Diana de Gunzburg skillfully navigates the mysterious worlds of storytelling leaving readers on the edge of their seats and eagerly anticipating the next revelation. Her novel, Moonstone Legacy Trilogy, influenced by the actual characters and places unravells the story of young Lizzy.
“The trilogy is a family history based in the family seat an Anglo Indian mansion built by an ancestor who was East India Company man stationed for many years in Junagah in India. This is based on a real house in Gloucestershire that we know very well called Sezincote. We put in the North Yorkshire moors in our book. The story goes backwards and continues forwards in time through the teenage heroine Lizzy, who untangles the mystery of her ancestor and a stolen sacred diamond,” Gunzburg explained.
“The story is based on real world, real places, real science, real moon phases, real astronomy, real locations with real history, all known very well to both myself and my writing partner (who’s is also a historian) therefore researches all facts very thoroughly,” she added.
So how did this family history based story come into the pages of a book? Diana explained it this way.
“My writing partner, Tony and I had been talking a lot about wanting to write about many subjects informatively (religion colonisation history) but in a fun adventure story using real locations and real material but weaving that into fiction so as to explore and question notions in a fun and very visual way. Picking up the Victorian classic by Wilkie Collin’s, the last line of the book “what will be the next adventure of the moonstone who can tell”. So that became our starting point, a sacred diamond stolen from the temple of the moon in gujarat India.”
She said he characters evolved and continue to do so throughout as did the story itself always an ongoing process as is life.
“I enjoy writing about subjects places that are real and I know very well and can re live experiences and share on the page in a new creation. I try to deliver through the my creations a message of tolerance, peace, love and wonder of the natural magic of life,” she added.
Diana said “I have had so much great feed back from readers, and very much appreciation of the visual nature of the writing. Hence real interest to make movies or tv series are in discussion at the moment. And we have just completed the fourth book in the series.”
“Hugely enjoyable”, “most entertaining and enlightening”, “educational”, and “excellent”. These are some of the words used by many reviewers to describe The Moonstone Legacy Trilogy.
Liz Robinson an Editorial Expert, in her review for LoveReading says Moonstone Legacy Trilogy is an action-packed adventurous tale with an added magical touch of the mystical dancing across the pages. “A treat of three books in one, we follow brave and capable Lizzy from the age of 14 as she struggles to break a family curse. Short punchy chapters and beautiful descriptive detailing make this extremely readable. Travelling from Yorkshire to London, India and Spain, each location is vividly brought to life, along with the difficulties Lizzy faces. Occasionally there are sudden or unexplained additions or changes which creates a further edge to proceedings. Murder, intrigue, and excitement abound, however, there are reminders of the intolerance and discrimination that can be found on the different branches of life. As you follow the moon in each of its phases through to the end, Lizzy grows in confidence and determination, ensuring a dramatic but fitting end to the adventures of the Moonstone,” Robinson wrote.
The trilogy defies categorisation – part East/West epic, part historical fiction, part family saga, part mystery adventure, part spiritual exploration and part science fiction, this fascinating multi-faceted book appeals to readers of all ages, colours and creeds, and has them “gripped to the pages” as they follow Lizzy Abercrombie, the young heroine, through her exciting adventures towards the trilogy’s breathtakingly cosmic conclusion.
Themes of gender equality and religious tolerance seamlessly meld with explorations of beliefs, multiculturalism and the nature of the universe as this sizzling page-turner literally plays out under the waxing and waning of the moon – uniquely, every one of its hundred and seventy chapters shows the exact phase of the moon during which events take place.
We invite all the book lovers to join us as Diana de Gunzburg reads chapters of her book at Aura Beach Villa on Sunday, 28th January at 5.30pm onwards followed by barbeque and cocktails. Tickets are priced at Rs. 9000 per head and can be obtained via email at ruabeyakoon@gmail.com or call +94776086741
