"This one has a little of everything: romance, tragedy, drama, humor." A reader from Salem, Oregon, comments on MORE PRECIOUS THAN RUBIES, by Elena Ives, published by Meadowlark Press.
Charm is Deceptive and Beauty is Fleeting...
In MORE PRECIOUS THAN RUBIES, an antique ruby necklace — a souvenir from long-ago tragedy — is now a silent witness to deep and timeless love, then treachery and deceit, until eventually becoming an emblem of God’s unconditional forgiveness.
Medical student, Gabe Westbrook, literally counts off the days until he can return to his parent’s summer vacation home in Cannon Beach, Oregon, and be reunited with the girl next door, Rachel Albrecht. Each of the past five summers have bound them into deeper friendship, marked by Gabe’s powerful undeclared love.
One summer Rachel and Gabe meet Ian, a doctoral student from Portland. At first Gabe disagrees with Ian’s outspoken antagonism toward faith and patriotism, but it is Ian’s pursuit of Rachel that he soon finds barely endurable.
Then, when Gabe’s grandmother gives Rachel her most cherished possession, her mother’s ruby necklace, it tragically becomes a tool for treachery and deceit when Gabe’s narcissistic mother uses it to drive Rachel and Gabe apart.
"The main theme of MORE PRECIOUS THAN RUBIES is the peace that comes from obedience and sacrifice, truly dying to self," said Elena Ives, author, referring to Gabe’s fervent soul-searching years later when he discovers that he had been tricked into walking out on Rachel that summer. "The truly catastrophic moment for Gabe was when he faced the feelings that he still had for Rachel and realized that he had no right to them."
Readers of MORE PRECIOUS THAN RUBIES may experience a twinge of déjà vu, and according to Ives, familiar themes were intentionally borrowed from Jane Austen’s Persuasion and The Country Girl, Paramount’s 1954 movie with Grace Kelly and Bing Crosby.
Ives, author of MORE PRECIOUS THAN RUBIES and CITY OF ROSES lives in Oregon with her husband, Don.
MORE PRECIOUS THAN RUBIES is available from the following Internet booksellers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Borders, or can be purchased through the publisher at MeadowlarkShoppe.com
More Precious Than Rubies
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