1926. On the cliffs of Yorkshire, men are lowered on ropes to steal the eggs of the sea birds who nest there. The most beautiful are sold for large sums. A small girl-penniless and neglected by her family-retrieves one such treasure. Its discovery will forever alter the course of her life. A century later. In a remote cottage in Wales, Patrick Fort finds his friend, Nick, and his mother tied up and robbed. The only thing missing: a carved case containing an incredible scarlet egg. Doggedly attempting to retrieve it, Patrick and Nick discover the cruel world of egg trafficking, and soon find themselves on the trail of a priceless collection of eggs long lost to history.
A banger ... Bauer comes off as a generous writer who has lots to share with us and does it with humor and ease ... Bauer is a daring and confident writer who’s still introducing new characters in the last 50 pages of her 322-page book ... Contains not one, but two of the best kind of romances there are: the ones where we intuit signs of love before the people involved do ... All of her books are terrific, so what that means is you probably have a bunch to add to your reading list. Because, for this dazzling novelist, the hits just keep coming.
While the back-and-forth action is riveting, much of the background may be unclear to U.S. readers who probably are not as familiar with the actual Metland Eggs as British readers—an explanatory note would have helped.
