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Silk and Stone
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- Reviewer’s Choice Nominee, Best Contemporary
Novel, 1994
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In the wealthy resort town of Pandora, North Carolina,
old secrets and heartaches are guarded as closely as rubies
cut from the mountain bedrock. It is said that a fine ruby
is both silk and stone, light and shadow, fortune and
tragedy. And the finest ruby of all is the famous Pandora
Ruby. A gem that has divided the Vanderveer and Raincrow
families for decades and shattered the lives of all who have
possessed it.
Samantha is no stranger to hardship and betrayal. But she
has no idea of the lives that have been destroyed by the
Pandora Ruby or the dark secrets behind her aunt’s
Vanderveer heritage. Lives like that of Jake Raincrow, a
dangerous loner haunted by tragedy. Only Jake, gifted and
cursed with the “sight” of his Cherokee ancestors, sees the
vulnerability that shadows Samantha’s fierce determination
to protect the people she loves; he alone senses the
loneliness and sacrifice behind her bravado. But it is the
ruby that obsesses him, for it is the key to the mystery of
his past, a devastating betrayal he must right before he can
love again.
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This book is about two of my favorite
things: North Carolina, and jewelry. I’m like a hypnotized
crow when it comes to shiny, dangly “pretties.” I don’t care
if they’re made from the purest gold or a chunk of tin.
Give me a sparkly glass bead or a fine diamond. I’m happy
either way.
One of the many cool things about the
mountains of western North Carolina is their fascinating
gem-mining history. Most people don’t think of precious
stones when they picture the Appalachian Mountains, but a
good deal of surface mining goes on there. You can find
high-quality sapphires, rubies and other stones for sale in
many of the mountain tourist towns. Carolina rubies aren’t
generally the faceted stones you see in a standard jewelry
store. Many are dense, richly colored “rocks” (sorry, that’s
my term, not a gemologist’s) and they’re usually cut and
polished into smooth, oval cabochon shapes.
What’s truly cool, to me, are the “star
rubies,” which have minute fractures in them that produce a
starburst effect when held just-so to the light.
Mountain rubies come with a lot of rich lore and
superstitions. I used that history in
Silk and Stone,
combined with Cherokee Indian lore and a setting based
loosely on one of my favorite North Carolina resort towns,
Highlands. If you’re ever in the vicinity, treat yourself to
a day in the ritzy yet cozy atmosphere of a town where good
shopping, gourmet dining and wondrous mountain views come
together. Oh, yes. I got a star ruby ring as author booty
from my book research.
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"Creatively unique
and compelling”"-- Amazon’s Top Reviewer, Harriet Klausner
"Riveting . . .
spellbinding . . . marvelous." -- Romantic TimesTop of Page
