Set during ww2 and after this is a unique and interesting story. I really enjoyed the part in the war however I found the bit after the war to be very slow and boring at times. I , I felt there was too much about the present day and not enough about the war. I did love that it was all connected to the war and thyroid Nazis.
I don’t know if I’d recommend this.

A fascinating book of mystery and love. I read it without stopping. It’s a must read book. Fiona McIntosh is a wonderful author.

I have grown to love this author’s historical fiction reads this past year. In depth stories of struggling through hard times and tragic moments.

Katerina, a Jew, in the most difficult times has to endure tremendous loss and pain thinking she lost all her family in the process. Through the years she buries and suppresses her past deep down but a string of pearls changes everything.

This book will have you on a roller coaster of a ride and you will feel all the deep emotions of Katerina as her story unfolds.

This book deals with some tough topics and may be sensitive to some.

I received an arc from NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

When Severine, who is a curator of jewelry discovers a necklace of pearls she is shocked, this are her family pearls. And than the story goes back in time and I was hooked. It was a long read but it never lost my interest. The connection, the people it all comes together in the end even with some unexpected twists. I really enjoyed this. An easy five stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this. This is my honest opinion.

The Pearl Thief is set in Prague, Paris and Yorkshire at the beginning of WWII until 1963 by Fiona McIntosh. While it may seem to be a story of antique pearls that had been stolen during the Nazi reign, it is more about the characters. Severine Kassel must past the past that she has so carefully buried in her mind, while also hunting for a former Nazi officer, and justice that needed to be served. Severine Kassel is not the most likable character but that is part of the complexity of what has happened to her and how she worked to put it behind her.

Fiona McIntosh has done her research on this book, so it reads as if it did happen instead of a book of historical fiction. Somewhat of a different focus on WWII and the need for vengeance.

I greatly enjoyed this well written and well researched novel! Though some parts appeared rather unrealistic (Katarina trusting Daniel so quickly!), and the constant focus on her exceptional beauty (an ordinary woman could surely have played the part), I liked the storyline. I felt the characters were very relatable, particularly Edward. The conclusion was very surprising as well as satisfying... Definitely a novel for the heart!
I received a digital copy of this novel from NetGalley and I have voluntarily written an honest review.

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I absolutely loved reading this book.

Severine has been invited by the Louvre Museum to look at a piece of jewellery that is antique which they have been given.

The piece brings back something which she has tried to forget and move on with her life.

The piece of jewellery when looked into brings an unexpected disclosure which is shocking and it makes Severine face up to everything that she’s tried to hide from,

It’s a story of revenge, loss and heartbreak. The story is well written, keeps you engrossed and hard to put down.

I highly recommend this book.

There have been many novels recently written about the Holocaust—its devastation, its unimaginable cruelty, its heroes, its far-reaching effects into the future. I try not to read them. Family members who survived are each heroes to me in their own way and their lives were forever shaped by what they experienced. In a way, this novel demonstrates this. It is a story about a woman who may have survived the war but lives with survivor guilt and a wariness of people. In the plot line of this story, she has every reason to feel this way. It was not the mystery I expected from the title!!

The protagonist, Katerina, uses the name Severine. She works as a specialist in Jewish art for the Louvre There are two time periods in the book—the 1960s, a time when art stolen by the Nazis resurfaced and its provenance warranted investigation and the 1930s and 40s Nazi invasion and occupation of Czechoslovakia. Severine has been sent on a temporary assignment to the British Museum. She is asked to look at a Byzantine pearl necklace that was once a family heirloom. This jump starts the story.

Severine flees London after seeing the pearls and goes back to Paris. She is approached by a man, Daniel, who has been watching her. He befriends this normally stand-offish, closed woman and convinces her she needs to tell him her story. She finally feels the time has come to say it aloud. The reader knows something is suspicious about the man but we don’t know what until much later.

Katerina/Severine is a multilayered character. She has survived what seems impossible and reinvented herself. Everything she does is thought through with care down to the detail of her meticulously chosen closing. The story of her life as a child in a well to do Jewish family in Prague unfolds in great detail. You can’t help but live her childhood with her, her relationship with her father, her harrowing escape from death at the hands of a childhood neighbor and now, a Nazi officer. She is sure that this evil man, Mayek, is the person behind the pearls stolen from her family who wants the British Museum to validate the authenticity as a way of finding her and killing the girl who got away.

It is a story of courage, and friendship, love and healing. Katerina is a resilient woman who has survived the unimaginable. But she is layered and shows an undaunted belief that she can take care of herself. When others come through for her, it breaks her reserve and allows her to live a full life.

The details about the war are well researched as are all the historical facts Katerina shared with us along the way. The author’s note and acknowledgements are worth reading. The supporting characters—Daniel, Edward, Otto, her father—are all richly drawn.

The only negative thing about the book for me was the way telling her story to Daniel was structured. It seemed unnatural for this closely guarded woman to sit and tell a stranger what she has never told anyone else. It felt like it was written separately and plunked into the book. I also didn’t feel Daniel gave her enough to open herself like that. It was an important part of the book and her story needed to be told but I think there may have been other ways to tell it.

I was amazed to read the extensive list of this author’s books. I had not come across her before. If her other books are anything like this one, she has a new reader.

Highly recommend.

This wasn’t just about stolen jewellery. It was about everything the war took from her. 👩‍🦰💔

📖 The Pearl Thief was set in Europe in the early 1960s 🇫🇷🕰️. Séverine Kassel was a jewellery expert at the Louvre 💎.

She came across as a composed, intelligent woman 💼🧠; however, underneath it all, she comes from a traumatic past that happened during the war 💣💔. Not only that, but her family’s pearls got stolen by an enemy officer during that time 📿🪖.

In the story, Séverine is asked to go to London 🇬🇧 to look over the pearls that once belonged to her family. Because of this, her composure soon cracks 😞🕳️.

This makes her adamant to hunt down the man who stole the pearls and who brings her past traumas back to life 🔍⚖️.

This story was very emotional 😢. It was not just about missing jewellery 💍 but also about lost family 👨‍👩

Severine Kassel is calm, cool, and collected -- until she is shown a new piece being acquired by the British Museum. Why? She knows that priceless pearl necklace, because it was her birthright.

This story set in 1963 has its characters telling their stories from WW II and banding together to exact much overdue justice.

Here is what I liked:

🦪The Ottoman Pearls --a bolero of pearls with a sapphire accent. Intended to be worn by a bride as her only adornment on the wedding night. How were they stolen in 1942 from the country home of the Kassowicz family?
👸Severine Kassel was once Katerina Kassowicz with a legacy in the art and jewelry world. Her survival after being hunted down by the Nazis outside Prague is a heartbreaking tale.
🧔Daniel Horowitz bumps into Katerina in Paris. Is their new friendship an accident? What skills and plans are being hidden the people around him?
👨Edward Summerbee is representing the party who currently has the pearls in their possession. Will he be an ally for Katerina? Or is he bound by the law to remain neutral?

There were parts of this book that went on a bit long. No wonder the pages added up to 550 on my Kindle in this edition. There is a note on the cover promising an upcoming film based on the book. I would watch it and hope they produce those pearls for us to see.

Thank you to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

A harrowing story of good versus evil in the Second World War and afterwards. An emotional journey in the life of Katerina and the plight of Jewish people in the 1930s and 40s.

The Pearl Thief is a novel with a promising premise and some genuinely intriguing elements, but overall it didn’t quite work for me. I found it tough to get into. I never really connected with the characters, who felt a bit flat or distant. Even as the plot moved forward, I struggled to care about what happened to them.

That said, there are definite strengths here. The setting descriptions are rich and atmospheric, helping me picture the world in vivid detail. I also appreciated that the overall plot felt new and fresh compared to many historical novels. It’s clear the author put thought into creating an original story.

Ultimately, this one didn’t fully grab me, but readers who love immersive settings and want something a bit different plot-wise might still enjoy it.

This is my first foray into Fiona McIntosh’s historical fiction, and while I did enjoy it, I really think I prefer her crime books.
The premise of this book is interesting. The theft of a valuable and unique piece of jewellery from a Jewish family during WW2, and its subsequent reappearance some 20 years later, binding together a number of people with an interest in finding the person who originally stole it. Throughout the course of the novel we learn plenty about the suffering of Jewish families during the war, as well as about life in the 60s.
This book is definitely worth reading. The story moves along at a good pace, with believable characters and an absorbing plot.

This novel was both heartbreaking and hopeful - a tale of resilience, survival and the willingness to move forward. Katerina's life in WWII Prague was painted vividly and it all came crashing down at the hands of one man. In one night, she lost everything and then had to survive. Twenty years later and the man who destroyed her life is at large and Katerina has to decide what to do. The emotion in this novel is intense - grief, hurt, pain, hope, forgiveness....it was hard to read at times but worth the journey to the end.

I thought this was a slow moving book. It does pick up more than half way through and really ends with a bang. There were some surprises and secrets come out. I think all historical fiction fans will enjoy this book.

The title of the book almost doesn’t do it it justice. This is such a lovely book taking the reader seamlessly through time and countries with war and cruelty as the backdrop for the passages that date to the war. The pearls in the title of the book are the link between the different time periods and touch Séverine, her family and the wider group who get involved with their provenance and where Home should be for the pearls. There is cruelty amongst the friendships and some absolutely beautiful moments of hope and of care as the core of individuals are revealed in all their glory.

Thank you NetGalley and Storm Publishing for this eCopy to review

I just finished The Pearl Thief by Fiona McIntosh, and I’m still catching my breath. This gripping historical thriller swept me from the elegant galleries of Paris to the windswept moors of Yorkshire, all while unraveling a mystery rooted in the darkest corners of World War II.

The story follows Severine Kassel, a respected jewellery curator at the Louvre, who’s spent years hiding the trauma of her past. But when she’s invited to London to authenticate a rare collection of Byzantine pearls, her carefully constructed world begins to crack. These pearls aren’t just valuable, they’re hers. Stolen from her family during the war. That discovery reignites a fire in her: to track down the man responsible, former Nazi officer Ruda Mayek.

What follows is a tense, emotional journey across Europe as Severine hunts for justice and maybe revenge. Along the way, she’s forced to confront not only the horrors of her past but also the secrets she’s kept buried. The pacing is tight, the stakes are high, and the emotional weight is real.

The Pearl Thief has a compelling plot and richly drawn atmosphere, Severine is a heroine I won’t soon forget. If you love historical fiction with a touch of espionage, this one’s worth your time.

Historical fiction is my favourite genre and Fiona McIntosh is one of my favourite authors. The Pearl Thief is a well researched and very well written story. The reader is taken on epic journey of heart ache, survival, loss and revenge.
Severine Kassel (formerly known as Katrina Kassowicz) is the protagonist of this story and she has lived through unimaginable horrors in WWII. She is now a specialist in antique jewellery (particularly Jewish jewellery lost/stolen during the war). It is 1963 and Severine is asked to authenticate and provide provenance on a magnificent pearl necklace but to her horror it is HER families pearls, known as the Ottoman Pearls, that were stolen by the Nazi that killed her family, Rudy Mayek.
A rich and powerfully written suspenseful story follows as we are introduced to a great cast of characters to love and hate.
A must read for historical fiction fans.
This title is soon to become a major film and I can’t wait to see the book come to life on the big screen.

I like this story, but the writing style is not for me. The pace is too slow, and the narrative too detailed.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

The Pearl Thief by Fiona McIntosh is one of those rare historical novels that wrap around your heart and don’t let go. Fiona McIntosh’s writing is elegant and emotionally rich, with characters that feel fully lived-in and a storyline that pulled me in from the very first chapter.

As a woman who’s faced her own moments of heartbreak, healing, and resilience, I found this story deeply relatable. The lead character’s strength and quiet determination stayed with me long after I finished listening. The historical backdrop was vivid and beautifully researched, and the mystery woven throughout gave it an added layer of depth and intrigue.

This book was everything I love in historical fiction: a strong, layered woman at the center, emotional stakes that feel real, and a plot that’s both engaging and moving. It was immersive, thought-provoking, and completely satisfying. Five glowing stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to experience this unforgettable story.