The Love of Stones (Paperback)

Author Hill keeps the reader's interest high by telling two intriguing, parallel stories--that of contemporary Katharine as she travels from London to Turkey and Japan in her search, and that of the two Levy brothers, Jews in 19th century "Mesopotamia," who find some jewels which they expect will allow them to begin a new life in Victorian England's jewel trade. Largely avoiding the excessive romanticism which this subject might have engendered, Hill matches his prose style to Katharine's obsessive, business-like approach to her jewel-hunt. Nothing else really matters to her, not even family, and Hill's prose echoes the urgency of her search, tending toward efficient, straightforward sentences of fact, with limited description and none of the lyrical flights so common to historical novels.

I found this to be both a virtue and a limitation. It does prevent this big novel from becoming soupy with sentiment. It also keeps the reader moving rapidly through several countries, time frames, and sometimes complex plot details. On the other hand, it is difficult to care much about Katharine's search when we cannot identify with her--we do not know, really, what she looks like or even how old she is. Perhaps this lack of an emotional hook is the reason that Hill, near the end of the book, inserts a number of melodramatic subplots, leading to an ending which is both sentimental and, I thought, unconvincing with its moralizing--too pat as it pertains to Katharine and her search. Still, this is loads of fun for lovers of jewels and history, terrific escape reading. Mary Whipple

In reviews from The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, as well as the Amazon.com site, the only flaw in this gem of a novel seems to be the inclusion (to use gemological terminology) of its protagonist, Katherine Sterne. If Sterne is not a lovable character, at least she is an interesting one. As I turned the book's well-written pages I kept asking myself, "Since when must we like the protagonist?" At first I'd wanted to be cheering for Katherine, but before long I was following her quest in fascination. Kate Sterne is not as mad as the collector of John Fowles' eponymous novel, but total self absorption, toughness and sang-froid can be traits of a collector's obsessive personality gone awry. The author, in describing the diamond might very well be describing his Kate--obviously the cold, driven character he intended her to be. In this way Hill keeps Sterne's quest from becoming yet another "sentimental journey."

"On the Moh scale of hardness the diamond is ten...but this is deceptive. For one thing diamond is the only gem which will combust, burning with a clear, quick white flame. It is as if the crystal were somehow organic...like skin and bone. And diamond is brittle as bone. There is hardness but no flexibility, and brittleness is an unforgiving quality."

But Katherine is enthralled with rubies. Rubies are a warm stone, implying heart, feeling, passion, the rubedo of alchemy, the philosopher's stone. Unfortunately Katherine does not go through the step by step alchemical process to deservedly earn the rubedo. We see her transformation at book's end, when Katherine's character all too hurriedly, all too unconvincingly reaches a degree of wholeness. It is at this point in the narrative that I find a small inclusion, but not enough of one to warrant giving The Love of Stones less than the five stars it deserves.
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For those lured to the lore and arcana of gemstones, this rich, evocative and literate novel can be read and re-read. Like her or not, Katherine Sterne has remained with me. She will be included in my roster of memorable, if not lovable women characters, along with Lawrence Durrell's Justine and Edith Wharton's Lily Bart.