In the summer of 1912, a workman’s pickaxe strikes through the floor of an old tenement house in Cheapside, London, uncovering a cache of unimaginably valuable treasure that quickly disappears again.

Present day. When respected jewellery historian, Kate Kirby, receives a call about the Cheapside jewels, she knows she’s on the brink of the experience of a lifetime.

As Kate peels back layers of concealment and deception, she is forced to explore long-buried secrets concerning Essie, her great-grandmother, and her life in Edwardian London. Soon, Kate’s past and present threaten to collide and the truths about her family lie waiting to be revealed.

Inspired by a true story, Kirsty Manning’s The Lost Jewels is a historical fiction novel that weaves a charming, fascinating tale about London’s Cheapside Hoard — one of the most famous and most mysterious collection of jewels in the world, dug up in 1912 with very little information about the jewels’ origins.

Structurally, The Lost Jewels resembles most historical fiction. The POV switches between past and present. In 1912 London, we meet the loyal, compassionate, devoted daughter and sister Esther Murphy. She cares for her siblings because their mother is in no sober state to manage the household. They’re poor, but they love each other and Esther does all that she can for her siblings. Without meaning to, Esther and her brother are swept up in an extraordinary discovery of jewels found beneath a London street.

In present day, respected American historian Dr Kate Murphy investigates the Cheapside Jewels and slowly finds out more about the history of the collection.

For a small amount of time, we’re also transported back to the early 1600s in India, Persia and London to find out more about the origin of the jewellery collection and how these jewels ended up abandoned beneath the London ground.

“The jewels were discovered the same day Essie Murphy fell in love. She had her brother to thank for both, of course — though in the years to come she’d often wonder which one came first. A buried bucket of jewels. A man with emerald eyes.”

The Lost Jewels explores themes of family, obligation and expectations, but also love, desire, sacrifice and betrayal. A lot is expected of Essie Murphy, and she places an incredible amount of pressure on herself to keep her family afloat. She adores her brother and her sisters — she’s a multi-layered protagonist. She’s caring and considerate, but she’s also a little naive and too trusting. She always sees the best in people, and sometimes she puts her faith in other people too quickly.

Esther and Kate have very distinct voices. Kate is intelligent, headstrong and confident. Like Esther, she’s a romantic, but she’s experienced hardship in her life. She’s going through a divorce and hasn’t been able to emotionally recover from the death of her child. On her journey to uncover the truth about the Cheapside Hoard, Kate meets photographer Marcus and her life changes in more ways than one.

“The diamond was table-cut and clear. Kate used her eyepiece to scan the stone for variations. Flaws. Nowadays a diamond could be filled and baked, then sent off for certification that they were perfect; the rough would be brilliant-cut to throw sparkle around the room.”

Engrossing, captivating and compelling, The Lost Jewels is a tale that travels. Kate ventures from London to India, Sri Lanka and Paris to uncover the secret histories of these jewels.

Kirsty captures the locations with incredible description and vivid imagery. In a way, the settings felt like characters themselves because Kirsty had woven them into the story with incredible significance.

It’s clear how much research went into the writing of this book, not just in capturing the settings but in bringing to life the jewels and the characterisation of Kate. Every time jewellery is described or studied, the prose is evocative. The sentences paint such a gorgeous picture of the jewels, drawing the reader in and helping them imagine what our characters are seeing.

Kate is incredibly knowledgable about jewellery — she’s considered to be one of the best historians. She’s wise and intelligent, but she also learns quick. I can’t begin to imagine the time it took for Kirsty to research what was required for not only Kate’s character, but the entire premise of the novel.

“The button was a double-layered flower: a rose fashioned from gold, with just the faintest traces of blue and white paint. At the centre of the flower and dotted along the petals were blue, red and white stones. Were they precious stones, or coloured paste? Each of the inner circles also had gold indents, as if there was more to come.”

A modern day treasure hunt, The Lost Jewels is for fans of historical fiction, romance and sweeping sagas that investigate inter-generational secrets. The readership for this novel skews female.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Lost Jewels
Kirsty Manning
April 2020
Allen and Unwin Book Publishers


2019: Life changed beyond recognition for Alice when her son, Eddie, was born with autism spectrum disorder. She must do everything to support him, but at what cost to her family? When her cherished grandmother is hospitalised, a hidden box of mementoes reveals a tattered photo of a young man, a tiny leather shoe and a letter. Her grandmother begs Alice to return to Poland to see what became of those she held dearest.

WWII: Alina and Tomasz are childhood sweethearts. The night before he leaves for college, Tomasz proposes marriage. But when their village falls to the Nazis, Alina doesn’t know if Tomasz is alive or dead.

2019: In Poland, separated from her family, Alice begins to uncover the story her grandmother is so desperate to tell, and discovers a love that bloomed in the winter of 1942. As a painful family history comes to light, will the struggles of the past and present finally reach a heartbreaking resolution?

The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer explores the legacy of war and the far-reaching effects of family secrets.

Like most historical fiction novels, this story has two dual POV storylines threaded together. The first, set during WWII, and the other, set in the present in 2019. The women are the centre of both storylines.

In the past, there’s Alina, a young girl whose fiancé has left for college and whose future is in doubt. And in the present, Alice is a mother of two. Her son has autism and she’s the main caretaker of her two children. She feels unsupported by her husband, who works long hours and leaves Alice to do most of the work.

“I plan out Eddie’s visual calendar, lay out his clothing and then pack his school bag — the dreidel, which he’s still taking with him everywhere he goes, his stuffed Thomas the Tank Engine toy just in case he wants it, six Go-Gurts, one can of soup and six pairs of spare underpants, each with a matching ziplock bag for the inevitable accidents.”
ALICE

I felt more emotionally invested in Alice’s storyline that Alina’s. Alina’s story felt slow. Perhaps it was the events that took place, or perhaps it was the pacing. Part of me suspects it was both. But I felt that Alina’s chapters could’ve been more succinct and punchier. There was enough emotion and heartache to keep the reader invested, but the pacing did lag a little.

Although this particular storyline is very rich with hope. Alina loves Tomasz and is desperate to see his safe return. Alina may be young, but she’s also smart, resourceful and very aware of her surroundings. She’s helpful and trusting, and she learns how to survive the sad and grim situation that she’s in.

“It was the young soldier from that day in fall, the last time I wore a dress. He was back, and he was asking about me. I was too terrified to cry out, but equally, I was too terrified to control myself and I couldn’t think rationally enough to be sure of what I might do next.”
ALINA

Alice is a flawed character. She cares deeply for her son and she’s a good mother, but her attitude is, at times, constricted. She wants her husband, Wade, to help more, she wishes he understood more, but she doesn’t really allow him the opportunity to step up. She expects him to fail. Often, she keeps her mouth shut and seethes in silence. Other times, she waits until he makes a mistake and then snaps at him.

But Wade is not perfect either. He shuts himself off and focuses on his work, and as a result, he’s not the most attentive father. He allows his wife to do everything for the kids. So, when Alice goes to Poland to delve deep into her grandmother’s childhood, her husband finally realises just how much Alice has been doing for their family. He is defeated, and at a loss. But also, he learns to be the man he should’ve been all along.

This storyline is about family, marriage and sacrifice. It shows us how a marriage can change when a child requires more care than they thought. A child with autism does require a lot of attention, and that can strain any relationship.

“I still think about my big brothers. I sometimes wonder if I would have done anything different that day, if only I’d known that within a year they’d both be dead — and that those quiet moments by the train station would be the very last time I ever saw them.”
ALINA

Kelly Rimmer has captured two very different time periods — and two very different relationships. In Alina and Tomasz, we see young love torn apart by war and horror. In Alice and Wade, we see a love that has been clouded by exhaustive, complicated circumstances.

Readers will be able to relate to all of the characters in the book, even the ones who have lived through experiences that we could not possibly understand. I’d recommend this to readers of historical fiction, and those readers who love a family saga that spans decades.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Things We Cannot Say
Kelly Rimmer
March 2019
Hachette Book Publishers