11/21/11

The Necklace by Cheryl Jarvis

Read: November 17 - November 19
Format: Paperback 210 pages
Source: my shelves
Subject: friendship, sharing, materialism
Challenges: 11 in 11, 75 Book, TIOLI, BOYS
Category: Something Old - read those TBRs
Genre: Non-Fiction
Stars: ★★★★½

Jonell McLain was walking past a jewelry store and saw a beautiful diamond necklace and immediately wondered what it would be like to wear. She went inside, tried it on, and then found out that the price was $37,000. It was great fun for a lark but she knew she would never be able to buy it. Frequently, when she was walking by she'd still see the Necklace in the window, and even noticed it had been reduced to $24,000. Still too rich for her blood. Still thinking about, she wondered how many other women would like to wear something like it on a special occasion and so she came up with the idea of sharing. When she read an ad that the jewelry store was having an auction, Jonell knew it was time to put her plan into action. With 12 other women, including the jewelry store owner's wife, Jonell bought the NECKLACE and started a special group that touched many lives in Ventura CA.

First, they gave it a name - Jewelia. Then they decided how it would be shared - each women would have Jewelia for 4 weeks including their birthday. Then the women would meet and pass Jewelia on. Soon they were sharing not just among themselves but with others for charity - an evening with Jewelia could raise thousands of dollars as women came and got a chance to wear the necklace for an hour, or 5 minutes but they got the chance. The story of this Necklace and the amazing 13 women who were its guardian was awe-inspiring as we see how an "exclusive" piece of jewelry got to be "inclusive" at the initiative of its owners.

What startles me about this book, is that first, it's not the type of book that I normally would read but I was at the bookstore and they had a Buy 3 get 1 Free table - of course I could find 3 books I wanted but when it got to the 4th book nothing grabbed me. Then I saw this book and being a Jewelry fiend I picked it up and headed to checkout knowing nothing about it. The book fairy was on my shoulder that afternoon - it's one of my favorite reads of the year!

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