The Secret Language of Stones (29 page)

Author's Note

As with most of my work, there is a lot of fact mixed in with this fictional tale.

Paris during the Great War is described as close to the truth as possible. The bombings, strife, rations, numbers of dead and wounded are all based on fact. You can visit all the streets, bridges, buildings and churches, museums, and cafes I wrote about except for the shop where Opaline works, La Fantaisie Russe in the Palais Royal. However, I did base it on the jeweler Georges Fouquet's very beautiful boutique, which you can visit in the Musée Carnavalet. The tunnels under the Palais do exist and were used for all kinds of clandestine operations during the war.

There were indeed laws in France forbidding fortune telling and necromancy so as to prevent charlatans from taking advantage of the grieving, and while there were many types of spiritualism practiced, I am not aware of anyone who worked with talismans the way Opaline did.

Anna Coleman Ladd's “Studio of Miracles” did exist and restored dignity to countless men, but there wasn't a sculptor there named Denise Alouette. Jean Luc's mother, like him, is a character of my invention.

Le Figaro
was and still is one of the great French newspapers, but there never was a
Ma chère
column.

Thousands of Russian émigrés flooded the city in those early years of the twentieth century, but there wasn't a jeweler named Pavel Orloff that I am aware of. For generations there were rumors—still unproven—that the tsar sent emissaries from Russia to other countries, well before the revolution, with treasures to safeguard, but the Rainbow Diamond collection I described in this novel does not exist.

As far as I know, the Dowager Empress never undertook a secret journey to England during that last year of the war. It is true, however, that in her lifetime, she claimed to never believe her grandchildren had all perished along with her son. She always held out hope.

Acknowledgments

To Sarah Branham, my amazing editor, for her patience and creativity and insight—if this novel shines—it is because of her.

To my wonderful publisher and friend Judith Curr for her steadfast faith in my work.

To the legendary Carolyn Reidy, CEO of Simon & Schuster, whose respect for authors makes all the difference.

To Lisa Sciambra, Hillary Tisman, Andrea Smith, Suzanne Donahue, Haley Weaver, and everyone whose hands this book passed through—your hard work and creative thinking is greatly appreciated.

To Alan Dingman for covers that somehow get more and more beautiful every year.

To Dan Conaway, no writer could have a better agent, and I could have no better friend.

To Taylor Templeton for her patience and cheer, and everyone at Writers House whose help is invaluable.

To Inezita Gay-Eckel without whom I would never have found La Fantaisie Russe, and that's just the beginning. You opened up the magical world of gems to me and became such a dear friend in the process, thank you. And to all the other wonderful professors at L'ÉCOLE Van Cleef & Arpels in Paris. The week I spent with you learning about the art of jewelry-making influenced every page of this novel.

To Temple St. Clair whose inspiring talisman I wore each day when I sat down to write—there
is
magic in jewels.

To Simon Teakle Fine Jewelry and the staff at Betteridge Jewelers, both in Greenwich, Connecticut, who never chased me out and answered endless questions as I researched this novel.

To each and every one of my fabulous friends, but especially Liz and Steve Berry, Douglas Clegg, and Randy Susan Meyers.

A special thank-you to Natalie White, director of Client Services at AuthorBuzz.com without whom I wouldn't even have time to write.

I also want to thank readers everywhere who make all the work worthwhile (please visit
MJEmail.me
for a signed bookplate). And to the booksellers and librarians without whom the world would be a sadder place.

And as always, I'm very grateful to my family, especially my father and Ellie, the Kulicks, Mara Gleckel. And most of all, Doug.

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