num_pages: 384
description: A romance set in 17th century France and centered around the broken history of the Hope Diamond.In the depths of the Bastille sixteen-year-old Juliet Pitau sits cold and filthy in her cell. Charged with stealing what has come to be known as the Hope Diamond from King Louis XIV she has one final chance to convince the King that her motives were pure. If she fails this night may be her last. Recording her confession is Rene a scribe for the king and the man she loves. But Rene won't even look her way let alone begin to forgive her for her betrayal of him.Before Juliet was imprisoned she was the daughter of the finest gem cutter in all of Paris. The young King Louis XIV hand-selected Jean Pitau to be his crown jeweler the only man who could make him shine like the sun. When Louis purchases the Tavernier Violet a large deep-blue diamond the likes of which the French court has never seen Jean is tasked with turning it brilliant. But Juliet's father has never cut a diamond quite like this--and shaping it is risky business. While Jean spirals into depression Juliet takes it upon herself to have the diamond cut for the King. But with every misstep she brings her family closer to ruin and closer to probable death at morning's light once Louis casts his sentence.
language: English
title: The Jewel Thief
publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers