Hi , book buddies :-) I never pass up the opportunity to read one of this author's romantic mysteries. They are masterpieces. Have you heard of M J ROSE?
TIFFANY BLUES Synopsis:
New York, 1924. Twenty‑four‑year‑old Jenny Bell is one of a dozen burgeoning artists invited to Louis Comfort Tiffany’s prestigious artists’ colony. Gifted and determined, Jenny vows to avoid distractions and romantic entanglements and take full advantage of the many wonders to be found at Laurelton Hall.But Jenny’s past has followed her to Long Island. Images of her beloved mother, her hard-hearted stepfather, waterfalls, and murder, and the dank hallways of Canada’s notorious Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women overwhelm Jenny’s thoughts, even as she is inextricably drawn to Oliver, Tiffany’s charismatic grandson.
As the summer shimmers on, and the competition between the artists grows fierce as they vie for a spot at Tiffany’s New York gallery, a series of suspicious and disturbing occurrences suggest someone knows enough about Jenny’s childhood trauma to expose her.
Supported by her closest friend Minx Deering, a seemingly carefree socialite yet dedicated sculptor, and Oliver, Jenny pushes her demons aside. Between stolen kisses and stolen jewels, the champagne flows and the jazz plays on until one moonless night when Jenny’s past and present are thrown together in a desperate moment, that will threaten her promising future, her love, her friendships, and her very life.
MY OPINION
Art in novels
subjugate me. Especially if the story is told in the beautifully elegant words
of this author. The plots she crafts are always fascinating and captivating.
As it happens
again in this atmospheric tale around a young painter who is pursuing both the
meaning of light on canvas and her freedom.
New York in
the 1920s comes alive through the colourful, eclectic and creative lens of
artists. Still coping with the aftermath of war, young talents look for happiness
and sanity in practicing art forms and painting life in their own ways. Jenny
is resilient, cautious, and carrying a burden from her past that is revealed in
stages that are so painfully sad, and keep the mystery in riveting alert.
I fell in
love with the depictions of beauty in art and nature as the author presents the
artists in their daily life, their zest for carpe diem, and the almost-mythical
quality of the mansion founded by Tiffany as a retreat for creative minds to be
set free.
Suffused with
gemstone colours and lust and craving and emotions, the colony of artists makes
for a magical albeit tragic experience. I loved the scene on the boat where
Jenny’s journey to find that spark within herself merges with a sensual taste
of true passion. I was mesmerized with the plot twists that weave secrets and
deceit from the past into the present. And I got heart-broken (and more than a
little weepy) with that epic, dramatic, and utterly romantic ending.
Amazing.
Again from this author, and always.
Favourite quotes:
The business of living can steal away the
wonder of life.
How could one person touching just two inches
of your skin elicit such a rich, profound reaction?
NYT bestselling author, M. J. Rose crafts a dazzling Jazz Age jewel--a novel of ambition, betrayal, and passion with TIFFANY BLUES. TIFFANY BLUES is now available! Check out the excerpt below, and pick up your copy of TIFFANY BLUES today!
Grab your copy of TIFFANY BLUES here!
Enjoy an EXCERPT:
March 13, 1957
Laurelton Hall, Laurel Hollow
Oyster Bay, New York
Once the present turns to past, all we have left are memories. Yes, sometimes we can stand where we stood, see our ghost selves, and relive moments of our life. See the shadow of the man we loved. Of the friend we cherished. Of the mentor who made all the difference. Our memories turn specific. The terrier that played by the shoreline, joyously running in the sand. We can remember the smell of the roses. Look at the azure water and see the glimmer of the sun on the opposite shore and hear a fleeting few bars of jazz still lingering in the air.
If you were the only girl in the world…
Staring into the remains of what is left, I see ghosts of the gardens and woods, the gazebo, terraces, rooms ablaze with stained glass—everywhere we walked and talked and kissed and cried. With my eyes closed, I see it all in my mind, but when I open them, all of it is gone, up in flames.
Mr. Tiffany once told me that there is beauty even in broken things. Looking back, there is no question I would not be the artist I am if not for that lesson. But would he be able to salvage any beauty out of this destruction?
No, I never dreamed I’d come back to Laurelton Hall. The Xanadu where I came of age as both a woman and a painter. Where I found my heart’s desire and my palette’s power. Where depravity bloomed alongside beds and fields of flowers, where creativity and evil flowed with the water in the many fountains. Where the sun shone on the tranquil sea and the pool’s treacherous rock crystals reflected rainbows onto the stone patio. Where the glorious light streaming from Mr. Tiffany’s majestic stained glass illuminated the very deep darkness that had permeated my soul and lifted me out of despair. And where I found the love that sustained me and remained in my heart even after Oliver and I parted.
Standing here, smelling the acrid stench, looking at the felled trees with their charcoal bark, the carbon-coated stones and bent metal frames that once held the master’s windows, at the smoky, melting mess that was one of the greatest mansions on Long Island’s Gold Coast, I know I never will see it again, not how it was that magical and awful summer of 1924.
The fire is still hot in spots, and a tree branch snaps. My reverie is broken. Leaves rustle. Rubble falls. Glass crushes. Twigs crack. Then comes a whisper.
Jenny.
But it can’t be.
The wind howling through a hollow tree trunk is playing a trick. Fooling me into thinking I am hearing his sapphire voice, its deep velvet tone.
As I listen to the repeated whisper—Jenny—I raise my hand to wipe at my tears and tell myself that it is the smoldering ash making my eyes water. The charms on my bracelet jingle as I lower my arm. And again the whisper… and again my name—Jenny.
"A lush, romantic historical mystery...a heroine to root for." --Kristin Hannah, NYT bestselling author of The Nightingale
Add it to your Goodreads Now!
"[M.J. Rose] transports the reader into the past better than a time machine could accomplish" (The Associated Press).
About M. J. Rose
New York Times Bestseller, M.J. Rose grew up in New York City mostly in the labyrinthine galleries of the Metropolitan Museum, the dark tunnels and lush gardens of Central Park and reading her mother's favorite books before she was allowed. She believes mystery and magic are all around us but we are too often too busy to notice... books that exaggerate mystery and magic draw attention to it and remind us to look for it and revel in it.
Her most recent novel TIFFANY BLUES (Atria/S&S) was chosen as an Indie Next Pick and takes place during the Jazz age at Louis Comfort Tiffany's Long Island mansion/ art colony.
Rose's work has appeared in many magazines including Oprah Magazine and she has been featured in the New York Times, Newsweek, WSJ, Time, USA Today and on the Today Show, and NPR radio. Rose graduated from Syracuse University, spent the '80s in advertising, has a commercial in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC and since 2005 has run the first marketing company for authors - Authorbuzz.com
The television series PAST LIFE, was based on Rose's novels in the Reincarnationist series. She is one of the founding board members of International Thriller Writers.
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