The Necklace · Thirteen Women and the Experiment That Transformed Their Lives

The true story of thirteen women who took a risk on an expensive diamond

necklace and, in the process, changed not only themselves but a community.

Four years ago _,_ in Ventura, California, Jonell McLain saw a diamond

necklace in a local jewelry store display window. The necklace aroused desire

first, then a provocative question: Why are personal luxuries so plentiful yet

accessible to so few? What if we shared what we desired? Several weeks, dozens

of phone calls, and a leap of faith later, Jonell bought the necklace with

twelve other women, with the goal of sharing it.

Part charm, part metaphor, part mirror, the necklace weaves in and out of each

woman’s life, reflecting her past, defining her present, making promises for

her future. Lending sparkle in surprising and unexpected ways, the necklace

comes to mean something dramatically different to each of the thirteen women.

With vastly dissimilar histories and lives, the women show us how they

transcended their individual personalities and politics to join together in an

uncommon journey. What started as a quirky social experiment became something

far richer and deeper, as the women transformed a symbol of exclusivity into a

symbol of inclusiveness. They discovered that sharing the necklace among

themselves was only the beginning; The more they shared with others, the more

profound this experience–and experiment–became.

Original, resonant, and beautifully told, this book is an inspiring story

about a necklace that became greater than the sum of its links, and about

thirteen ordinary women who understood the power of possibility, who touched

the lives of a community, and who together created one extraordinary

experience.

_From the Hardcover edition._