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1920s, 1940s, 2012: A pearl necklace hides a secret story from the past
The Inheritance
What you need to know before your trail
Sophia Beaumont-Brown might have the name and the rich family to see her alright through life, but she’s now in the public eye for all the wrong reasons. She’s not speaking to her family, single and sleeping on someone’s sofa, only her grandmother has any faith left in her.
It’s her grandmother who asks to see her one day and then starts telling her via letters too, about her time living in wartime England and the secret of the beautiful pearl necklace she once owned but which now is missing.
This necklace is so much more than an item of jewelry however for there’s its history, a story of hope and love and loss, and a family secret which will change Sophia’s life forever
Locations
ResetTravel Guide
London 2012
Hackney London. A far cry from the posh areas where she was raised by rich parents but who is now disowned. From the moment she reconnects with her grandma, the story of her privilege world comes to light with teas at Claridges, shopping trips at Selfridges and a world of wealth.
The story of the pearl necklace is told from here, an item of jewelrry like the ones purchased at Aspreys and a present that none of the Beaumont-Brown women will ever forget.
New York
A parallel story of a rich NYC woman who lives in a world of wealth and privilege. A woman at the peak of her fashion career who treats Central Park as her personal fashion catwalk.
Japan – Ise Shima
The essence of the Pearl Necklace story. From its very origins of who women known as ‘amas’ would free dive for pearls in order to sell them and make money. Some were employed by the fishing company to look for abalone but many would seek out pearls. There was an art to this kind of diving but it killed many as some would go too deep and the ocean would claim them.
What a fascinating account of a very special time in Japan’s history and something which when the war came was a secret that the women there held on to.
Booktrailer Review
Clare: @thebooktrailer
I’m in two minds about this story. Firstly I just loved the whole idea of a pearl necklace being lost along the way as it was passed down the generations, of who the women of Japan first came to make that necklace and fish for the freshwater pearls. The chapters especially set in Japan and during the 1920s, and 1940s when the war came were exquisite and I just wish this had been the main focus of the novel.
The main story however was the discovery of what happened to the necklace and I just wish I could have liked Sophia and the other modern day characters more. They just seemed false and like characters in a lighter, more modern and reckless read. Sleeping around, drinking till all hours, stumbling out of taxis, running around Central Park.And then there was the story of the pearls and the humble Japanese women. Of a film career from the 1920s…
I didn’t find that the two fitted well together. I much preferred the chapters set in the past as I was getting annoyed at how light Sophia was making of her grandmother’s legacy. Maybe that was the point but I didn’t like Sophia but I wanted to see what happened to the necklace for her grandmother’s sake. As for her mother, well she was a cold fish. I now know why, but I still didn’t like her.
This is definitely worth a read however for the sheer loveliness of the story of the pearl necklace and the efforts of the Japanese women who were free divers and then were thrust into the terrible war. Aiko Watanabe was lovely to meet and as she told her story, I was mesmerized.
Japanese pearl divers? More please.
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information: The Inheritance
Author Guide: Kate Agnew Destination: London, Japan, New York Departure Time: 1920s, 1940s, 2012
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