The Necklace by Cheryl Jarvis Guest Review

A BIG thank you goes out to my guest reviewer today, Ila M.


From Amazon

The true story of thirteen women who took a risk on an expensive diamond necklace and, in the process, changed not only themselves but a community.

Four years ago, in Ventura, California, Jonell McLain saw a diamond necklace in a local jewelry store display window. The necklace aroused desire first, then a provocative question: 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 a leap of faith later, Jonell bought the necklace with twelve other women, with the goal of sharing it.

Part charm, part metaphor, part mirror, the necklace 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, the women show us how they transcended their individual personalities and politics to join together in an uncommon journey. What started as a quirky social experiment became something far richer and deeper, as the women transformed a symbol of exclusivity into a symbol of inclusiveness. They discovered that sharing the necklace among themselves was only the beginning; The more they shared with others, the more profound this experience–and experiment–became.

Original, resonant, and beautifully told, this book is an inspiring story about a necklace that became greater than the sum of its links, and about thirteen ordinary women who understood the power of possibility, who touched the lives of a community, and who together created one extraordinary experience.



"The Necklace", a wonderful true story of thirteen very diversified women who proved they could together solve their problems, hopes, dreams and share a necklace. What if women ruled the world! This experiment shows they could probably give the world what it is so sorely in need of. PEACE! I have never yearned for diamonds but even I was left wondering what it would be like to wear a diamond necklace worth that many dollars. I would be afraid of losing it as some of the women were when they first received it. I think I could handle it. Because we don't live in California nor watch a lot of TV I had never heard of it before reading the book. Thanks for a great read.