The Lost Jewels by Kirsty Manning

July 14, 2020

The Lost Jewels by Kirsty Manning

At a London building site in 1912, a group of workmen unearth a bucket of priceless jewels that had been buried in a cellar.  Who would have buried the jewelry and then never returned for them?  When the jewels are scheduled to be put on public display for the first time at the Museum of London, historian Dr. Kate Kirby is assigned to cover the exclusive story for an American magazine.  But as she digs into the history of the jewels, her research takes her from London to India to Sri Lanka to Paris and back again.  Along the way, she discovers an unexpected link to her own family’s history, beginning with a sketch of one of the jewels that she finds in her great-grandmother’s files in Boston.

Based on the discovery of the Cheapside Hoard, a collection of over 400 pieces of Elizabethan and Stuart jewelry, this cache of jewels have fascinated experts and the public alike.  It is believed that the building where the jewels were found were the premises of a London jeweler, and that the jewels were buried for safekeeping either during the English Civil War or the Great London Fire.  There are many incredible pieces in the collection, including an emerald large enough to have a watch set into it, cameos carved from amethysts and sapphires, and carved buttons set with precious stones, and there may have been more pieces that were taken by the workmen and pawned or sold.  The majority of the collection is owned by the Museum of London and is not currently on display.  They are building a gallery specifically to house the collection that is expected to open in 2024.

As with so many stories that move from the present day to the past, the 21^st century part of the story is far less compelling than the parts set in the 17^th and early 20^th century.  There is an awful lot of romance in the modern story:  a woman who has been devastated by a tragedy is rescued from despair by a gorgeous guy who turns out to have unexpected depths (gag me), and they live happily ever after.  I found myself skimming over the modern story to get back to Essie’s story in 1912.  It would have been refreshing to have Kate be an independent professional woman doing her job and researching a family story at the same time, and not needing to be rescued by a man.  Kate's angst over her long-dead great-grandmother also seemed overdone.  In addition, there is a confusing section about 2/3 of the way through the book, where Essie and her sister Gertie are fleeing London, and then they are suddenly back home - maybe that was just an error in the eARC and will get fixed in the final publication.

Necklaces found with the Cheapside Hoard now in the Museum of London

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in return for a review.