Description:
The Three Brethren, an ancient brooch of precious stones, is at the center of this intricate, episodic, multifaceted novel. In fact, the brooch is more interesting than the narrator, Katharine Sterne, whose obsession with its rubies, diamonds, and pearls takes her across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. As Katharine says, "My life is part of the story of the Three Brethren, not the other way around.... The Brethren has been the turning point of many lives, and mine is only one." Each of the stones that comprise the brooch has its own cast of characters. The most interesting of these are the Levy brothers, two Iraqi Jews who make their way to London to create a crown for the coronation of Queen Victoria and are ultimately swindled out of the most precious of the Brethren's jewels. The book's chronology is difficult to follow, as Katharine's discoveries take her, and the reader, back and forth in time and place, from Istanbul in the 15th century to a Japanese fishing village 500 years later, where Katharine's love affair with the Brethren's last owner seems tacked on, like an afterthought. Still, this complex novel, written by a poet whose love of language shows through on every page, will appeal to those who share a fascination with precious minerals. --Jane Adams
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