I heard about this book through my book club and was interested right from the start when I heard what it was about:
One day in Ventura, California, Jonell McLain saw a beautiful diamond necklace in a jewelry store window and wondered: Why are personal luxuries so plentiful yet accessible to so few? What if we shared what we desired? Several weeks, dozens of phone calls, and one great leap of faith later, Jonell and twelve other women bought the necklace together–to be passed along among them all.
The dazzling treasure weaves in and out of each woman’s life, reflecting her past, defining her present, making promises for her future. Lending sparkle in surprising and unexpected ways, the necklace comes to mean something dramatically different to each of the thirteen women. With vastly dissimilar histories and lives, they transcend their individual personalities and politics to join together in an uncommon journey–and what started as a quirky social experiment becomes something far richer and deeper.
For one, I love books about strong women. Secondly – this is a true story of 13 women who bonded a friendship over this necklace. I like friendships….
The stories within this book – tales from a necklace…. in some cases remarkable (like the money raised for charities), yet in many other cases – confusing. The book is written giving each chapter a story about one of the women who wore it, but I did not feel the friendship between the women I was hoping for. There was a lot of negotiating and bickering about the necklace, who could wear, in one case saying public promotion was taboo yet two chapters later it is exactly what they are doing. We are talking about a $34,000 piece of jewelry that I would thing most of us (certainly myself) would not even consider at $1,000.
I am not a big jewelery fan, I could never see myself even considering to be part of something so costly. Even though I love the whole concept about sharing an item that bonds you closer together… for me, this book was never about the necklace. It was always about wanting to read how this group bonded, yet I close the book wondering if they ever really did.
I was initially very excited to review this book. Yet, I actually had to rewrite this review because it still has left me a bit unsettled by the way it was written. I seek comfort in the fact that while these women have many things going on in their lives that I find hard to relate too, the necklace did bring good to those whose lives it touched.
There were parts I loved and parts I just didnt feel made for the best reading. This book rates a below average read from me.
Book Journey 
Great review! Sounds like an interesting read (along the lines of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants?) although I’m not sure I would be able to justify such a costly necklace. I also enjoy books about strong women and friendships especially when I feel a strong connection with the characters–as if I’m bonding with them as well. (If that makes sense.)
Like someone else said, I enjoy books about independent women no matter the situation. Even though I am happy with the most expensive piece of Jewelry I own being my engagement ring, I do sometimes head over to Kay Jewelers or Jared’s and peruse because my mother -always- had nice rings and necklaces, not $34,000 worth of nice but still nice.
It’s also nice to know the characters were represented well and you can feel a connection to them. To me that’s important. If the characters aren’t interesting I won’t be into the book.