The Property of a Lady
A Novel
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
The magnificent Ivanoff emerald: It surfaced at Christie's at Geneva, "The Property of a Lady"--a lady now sought by powerful men intent on seizing a legacy that could tilt the world balance of power . . .
The terrifying Ivanoff secret: She lived like a pauper with a royal ransom in gems, determined to carry her secret to the grave . . . until an act of love and a public auction brought the world--and the curse--to her door . . .
The last of the Ivanoffs--pawns in a deadly game: The royal gems are merely the lure to the hidden billions for which nations are willing to kill. The last of the Ivanoffs should have died in 1917. Now, two generations later, they are the prize--and the prey . . .
From war-torn Russia to New York's teeming Lower East Side . . . from Ziegfeld's Broadway and the Hollywood of the moguls to contemporary Washington, Geneva, and Berlin, Elizabeth's Adler's novel of passion, power, and royal privilege will command your attention to the very last page.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
From the author of Leonie and The Rich Shall Inherit comes this eventful novel of romantic intrigue, briskly plotted and well researched, centering on a fabulous emerald--a maharajah's gift to a Russian prince on the eve of the Revolution. Fleeing in 1917 with their gems, Princess Anouska Ivanoff, her children and their English guest Verity (``Missie'') Byron, 18, had been waylaid in a snowy wood by drunken Bolshevik peasants. Brutally raped, Anouska had died. her son Alexei was adopted by a kindly officer and raised as a Communist. Missie, however, took Anouska's daughter Xenia to America, became a Ziegfield girl and Hollywood star. Now white-haired, Missie lives in Maryland among her rich memories; her flashbacks eventually illuminate contemporary events. Meanwhile, three drinkers in a Geneva bar want to find the eponymous ``lady'' who put up the newly cut emerald at auction: Genie Reese, the Washington newswoman assigned to the story; likable Bronx-born politician Cal Warrender; and Communist Valentin Solovsky, elegant cultural attache to Washington, who is really Prince Ivanoff's descendant. But Valentin's malevolent half-brother Boris, head of the KGB, is bent on destroying Valentin and the mysterious lady. A boozy gem-cutter in Bangkok, a captive wife, a murderer in Dusseldorf add to the story's zesty cast, whose lives come together in its surprising conclusion.
Customer Reviews
Amazing!
When I bought the book I was intrigued by the name alone, and while I was alone at home one I decided to start reading it. Soon I became hooked, every paragraph and every sentence really captured me. I finished it in four days and it would have taken me less if it wasn't for all the work but nevertheless worth every minute. The way the author describes every scene, it truly does make you feel like your there. I felt like I was there like I was part of the book and for some my first thought was of the movie Anastasia. If you love mystery and passion and drama then this is definitely the book for you.