03/16/2020
A family is embroiled in conflict in Myerson’s cracking tale (after The Bookshop of Yesterdays) about a precious family heirloom. Ninety-two-year-old Helen Auerbach has died, leaving only a brooch to her granddaughter Rebecca “Beck” Miller. Beck and her siblings are unhappy that Helen left her modest home to their mother, Deborah, who was raised without a father and who lost Beck’s trust by piling up credit card debt in her name. However, when the large jewel at the center of the brooch turns out to be the famous Florentine diamond, worth as much as $10 million, Beck agrees to split the proceeds of any sale among the habitually argumentative siblings and their mother. The plot thickens when news of the diamond spills into the public, after which many try to stake a claim, including the Austrian and Italian governments. As Beck, her siblings, and her mother look for evidence to prove the diamond belongs to them, they learn of Helen’s escape from Nazi Germany at age 14 and the truth about Deborah’s father. Myerson makes the family arguments deliciously realistic, and her gradual uncovering of the heirloom’s secrets will keep readers turning the pages. This well-spun tale is a charming reminder that familial reconciliation can be worth a fortune. (May)
"[A] cracking tale... Meyerson makes the family arguments deliciously realistic, and her gradual uncovering of the heirloom’s secrets will keep readers turning the pages. This well-spun tale is a charming reminder that familial reconciliation can be worth a fortune." —Publishers Weekly, A Summer Reads 2020 Pick
“Delicious, compulsively readable… Both a gripping mystery and a family tale of imperfect people… Large gemstones have a certain magic of their own, and Meyerson expertly captures that fascination, in her wonderful tracing of the origin of the secret brooch. I read this book morning and night until it was done, unable to break free of its spell. A sheer delight.” —Janet Fitch, bestselling author of White Oleander, The Revolution of Marina M., and Chimes of a Lost Cathedral
“Even better than her enchanting debut, Meyerson's sophomore novel is an exquisitely researched, propulsive tale about the resilience of a splintered family and the power of secrets through a century of lies, betrayals, and life-changing fortune. A wonderfully structured multigenerational family drama woven with international intrigue, The Imperfects is a truly beautiful and truly American story full of unspoken history, loss, and hope. Absolutely winning.” —J. Ryan Stradal, New York Times bestselling author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest and The Lager Queen of Minnesota
“Amy Meyerson has created a captivating story about a hilariously dysfunctional family that comes into a shocking inheritance—a world-famous, priceless 137-carat diamond. Part expertly-plotted historical mystery, part tender family drama, and part juicy international caper, The Imperfects has it all. An absolute pleasure to read, guaranteed to have readers turning the pages late into the night.” —Angie Kim, bestselling author of Miracle Creek
“The matriarch of a perfectly imperfect family bequeaths them the perfect diamond—but is it a family heirloom or stolen treasure? In this clever, meticulously plotted tale of secrets, family dynamics, and resilience, Amy Meyerson takes readers on a what-if journey filled with equal parts history, tenderness, and intrigue.” —Cynthia Swanson, New York Times bestselling author of The Bookseller and The Glass Forest
“The Imperfects is many things, all of them wonderful: a tale of the calamity and change of the twentieth century; a finely observed character study that focuses on the deliciously memorable Miller family; and a true page-turner that enthralled me from the start. It’s also a work of grace, sensitivity, and perfectly observed attention to detail... Certain to delight and entrance its readers.” —Jennifer Robson, bestselling author of The Gown
“The author portrays complex relationships with insight and finesse… [An] entertaining multigenerational saga about sacrifice, self-reliance, and what it means to be family.” —Kirkus Reviews
“The Imperfects by Amy Meyerson is an addictive and beautifully written novel about siblings, family secrets and the unraveling of the real historical mystery of the Florentine diamond. Each one of the Miller’s well-drawn stories and their search to uncover their matriarch’s past, her narrow escape from the Holocaust and her connection to the Florentine diamond, kept me quickly turning the pages. I absolutely devoured this novel—a riveting family saga with the pace of a thriller.” —Jillian Cantor, bestselling author of The Lost Letter and In Another Time
“Helen Auerbach must have stolen the Florentine Diamond. Why else would an ordinary woman have kept the long-lost gem, once the property of Austrian royalty, hidden for so long? When Helen dies, her family must put their differences aside if they want to have any hope of holding on to this unexpected inheritance and, more importantly, unraveling the mystery of Helen’s past and clearing the matriarch’s name. Amy Meyerson’s second novel The Imperfects is a book that shines as brightly as the jewel at the center of its tale and will leave readers wondering what mysteries might be hidden in their own pasts, waiting to be revealed.” —Meghan MacLean Weir, author of The Book of Essie
“Compelling… Readers who enjoy realistically drawn characters, family dynamics, and the power of history will appreciate this novel.” —Library Journal
"Compassionate, thoughtful, and surprisingly moving, this dysfunctional family saga will satisfy fans of Maggie Shipstead and Celeste Ng.” —Booklist
“In this absorbing historically based drama, an American family must prove its rightful ownership of an inherited diamond that's been missing from the Austrian crown jewels for more than a century.” —Shelf Awareness
04/01/2020
Mainly set in the suburbs of contemporary Philadelphia, this tale has threads of historical fact backing up a compelling family read. After Helen Auerbach's sudden death, her widely scattered and estranged family gather for the funeral. At the heart of the narrative is a brooch with an enormous yellow diamond at the center, which may be the still-missing Florentine Diamond, a piece of history that disappeared at the fall of the Habsburg Empire. Helen's daughter, Deborah Miller, and her three children, Ashley, Beck, and Jake, agree that the diamond should be authenticated and sold with the proceeds divided equally, but their solidarity quickly dissolves as old patterns of betrayal and distrust resurface. Meyerson (The Bookshop of Yesterdays) delves deep into the sacrifices and struggles of the Millers through alternating points of view from each of the flawed characters as they move through arguments, legal battles, and the shocking secrets of Helen's shrouded past. How did she end up with one of the most famous missing jewels in the world? VERDICT Readers who enjoy realistically drawn characters, family dynamics, and the power of history will appreciate this novel. [See Prepub Alert, 11/11/19.]—Charli Osborne, Southfield P.L., MI
2020-02-10
When estranged siblings discover that their recently deceased grandmother left behind a multimillion-dollar diamond, they try to look past their differences in order to unearth the secrets of their grandmother’s past.
Beck Miller has a better relationship with her maternal grandmother, Helen, than do either her brother, Jake, who lives across the country, or her married sister, Ashley, who simply can’t be bothered. Their mother, Deborah, has also done precious little to care for her mother over the years, so it's no wonder that when Helen dies, she bequeaths her most valued possession, a bedazzled brooch, to Beck. Beck is shocked to discover that the brooch, which looks like costume jewelry, contains a real 137-karat diamond. Known as the Florentine Diamond, the gem once belonged to the Habsburgs and has been missing since the early 1900s. The stone is worth millions, and Beck feels compelled to share this windfall with her family members despite their dysfunctional relationships. As word spreads that the Millers are in possession of the famous Florentine, every possible claimant, from the FBI to the Italian government, makes efforts to confiscate it from them. The Millers begin investigating Helen’s youth in an effort to prove that she came by the stone honestly. As they uncover details of her childhood, including her narrow escape from the Nazis, the Millers also learn secrets about each other that threaten their already tenuous relationships. Told from the perspectives of all three Miller siblings as well as their mother, the story emphasizes the ways in which varied perceptions of identical facts can create rifts in relationships. The author portrays complex relationships with insight and finesse, if also with a degree of excessive detail. Although the novel has the unfortunate quality of shifting points of view too quickly, often making it feel disjointed, the questions with which the main characters grapple are sufficiently engrossing that readers will remain engaged. Replete with details about gemstones and the mechanisms for determining a diamond’s quality and provenence, the novel showcases how greed and selfishness can cause fissures in relationships that reverberate for generations.
A solidly entertaining multigenerational saga about sacrifice, self-reliance, and what it means to be family.
