The opal : a novel

Mary Elton is the sort of woman who sees right through pretence, and her frank, clear‑sighted nature makes her both admired and slightly feared in the circles of Boston and New York. Friends rely on her sharp humor and unvarnished opinions, while younger acquaintances look to her as a model of intelligence and empathy. Her closest confidant, Philip Morley, balances her incisive mind with his own latent ambitions, and their correspondence brims with witty banter and mutual support.

When Mary dispatches a sudden, flamboyantly handwritten summons, she invites Philip and a small, eclectic group to an informal tea that promises a glimpse of a mysterious new guest—Miss Edith Dudley. Described as elusive as an opal, Miss Dudley’s mixed heritage and cosmopolitan background hint at a world far beyond the familiar streets of State Street and the Back Bay. As the invitation circulates, curiosity ripples through their social world, setting the stage for a meeting in which personalities clash, secrets surface, and the ordinary becomes anything but.