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About The Book

Kristin Harmel, the New York Times bestselling author who “is the best there is at sweeping historical drama” (Kelly Harms, author of The Seven Day Switch), returns with an electrifying new novel about two jewel thieves, a priceless bracelet that disappears in 1940s Paris, and a quest for answers in a decades-old murder.

Colette Marceau has been stealing jewels for nearly as long as she can remember, following the centuries-old code of honor instilled in her by her mother, Annabel: take only from the cruel and unkind, and give to those in need. Never was their family tradition more important than seven decades earlier, during the Second World War, when Annabel and Colette worked side by side in Paris to fund the French Resistance.

But one night in 1942, it all went wrong. Annabel was arrested by the Germans, and Colette’s four-year-old sister, Liliane, disappeared in the chaos of the raid, along with an exquisite diamond bracelet sewn into the hem of her nightgown for safekeeping. Soon after, Annabel was executed, and Liliane’s body was found floating in the Seine—but the bracelet was nowhere to be found.

Seventy years later, Colette—who has “redistributed” $30 million in jewels over the decades to fund many worthy organizations—has done her best to put her tragic past behind her, but her life begins to unravel when the long-missing bracelet suddenly turns up in a museum exhibit in Boston. If Colette can discover where it has been all this time—and who owns it now—she may finally learn the truth about what happened to her sister. But she isn’t the only one for whom the bracelet holds answers, and when someone from her childhood lays claim to the diamonds, she’s forced to confront the ghosts of her past as never before. Against all odds, there may still be a chance to bring a murderer to justice—but first, Colette will have to summon the courage to open her own battered heart.

About The Author

Scot Lerner

Kristin Harmel is the New York Times bestselling author of more than a dozen novels including The Forest of Vanishing Stars, The Book of Lost Names, The Room on Rue Amélie, and The Sweetness of Forgetting. She is published in more than thirty languages and is the cofounder and cohost of the popular web series, Friends & Fiction. She lives in Orlando, Florida.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Gallery Books (June 17, 2025)
  • Length: 384 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781982191757

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Raves and Reviews

"I was immediately hooked on the premise of generations of women stealing jewelry from the nefarious to help the needy. When a bracelet resurfaces after being last seen on Colette’s dead little sister decades ago, the mystery of what happened begs to be solved. The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau weaves a fabulous tale of heartbreak and bravery and just how hard one will fight for those they love. I absolutely loved Colette, who was clever, plucky, and quirky. Kristin Harmel has done it again with this powerful story that moved me to tears."

–Madeline Martin, New York Times bestselling author of The Booklover's Library

“The incomparable Kristin Harmel does it again! THE STOLEN LIFE OF COLETTE MARCEAU is an immersive adventure following Colette Marceau, a modern-day Robin Hood with feminine sophistication. Harmel deftly handles the dual timeline in a thrilling detective game wherein clues connecting Colette’s jewel thievery during World War II to her present in 2018 uncover answers to the deaths of her beloved mother and sister. The link? Interlocking diamond butterfly bracelets with secrets in their sparkle. THE STOLEN LIFE OF COLETTE MARCEAU is a rousing historical heist novel, but at its core, it’s about family, unfaltering love, tragic loss, and the choices—good and bad—that become our legacy. This is my favorite kind of story: one with a heroine that doesn’t just make history but changes it for the better.”

—SARAH McCOY, New York TimesUSA Today, and international bestselling author of Whatever Happened To Lori Lovely

"Kristin Harmel is a master of World War II fiction—she never shies away from the brutality and the pain, but she simultaneously manages to shine a light on the hope and the humanity to be found in the wreckage. And The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau is no exception. This stunning and fastidiously researched story examines the complexity of morality, and the power that ordinary people have to enact change in the world around them. It's one of those rare books where I couldn't turn the pages fast enough, but was also so wholly absorbed, I never wanted to reach the end." —Colleen Oakley, USA Today bestselling author of The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise

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