The Book of Pearl is a hauntingly beautiful fairy tale that ties together a kingdom ravaged by Ian: a petulant, power crazy King, and 1940s France in the middle of the German invasion. A young prince is banished from his kingdom and from his fairy love by a genie that would rather see him gone than dead. The fairy convinces the genie it’s in his own best interest to allow her to go with the prince, but the genie sends them to a land devoid of fairy tales and magic, our world. She is unable to allow her prince to even lay eyes on her as it will permanently separate them. Ilian, the young prince, spends his life hunting tokens of magic, believing that they will break the spell and allow him and his Olia to be together again. A young man stumbles upon Ilian in his cottage as an old man, surrounded by the relics he’s spent his entire life collecting. He gets swept up into the tale, having laid eyes on the fairy himself. True love, magic, the betrayal of family, Nazi Germany, and fairy tales all combine to make this one of the most moving tales I’ve read in a long while. The writer’s style is effortless, even through one main narrator carrying the tales of three people. A must read!