The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

Colette wonders if her mother would be disappointed with her for not seizing the bracelet’s other half yet. Aviva can’t be with her to meet Daniel Rosman, and Colette reminds Aviva she isn’t an old lady but rather “a perfectly capable woman who has survived nearly everything life could possibly throw her way” (191). When they meet, Colette has the sense she knows Daniel, and they conclude they met at a conference for the Holocaust Center, since Daniel volunteers with the sister institution in New York City.

They discuss their families. Daniel shares what his mother said: that jewels “carry a piece of anyone who has touched them” (194). Colette thinks she’s responsible for her sister’s disappearance. Knowing this was what her mother would have wanted, Colette gives Daniel her half of the bracelet. She and Daniel go to visit Hubert Verdier, and Colette realizes she feels comfortable with Daniel, perhaps because of all they share in common. Daniel acknowledges that they both struggle with the guilt of surviving their loved ones. He, too, wants to find out the story of the bracelet.

Annabel is being held in the Cherche-Midi prison. She bribes the Nazi guard to let her see Colette and Roger, promising the woman one of the jewels she stole, which she took from a Nazi collaborator. Annabel feels that Roger doesn’t understand her anymore, but she gets to hold Colette. They make the call and response of the eagle to one another, the cry of “Kyi-kyi-kyi” and the answer “Ko-ko-ko” (206).

Colette still wonders if Hubert killed her sister. She remembers meeting him when she was looking for Liliane, and all she thought of him at the time was as a police officer who could be bribed. Colette tries to draw Hubert out. He mentions a woman named Francine, but says his wife’s name was Odile. Hubert begins to cry as Colette interrogates him and says he didn’t know what was going to happen to the Jewish families he arrested. He says he’s haunted by the nightmares. Colette asks how he got the bracelet with the lily flowers, and he says he promised never to tell. He calls for a nurse, who makes Colette and Daniel leave.

Colette and her father are released from prison. At their apartment, the building concierge, Madame Nadaud, finds them. She says Liliane’s body was found in the river. Nadaud recognized the nightgown Liliane was wearing.

Annabel is in prison for a few more days and hears the prisoners singing and chanting at night. Since Möckel’s men beat her, she reflects that she still thinks what she did was right, and she hopes that one day Hélène will be reunited with her bracelets. As she dies, she has a vision of her daughters as old women, holding hands in the shade of hazel trees, “a promise that her family’s legacy would live on” (221).

Lucas comes to Aviva’s office to inform her that Colette and Daniel visited Hubert and upset him. He wonders if his grandfather might be able to give Aviva the information she seeks. He tells her, “I’m very aware that someone I consider family might have deeply hurt someone you consider family. I’m doing the best I can to make it right” (224).

Lucas brings Aviva to have dinner with his grandfather, Bill. Bill becomes angry at the mention of Hubert, with whom he thinks his wife had an affair. Bill suspects this because Hubert let her wear the bracelet. Bill says it’s too late to change the past and a mistake to dig it up. He asks them to leave.

Roger leaves Colette with Annabel’s friends, Frédéric and Marie. Frédéric has been the broker who sold Annabel’s stolen jewels. Frédéric confirms that a girl wearing Liliane’s nightgown was pulled from the river. Frédéric defends Annabel, saying she did what she believed was right and was trying to make a difference in the world, but Roger is angry. He tells Frédéric to send Colette to Annabel’s brother, Leo, who lives in England, and then he leaves.

Colette finds it hard to accept that her father has simply abandoned her and feels he must blame her for Liliane’s death. Marie insists that Colette is family and has a home with them for as long as she wishes. Colette visits her apartment, and Madame Nadaud reports that her father is gone and instructed her to tell anyone who asks that they’re all dead. Colette then tries to locate Guillaume Charpentier and is told the policeman has gone south. Frédéric informs Colette that Möckel killed her mother. Colette wears the bracelet sewn into her brassiere, knowing her mother would want her to return it someday.

Lucas tells Aviva that his grandmother was self-centered and selfish. As they drive, he gets a call from Hubert’s assisted living facility that Hubert has been taken to the hospital.

Colette is having dinner with Marty, who asks if it’s too late for them to have a romantic relationship. Colette thinks it is, though she deeply values their friendship. She asks him about the first jewel she ever asked him to sell, an emerald set with diamonds. Selling it helped fund the Holocaust Center. Colette asks Marty if he can locate the ring and help her buy it back. Aviva calls to tell Colette that Hubert had a heart attack. Colette and Marty join Aviva and Lucas at the hospital, where they’re informed that Hubert passed away. Colette fears that now she’ll never know the truth.

When she’s waiting in line for rations, Colette overhears two women saying that Le Paon’s network needs funding. She follows one of the women to a secret meeting, which is held at an old medical clinic. Le Paon tells Colette he heard that a French police officer betrayed her mother to the Germans, and then took her sister, intending to steal her jewels. Colette asks Le Paon if she can help somehow. Le Paon warns her to be careful.

Daniel visits Colette with breakfast, and she has a sense of being taken care of. Daniel tells her he’s been contacted by the grand-nephew of the jeweler who made the bracelets. He has records that could help Daniel prove his claim of ownership to the other half of the bracelet. He invites Colette to come to Paris with him. She thinks, “Being around Daniel Rosman felt like returning to a home she’d thought she’d lost forever” (265). She tells Aviva where she’s going, then Marty. Marty has located the emerald ring, still in the buyer’s possession.

Before they leave, Colette feels Daniel should know the truth about her. She tells him she’s a jewel thief, that her family is descended from Robin Hood, and it’s “my family’s code that we steal only from the cruel or unkind” (269). Colette tells him that when they went to the Vél’ d’Hiv to find his family, his mother gave Annabel her emerald ring, which Colette later sold and which she now hopes to buy back. Colette admits to him that her choices haven’t always been the right ones, but she’s tried to do good in the world. She’s surprised that learning this about her doesn’t change Daniel’s regard but rather increases his respect for her.