Claire McMillian
3/5 stars
Nell, a Quincy family outsider, has been left a fabulously valuable necklace by her great-aunt. This creates a stir with greedy relatives and eager art experts vying to persuade Nell what best to do with the necklace.
This necklace was a gift from Ambrose Quincy to May, the woman he intended to marry, bought on a trip to India during the 1920's. When he returns home, however, Ambrose discovers that May has married his brother instead.
The novel moves excellently between the present and the past, in alternating chapters, with the reader following Nell as she uncovers a family secret, and Ambrose as he becomes a third in a tragic love triangle.
The story, despite it's predictability, is interesting through to the end. The writing is not exceptionable, but is solid. The weakness lies in the lightness of what could have been a serious and compelling read, the shortness of the novel, the lack of details given, and the quick ending. While it was an enjoyable read, I can't help but think that with more depth, it could have been tremendous.
