A Diamond in the Rough Read online

  A DIAMOND

  IN THE ROUGH

  A NOVEL

  MARILYN LAND

  A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH

  A NOVEL

  Copyright © 2017 Marilyn Land.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  iUniverse

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  Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

  Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

  Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

  ISBN: 978-1-5320-2140-4 (sc)

  ISBN: 978-1-5320-2142-8 (hc)

  ISBN: 978-1-5320-2141-1 (e)

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2017908037

  iUniverse rev. date: 06/28/2017

  Contents

  Us

  Prologue Tel Aviv, Israel—2016

  Part One

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Part Two

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Part Three

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Part Four

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Epilogue Tel Aviv, Israel 2016

  Author’s Notes

  Diamonds

  These Are A Few Of My Favorites

  A Diamond in the Rough is a work of fiction.

  Any and all references to actual people, events, places, or business establishments are intended solely to give the fiction a sense of authenticity

  and the reality of the times. All names, characters, and fictional incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental.

  Any and all historical events were compiled from information made available by Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia, and the endless multitude of articles about the diamond industry and World War II that have appeared in numerous newspapers and periodicals.

  A Diamond in the Rough:

  Someone (or something) that has hidden exceptional characteristics and/or future potential, but currently lacks the final touches that would make them (or it) truly stand out from the crowd.

  The phrase is metaphorical and relates to the fact that naturally

  occurring diamonds are quite ordinary at first glance, and that their true beauty as jewels is only realized through the cutting and polishing process.

  To Jack—my Diamond in the Rough!

  This one is for you—I love you and miss you every single minute of every single day.

  Other books by Marilyn Land

  Clattering Sparrows

  The Dollmaker

  US

  Us—a word so small

  Two letters when separated mean nothing at all

  When put back together encompass a world

  A world where two hearts beat as one

  A world of love, of promise to come

  A world where dreams yearn to come true

  A world that’s ours—just us two

  Us—a word so small

  Two letters when separated mean nothing at all

  When put back together define happiness untold

  I believed in Us from the very start

  The moment you captured my heart

  From that day on we were no longer you and me

  Just Us—eternally.

  PROLOGUE

  TEL AVIV, ISRAEL—2016

  The Grand Ballroom at the David InterContinental Hotel was decked out in its finest. Festive posters and pictures along the walls, beautiful flowers on each table set with the finest china and crystal, and the multitude of wait staff, all indicated to the guests that dinner would be nothing less than superb. Ongoing preparations for this event had been in the works for months, and as the hotel’s banquet manager stepped back and surveyed the room, he was quite pleased with the results of his team’s efforts.

  Security throughout the interior and surrounding the outside of the building was at its highest level.

  The one thousand people in attendance—by invitation only—were neither there for the food nor for the decorations. They had come to honor Jacob Aaron Lyons.

  At last, everyone was seated, and as Zoe Handler stepped to the podium, a hush fell over the crowd. There was no introduction nor did she introduce herself. Looking into the faces of the audience, she began speaking.

  “What was once thought to be the largest diamond heist in history was never recorded; was never reported to the authorities; and to this very day some seventy-five plus years after it is believed to have occurred, it is uncertain who stole the diamonds or from whom and from where they were taken—100,000 carats of meticulously cut and polished diamonds in various shapes and weights that on today’s market are estimated to be valued at over half a billion dollars.

  “It is highly unlikely that the truth will ever surface since it is highly unlikely that anyone who was involved is still alive today. One might even question if there was a heist, but then one would have to question where such a cache came from and why no one ever sought to lay claim to it.

  “Jacob Lyons was my father. He is known for the impact his innovations and skill have had on the diamond industry worldwide, and for his undaunted and exceedingly generous philanthropy, all of which he accomplished after his discharge as a highly decorated RAF Ace Pilot at the end of WWII.

  “Wh
at you will learn from my novel is how he became the recipient of the spoils, but because he was unable to uncover the story behind the diamonds and discover who placed them in his care for safekeeping, he never thought of himself as the rightful owner of the jewels or that they had been given to him personally.

  “He came into this world the son of immigrants who left Russia shortly after they were married in Minsk for a better life in England. He grew up overnight when the horror of WWII landed on London’s doorstep. The Blitz began in September 1940 and lasted until May 1941. It didn’t break the British people as the Nazis had hoped nor did it break my father; it only made them both stronger.

  “My mother encouraged him to write the Lyons story for our family, and it was in fulfilling that promise to her that my brothers and I urged him to release it to the public. It was a work in progress when he passed away last year at the age of ninety-one. After his death, more determined than ever to finish my novel by the deadline I had set, I fervently returned to my notes and recordings.

  “This is the Jacob Aaron Lyons story, and as you learn his story, you will come to realize as I did that he was truly A Diamond in the Rough.

  “My father was not a religious man, but his faith was eternal. He lived his life thankful for every blessing and endured every loss with acceptance and dignity attributing them to God’s plan for him. The spiritual afterlife is referred to in Hebrew as Olam Ha-Ba (the World to come)—it is a higher state of being. In the Mishnah, Jewish oral scholarship teaches us This World is like a lobby before the Olam Ha-Ba—prepare yourself in the lobby so that you may enter the banquet hall. Jacob Aaron Lyons has entered the hall.

  “Following dinner, I invite you to view the diamonds on display that we have set up in the adjoining room. I have chosen a sampling of my father’s work, which includes several rings and various other items that he crafted when he was a young boy under his father’s tutelage.

  “At the center of the Exhibit is the precisely carved wooden chest that held the diamonds when they came into my father’s possession. For the remainder of his life, he never waivered in his efforts to learn the rightful owner of the diamonds, exhausting the sole clue he felt he had been given—the obvious significance of the precise carvings on the chest—carvings he equated to the precise cuttings of the diamonds it held.

  “The room is not large enough to accommodate all of us at one time, so we ask that you form a line. One hundred people at a time will view the Exhibit entering the room by one door, working through the displays, and leaving by the door on the far side.

  “In order to accommodate everyone here this evening in a timely manner, we are suggesting that your cursory viewing of the Exhibit be brief; however, we encourage you and welcome you to return as many times as you wish in the months to come.

  “The Exhibit will be on display here in Tel Aviv for six months, at which time it will be moved to Jerusalem for an additional six months.

  “I now invite Rabbi Levi Shuman to the podium to recite the blessing over our meal.”

  “Baruch atah A-donay Elo-heinu Melech Ha’Olem Hamotzi

  lechem min haaretz.”

  “Blessed are You Lord our God, King of the Universe Who

  brings forth bread from the earth.”

  PART ONE

  CHAPTER ONE

  Harry nervously paced back and forth, head bowed, praying as he had never prayed before that he would soon hear the cry of his first-born child, and that his beloved Ada and the baby were just fine. She had been in labor for hours, and outside of the midwife hurrying in and out of the room, he was told nothing, so all he could do was wait and pace and pace and wait.

  At long last, Harry heard the lusty cry he had been hoping for, and Hannah, the midwife, opened the door just long enough to say, “Mazel Tov Harry; you and Ada have a fine son. Give me a few minutes to get Ada and the baby ready to see you.”

  Henry bowed his head and thanked God; a son, he and Ada had a son. God had blessed them. At last, Hannah opened the door. “Come, come in Harry and meet your son.”

  Four years had passed since Harry and Ada Lyons were married in Minsk, Russia, and left to pursue a better life in England, far from the persecution of Tsarist pogroms that their families had endured for decades. As a wedding gift, family and friends managed to come up with enough to pay their passage and tide them over until they found employment and a place to live. One bag held a pair of gold candlesticks, her mother’s diamond earrings, and their few belongings.

  The young couple travelled across Europe to the main departure point—Hamburg—as it was the least expensive route to London. Sixteen shillings per head for adults and half price for children, but the steerage conditions were appalling. It was a long journey, and Ada, who was a small, slightly built young woman of eighteen, spent most of the time aboard ship curled up in a fetal position suffering from seasickness in the small space that Harry had managed to secure for them.

  When they arrived in London, and her feet were once again on solid ground, she quickly became her old self. They spent their first few weeks at the Jewish Temporary Shelter at 84 Leaman Street, as they explored London, weighed their options, and looked for employment.

  The area known as the East End was made up of many hamlets adjoining the old City of London. They settled in the part of the East End, known as the Jewish Quarter; the area that had become a magnet for the thousands of Jewish immigrants fleeing Europe searching for a better life in cosmopolitan London.

  They crowded into the two square miles of Whitechapel and Stepney, not far from where their ship had docked. It was the beginning of the 20th Century, home to an estimated 300,000 Jews and more than 100 synagogues. Although they had no family in England, they felt at home among their own people, and set out to begin building for the future.

  Harry was a diamond cutter; taught by his grandfather and father. His grandfather often told him that he had that special eye for perfection that was critical in cutting precious stones. He was also a fine jeweler who could craft rings, earrings, necklaces, broaches, and various other items in gold. With tools in hand, he went looking for employment and secured a job with Max Lerner, an elderly jeweler who had no sons of his own. Max took an immediate liking to the young man, and although he couldn’t offer much in the way of earnings, he suggested that he accept the position while continuing to seek other opportunities. Harry jumped at the chance.

  Ada found employment at Ida Kaplan’s dress shop as a seamstress. She was also very adept at embroidery, and brought samples of the collars and scarves she had made. Ida welcomed the pretty young girl into her shop and into her heart.

  Their next priority was to look for a place to live. The Shelter was crowded and lacked privacy, and they were uncomfortable under the prying eyes of many who had been living there for months. Upon the recommendation of Max Lerner, Harry rented an apartment in a newly constructed tenement on Vallence Road. Hughes Mansions, a tenement of three blocks, offered reasonable rents, were well cared for, and strictly supervised to avoid overcrowding and unhygienic conditions.

  Ada loved the Jewish Quarter. From the merchants shouting out prices in Yiddish as they pushed their wooden carts in the old markets and narrow streets of Petticoat and Brick Lane, to the tailors, shoesmiths, cabinetmakers, cigarette makers, jewelers, and thriving community of actors continuing the great tradition of Yiddish theater, she felt this was as close to heaven as she had ever been. She felt free and unafraid, and looked forward to each tomorrow.

  The East End offered much more than merchants and a place to worship; it also offered security and social services. The Grand Order Sons of Jacob was one of many lodges in the East End. Members paid a shilling a week, which entitled them to medical attention and burial rights.

  Next door to the Lodge stood a grand Victorian building, which was the Victorian Boys Club—a club established to counter hooliganism. The Jewish community also create
d the Brady Club, which gave youngsters the opportunity and a meeting place for sports, hobbies, and games, as well as the option of going to the seaside camp in summertime. The community offered not only services that they needed, but also for the family they looked forward to having.

  The area between Brady Street and Vallance Road, known as the waste market, had a wide pavement reputed to be the widest in London. It served as a promenade especially on the Sabbath and Festivals when young Jewish boys and girls paraded up and down eyeing one another. Many a shiddach (match) was made here!

  Both Harry and Ada spoke enough English to get by, but when they learned that classes were available in the evening, they enrolled. They attended three nights a week to perfect their speaking and writing of the King’s English. On Sundays, Ada and Harry often spent the day getting to know the East End and beyond. Their dreams included a family, a house outside the City, and a Jewelry Emporium aptly named Lyons and Sons.

  Four years had passed since they had arrived in London, and Harry and Ada were quite pleased with what they had accomplished. They were both employed; they had a nice apartment; and they were saving for a family.

  In January 1924, God blessed them with the birth of a son; they named him Jacob Aaron Lyons.

  CHAPTER TWO

  By the time Jacob was a year old, both of Harry’s parents had passed away in Minsk. His two brothers decided to leave Russia and pursue a life elsewhere as Harry and Ada had done a few years earlier. Neither was married. Unable to immigrate to the United States without a sponsor, they opted to go their separate ways. Sidney chose Cuba, optimistic that he could eventually make it to America. Benjamin chose South Africa where he felt his diamond background would enable him to secure a position and carry on in the family tradition.