Introduction

From M.J. Rose, New York Times bestselling author of Tiffany Blues, “a lush, romantic historical mystery” (Kristin Hannah, The Nightingale), comes a gorgeously wrought novel of ambition and betrayal set in the Gilded Age.

New York, 1910: A city of extravagant balls in Fifth Avenue mansions and poor immigrants crammed into crumbling Lower East Side tenements. A city where the suffrage movement is growing stronger every day, but most women reporters are still delegated to the fashion and lifestyle pages. But Vera Garland is set on making her mark in a man’s world of serious journalism.

Shortly after the world-famous Hope Diamond is acquired for a record sum, Vera begins investigating rumors about schemes by its new owner, jeweler Pierre Cartier, to manipulate its value. Vera is determined to find the truth behind the notorious diamond and its legendary curses—even better when the expose puts her in the same orbit as a magazine publisher whose blackmailing schemes led to the death of her beloved father.

Appealing to a young Russian jeweler for help, Vera is unprepared when she begins falling in love with him…and even more unprepared when she gets caught up in his deceptions and finds herself at risk of losing all she has worked so hard to achieve.

Set against the backdrop of New York’s glitter and grit, of ruthless men and the atrocities they commit in the pursuit of power, this enthralling historical novel explores our very human needs for love, retribution—and to pursue one’s destiny, regardless of the cost.

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Excerpt

Chapter 1
New York City February 3, 1911
Diamonds, scientists say, are the world’s hardest material. And yet, like a heart, a diamond breaks. When I was a reporter covering a story about the Hope Diamond, my research taught me that often a gem cut- ter will study a major stone for months, deciding where to strike, as cleaving is a precise and risky effort. If the jeweler misjudges, he can destroy the stone. As a woman, I’ve learned the same thing. A single mistake can destroy a relationship. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

While the book takes place in 1910 there are a lot of social and economic and feminist issues. Did you think things are drastically different today or are we still dealing with many of the same things?

Do you believe in luck? Other superstitions? Would you hold the Hope Diamond?

M.J. Rose has several instances in this book of doing the wrong thing for the right reason. Do you think they were all justified?

Cartier’s Hope carefully paints a picture of the Gilded Age in New York City — all based on research. Did it surprise you? Or was it how you imagined? Were there any parts of that past you’d like to experience?

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