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Loading... Precious Thingsby Kelly Doust
None No current Talk conversations about this book.  HeatherLINC | Dec 5, 2016 |   Maggie is an auctioneer in London and she comes across the collar in a box of neglected lace and fabric and is immediately drawn to it. Interspersed between Maggie's narrative of busy family life in present day London, are individual vignettes from the previous owners of the collar, from 1890s France to the present day. Despite being written by the same author, each of the characters had their own distinct voice and setting, and as a reader I appreciated the skill required to accomplish this. I loved the little sketches breaking up some of the content within the chapters, but I was soooo glad there was a timeline at the back, detailing the women who had owned and worn the collar/coronet so I could refer to it at the end. When it comes to presentation, Precious Things was the most thoughtful and beautiful advanced review copy I've ever received. You can see in the photo on my blog that it came wrapped with lace and ribbon, several postcards with quotes and a precious thing, a candle holder. Given author Kelly Doust has worked in the publishing industry herself, this should come as no surprise but it still made an impression I won't forget. The cover design for Precious Things is wonderful, however my only gripe is that the collar on the cover doesn't match the description of the collar/coronet in the novel and I so desperately wish that it did. The collar in the novel had a recurring fleur de lis pattern, and I just don't see that in the lace collar on the cover. If you're a fan of Kate Morton, historical fiction, vintage items and dual timelines, then Precious Things is for you. * Copy courtesy of HarperCollins Publishers Australia * (  ) Carpe_Librum | Apr 15, 2016 | no reviews | add a review
In the tradition of gloriously absorbing, lush and moving women's fiction by authors such as Kate Morton, Lucinda Riley and Joanne Harris comes Precious Things. Normandy, France, 1891: a young woman painstakingly sews an intricate beaded collar to her wedding dress, the night before her marriage to someone she barely knows. Yet Aimee longs for so much more ... Shanghai, 1926: dancing sensation and wild child Zephyr spies what looks like a beaded headpiece lying carelessly discarded on a ballroom floor. She takes it with her to Malaya where she sets her sights on a prize so out of reach that, in striving for it, she will jeopardise everything she holds dear ... Precious Things tells the story of a collar - a wonderful, glittering beaded piece - and its journey through the decades. It's also the story of Maggie, an auctioneer living in modern-day London, who comes across the crumpled, neglected collar in a box of old junk, and sets out on an unexpected mission to discover more about its secret and elusive past. Maggie has a journey of her own too. Juggling a demanding job, a clingy young child and a rebellious stepdaughter, and with her once-solid marriage foundering under the pressure of a busy life, Maggie has to find out the hard way that you can't always get what you want ... but sometimes, you're lucky enough to get precisely what you need. This is a wonderful, absorbing and moving novel about desire, marriage and family, telling the story about how we so often reach out for the sparkly, shiny things (and people) we desire, only to realise - in the nick of time - that the most precious things are the ones we've had with us all along. No library descriptions found. 
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Wikipedia in English
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However, what I loved most were the shorter chapters that were woven throughout Maggie's story showing the history of the beaded collar Maggie had found. Beginning in 1891, when a young woman first makes the collar for her wedding dress, these chapters followed the lives of the women who subsequently owned the handmade piece using it not only as a collar, but also a coronet, fashion statement and art piece. Each woman's story was unique and their narrative compelling.
However, like many books, I found the epilogue unnecessary but, overall, a beautifully detailed, multi-layered story about the things we hold dear. (