My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul.”
----Pablo Neruda
M.J. Rose, a New York Times bestselling novelist, weaves an enchanting and romantic tale called, The Secret Language of Stones: A Novel that is the second book in The Daughters of La Lune series, that traces the life of young woman with powers to encrypt the messages of those beyond the grave to their loves ones with the help of rare gems that is filled with magic, love, betrayal, war and politics.
Synopsis:
As World War I rages and the Romanov dynasty reaches its sudden, brutal end, a young jewelry maker discovers love, passion, and her own healing powers in this rich and romantic ghost story, the perfect follow-up to M.J. Rose’s “brilliantly crafted” (Providence Journal) novel The Witch of Painted Sorrows.
Nestled within Paris’s historic Palais Royal is a jewelry store unlike any other. La Fantasie Russie is owned by Pavel Orloff, protégé to the famous Faberge, and is known by the city’s fashion elite as the place to find the rarest of gemstones and the most unique designs. But war has transformed Paris from a city of style and romance to a place of fear and mourning. In the summer of 1918, places where lovers used to walk, widows now wander alone.
So it is from La Fantasie Russie’s workshop that young, ambitious Opaline Duplessi now spends her time making trench watches for soldiers at the front, as well as mourning jewelry for the mothers, wives, and lovers of those who have fallen. People say that Opaline’s creations are magical. But magic is a word Opaline would rather not use. The concept is too closely associated with her mother Sandrine, who practices the dark arts passed down from their ancestor La Lune, one of sixteenth century Paris’s most famous courtesans.
But Opaline does have a rare gift even she can’t deny, a form of lithomancy that allows her to translate the energy emanating from stones. Certain gemstones, combined with a personal item, such as a lock of hair, enable her to receive messages from beyond the grave. In her mind, she is no mystic, but merely a messenger, giving voice to soldiers who died before they were able to properly express themselves to loved ones. Until one day, one of these fallen soldiers communicates a message—directly to her.
So begins a dangerous journey that will take Opaline into the darkest corners of wartime Paris and across the English Channel, where the exiled Romanov dowager empress is waiting to discover the fate of her family.
Opaline Duplessi, a young wannabe jeweler who is also the daughter of dark magician, Sandrine, has arrived in Paris to work under the guidance of Pavel Orloff at his shop, La Fantaisie Russe, as Orloff too learned his art of making jewelry from the best master, Peter Carl Fabergé, the famous Russian painter, hence his shop is a welcoming home to all those who are fleeing Russian during its revolutionary turmoil period. Paris is too, on the verge of coming out of the First World War and during this period, the romanticism of Paris has turned into something dark, fearful and sad. Opaline too harbors some qualities like her mother but hers is not so dark, in fact her powers are resourceful as she has an ability to put messages through some rare gems to convey that to the loved ones of those who have died in the battle. Luckily she never hears from those beyond the grave after passing on their messages to their loves ones, but on a rare occasion, she hears the voice of a young commander who claims that he was responsible for the death of his entire troop. And thus begins Opaline's enthralling journey through love, war and politics of both Russia and England.
This is the second book of M.J.Rose's that I read and it easily bewitched my mind from the very first page with Rose's intricate style of laying out her details, sensuality and vividness of the timeline and back-drop. The 20th century picture of Paris is very gracefully portrayed by the Rose's evocative prose and she layered the painting of Paris by arresting vividly the 1918's war-affected streets, gardens, the sad Parisians, the sufferings among its people, thus it instantly transported me back to that first world war era in a city of devastated charm, elegance and beauty. Moreover, the smooth mixture of her setting and her plot with that paranormal touch proves to deliver a mildly dark, passionate atmosphere which in one word, is thoroughly spellbinding.
The author also captures the politics, the raging war, the betrayal, the scandals, the assassinations that is gradually destroying not only the lives but also upturning the glory of a beautiful city into something dark, death and sadness, and that all projected through an apt atmospheric feel. Hence the writing of this author has depth and visual imagery that will allow the readers to visualize each and every scene to unfold right in front of their eyes.
The characters are all very well developed and Opaline- the primary character is very evolving, brave and determined. In the beginning, Rose portrays the main character as someone bit terrified with her psychic abilities, vulnerable and innocent, but as she gets more involved in the politics of the country as well as with the ghost of Jean Luc, she turns a bit bolder, brave and passionate. The rest of the supporting character are well etched out and projected into their realistic demeanor through which the author brings out their honest voices into the story line.
The chemistry between Opaline and Jean Luc is laced with heartfelt emotions and also passion for longingness. Although in this particular story, the author's main focus never shifted from the country's gruesome historical evidences of how the Germans uprooted normalcy from Paris with their invasion and how Opaline gets tangled in a political scandal, while becoming her own salvation from all of this drama.
The narrative is mystical and unraveling that will keep the readers glued to the story. The pacing is bit faster than the previous book, even though the author emphatically incorporates the history of the first world war in Paris through this story. The love story with a ghost is the best appeal of this book that makes it enticing as well as exciting to read. Overall, this is a compelling historical fiction laced with paranormal elements and magic and politics.
Verdict: A fascinating as well as magical sequel!
Courtesy: Thanks to the author, M.J.Rose's publicist for giving me an opportunity to read and review this novel.
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Author Info:
M.J. Rose grew up in New York City mostly in the labyrinthine galleries of the Metropolitan Museum, the dark tunnels and lush gardens of Central Park and reading her mother’s favorite books before she was allowed. She believes mystery and magic are all around us but we are too often too busy to notice… books that exaggerate mystery and magic draw attention to it and remind us to look for it and revel in it.
Rose lives in CT with her husband the musician and composer, Doug Scofield, and their very spoiled and often photographed dog, Winka.
Her most recent novel THE WITCH OF PAINTED SORROWS (April 2015 Atria/S&S) was chosen as an Indie Next Pick, Library Reads Pick, and was a People Magazine Pick. Her next novel, THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF STONES will be released July 29, 2016.
Rose is a New York Times and USAToday bestseller whose work has appeared in many magazines including Oprah Magazine and she has been featured in the New York Times, Newsweek, WSJ, Time, USA Today and on the Today Show, and NPR radio. Rose graduated from Syracuse University, spent the '80s in advertising, has a commercial in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC and since 2005 has run the first marketing company for authors - Authorbuzz.com
The television series PAST LIFE, was based on Rose's novels in the Reincarnationist series. She is one of the founding board members of International Thriller Writers and currently serves, with Lee Child, as the organization's co-president.
Visit her here
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