the New York Times bestselling author of more than a dozen novels including The Forest of Vanishing Stars, The Book of Lost Names, The Room on Rue Amélie, and The Sweetness of Forgetting. She is published in more than thirty languages and is the cofounder and cohost of the popular web series, Friends & Fiction. She lives in Orlando, Florida.