The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau

The Boston Diamond Museum is located in a colonial-style mansion. Aviva arrives two days before the opening to find Lucas O’Mara, the museum director, in casual attire, working alone to set up the exhibit. He appears wary of Aviva’s story about writing a newsletter article, but allows her to see the bracelet. Aviva finds her breath taken away by the intricate beauty of the piece. When Aviva asks where it came from, Lucas says the owner wishes to remain anonymous. Aviva brings up blood diamonds, and Lucas tells her that the museum only works with diamonds that are responsibly mined. Aviva shares that her mother was a Holocaust survivor, born in Belgium in 1940. She admits, “Sometimes I get too emotional when I think about all the things taken from people like her” (96).

Aviva reflects on the night her mother died in a car accident and how Colette came. Aviva contacted her father, who left her and her mother when she was three, and feels uncomfortable around her mother’s sister, Jan. Aviva found it difficult to leave the hospital, and Colette sat with her for hours. She shared with Aviva how she felt the same when her mother died, but realized she carried pieces of her mother inside her.