The Empress Emerald

By J G Harlond

Leo Kazan is half Russian and half Indian, an orphan (or so he believes) and a talented linguist. He is also a thief, attracted like a magpie to everything which glitters. He becomes the protégé of Sir Lionel Pinchcoffin, the District Political Officer in Bombay, who recognises Leo’s talents and turns him into a spy. From an early age, Leo is immersed in the seedy world of international espionage, revolutionary politics and diamond smuggling. He travels from India to Europe and Russia, but the most meaningful time in his life are a few stolen days when he meets and falls in love with Davina Dymond in London.

As the drums of war reverberate around the world for the second time in their lives, Leo begins to understand his history and Davina, trapped in war-torn Spain, turns to crime to survive. Both must unshackle themselves from the ways of the old world, and those who seek to manipulate them, before they can find true happiness - and each other.
‘An epic and enthralling novel of love and separation, betrayal and treachery, which sweeps the reader across continents from India and Russia to Spain and England. Individual lives are torn apart by the flood of war and political manipulation, yet even as they struggle in that drowning tide, Leo and Davina discover their own identities and place of belonging. Cinematic, with a rich tapestry of colour and characters.’
Karen Maitland – author of 'The Falcons of Fire and Ice'

• Language: English
• Publisher: Famelton Publishing
• Release date: Feb 11, 2014
• ISBN: 9780992803667

Reviews for The Empress Emerald

[dwwilkin_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In the Empress Emerald, we have a tale spanning the life of a man, and by extension the events that surround that life that affect him personally as well as those that are occurring about the globe that changed everyone's lives as well. With the device from the title, Ms. Harlond uses the Empress Emerald which is a necklace to weave itself about the main character like a cloak that will protect and shield our hero, Leo Kazan, as well as be the fire, albeit green since it is an emerald that burns within his breast as well.Without providing spoilers beyond the most general, the story is that of the years of Leo from when he was born at the opening of the 20th century to Britain's entry into the war. It weaves the identity of India, Russia, Spain and England together in a gordian knot of plots, intrigues and tales so that little slivers of all are brought together to unite in a fine tale that shows that such a large thing as an empire, or two, will naturally result in certain individuals living lives that cross borders. And in such a turbulent time with one world war occurring, and another just beginning, the backdrop of history is food for the author to fuel our imaginations and for us to visit places and see sights that are seldom glimpsed. It is not just solely Leo's story, for he has a rather large impact on others as well, and here we find a secondary tale that becomes the equal of our Heroes. Naturally we find that Leo has a love interest that is so well connected that it defies time, miles, and tragedies, to bind our two lovers. They are Bashert, soulmates, in every sense of the word. That Ms. Harlond is able to provide us a compelling tale that we can enjoy their affection for each other, leaves the reader with a need to turn the page to find how this part of the tale will play out.With charm and dignity, out hero and heroine show that the world that was torn apart and tried to reknit itself, only to be ripped to shreds again, is a place where the hope of love, the gift of life can flourish. Did flourish.A well written book with a clear narrative voice that gives it style. It is a true work of historical fiction. Where suspense or mystery might have fought to take over the stage, such was not the case, giving more to the development of our characters that made their lives of love all that more profound.Were we to meet Leo again and see more of his unique life, and how things change with the War and after, knowing that more of the tale is there to be found would be a consummation of the man and his closest family that we have begun to know. Where Emerald has ended, at the brink of the war, we who live now after it has gone, know that there is much historically to relate and having met Leo here in this exceptional tale, also know that he is a character who would have a lot to do during the years of the war and after.