Jeannie Mobley deliver a page-turning story of the struggle of two mutually devoted sisters (though each jealous of the other in her own way) to survive after the brutality of the French Revolution wreaks its bloody destruction of their peaceful village in Brittany. Elder sister Claudie, who has always been the plainer and more sensible off the two, is determined to protect the beautiful and often foolish Mathilde - but only Claudie knows that the death of Mathilde's lover has brought into their hidden possession the most famous of the French crown jewels, the French Blue, today known as the Hope Diamond. Claudie is the one, however, who finds a heart-stopping romance in the midst of the counter-revolutionary struggle, as the sisters deepen their bond and fight - now from exile in London - for an end to the senseless violence devastating their beloved France. The romance between Claudie and the man who wins her heart is enormously satisfying, with their love story deepened by Mobley's sensitive exploration of the shifting dynamics in the relationship of the two sisters and her unflinching portrait of the staggering costs - and moral complexities - of war. A brilliant companion novel to her previous title, The Jewel Thief.