Celticlady's Reading Room

"Opaline has a rare gift: a form of lithomancy that allows her to translate the energy emanating from stones. Certain gemstones, combined with a personal item, such as a lock of hair, enable her to receive messages from beyond the grave. In her mind, she is no mystic, but merely a messenger, giving voice to soldiers who died before they were able to properly express themselves to loved ones." ...from M.J.Rose website

The above details what Opaline can do with her gift even when it sucks the soul right out of her with feelings of loss, heartbreak, and grief. Her gift is not all bad though as she communicates with a man who died in the trenches of WWI. In her mind, they can communicate and this is what sustains her through the sadness that she 'sees' when creating her mourning jewelry for mothers of fallen soldiers. Opaline is training with Pavel Orloff, who was trained by Faberge. He owns La Fantasie Russe and is a jeweler of renown in Paris.

Opaline's mother is Sandrine Salome who was introduced in The Witch of Painted Sorrows, which told the story of the La Lune legacy. Opaline is gifted with her abilities, different from her mother and grandmother's as they are witches.Opaline does not believe that she is a mystic nor does she really want to be one. She just wants to use her gift and possibly bring some peace to the soldiers who died and their loved ones and when the war is over to just make beautiful jewelry with the training she is receiving from a master jeweler. Her mother has other ideas, wants Opaline to apprentice with the jeweler's wife Anna to understand her special abilities. 

Opaline, at the behest of Pavel Orloff, must travel to England to deliver a beautiful necklace to the Romanov Dowager Queen, she is also tasked with making a talisman from belongings from the missing Romanov children. This journey is fraught with danger because if her mission is discovered by the Bolsheviks, it could mean death to Opaline. 

I love reading M.J. Rose's books, they always tell fascinating stories about the paranormal. The Secret Language of Stones takes the reader to war-torn Paris, secret meetings, danger, intrigue, betrayal and mystical elements as only M.J.Rose can do.

I started reading the works of M.J. Rose from her earlier work, The Halo Effect, and The Delilah Complex and have been fascinated ever since. The author has the ability with her words to transport the reader to another place and time. Impeccable research and a gift for storytelling that can't be denied. Loved it!

This book is the 2nd on the Daughters of La Lune series and I eagerlyawait the next book!