Diamond District novel is inspired by NYC womens real-life tales working there: You do get people trying to sell you stuff thats fugazi

Anna Rasche’s historical fiction sparkles with authenticity.Before she was an author, Rasche spent much of the 2010s toiling in Manhattan’s Diamond District, where her new novel, “The Cursed Diamond” (Park Row, out now), is set.The book owes a substantial debt to the gritty slice of Midtown and her years working there — setting up displays of shimmering baubles, delivering precious trinkets to artisans to repair and burnish, and even looking out for peddlers trying to sell her shop fake goods.“That was maybe a monthly occurrence,” the 38-year-old said, recalling the hustlers, scammers and (sadly) innocent rubes who would walk up to her counter with an ersatz ruby or questionable heirloom to pawn.

“Those were still the days when people would walk around with all the bootleg DVDs and Gucci belts to sell,” she added, setting the scene.“But you would just say, ‘Sorry, not for us,’ and they would go on their way.”The new book follows Jenny, a young runner in the Diamond District on the hunt for a rare — and possibly evil — bauble owned by a scandal-ridden Gilded Age heiress.

It’s based on Rasche’s own experience running jewels for the antique specialist Gray & Davis (which has since moved to the West Village), as well as a real-life gem she’s never seen: the Brunswick Blue, a brilliant sparkler rumored to have been cut from the same stone as the Hope Diamond, and that disappeared at some point in the 1870s. “I thought that was a really exciting idea for a story,” Rasche said over tea at Blake & Todd, a popular hangout among Diamond District workers.“And I wanted to connect it to 47th Street, just because of my experience here.

Most of the diamonds that come into the United States come through this block.It seemed like a logical connection.”Rasche grew up in Maine, “where big fancy jewelry was not part of the day to day,” but studying archaeology at Boston University she fell in love with ancient jewelry.She wan...