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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
After the death of her son and a divorce Melissa, a once bestselling author retreats to rural New England and begins a quiet life of restoring an old victorian home. A call from her estranged sister, Hattie will change Melissa's life in a way she never thought possible. At sixteen, Melissa was sent away to a convent in Ireland to give up the baby that she loved. Hattie, having entered into a life of being a nun feels the need to help Melissa come back from the recluse life she is living and find a way to reunite her with the daughter she gave up so many years ago. This story of family and unconditional love will show that some deep-buried secrets are meant to be brought to light. This book put more of an emphasis on family relationships which I found extremely compelling.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was my first Danielle Steel novel. I am not sure if her writing is going to be for me. I liked the book okay but it didn't blow me away. In the book you are following two characters who are sisters. One is a famous author who is battling the grief of losing her young so and the end of her marriage. The other sister is a nun who is struggling with her faith. The sisters haven't talked in many years. Something happens that brings the sisters back together.
Though the story itself was full of emotion and heartfelt is left me wanting more. The beginning took a long time to get going and it felt like it took such a long time for anything exciting to happen. I appreciated learning new things about being a nun but felt like it could have been even more developed.
I also felt like many conversations in the book felt repetitive.
Overall, it was just an okay read for me.
Though the story itself was full of emotion and heartfelt is left me wanting more. The beginning took a long time to get going and it felt like it took such a long time for anything exciting to happen. I appreciated learning new things about being a nun but felt like it could have been even more developed.
I also felt like many conversations in the book felt repetitive.
Overall, it was just an okay read for me.
I enjoyed this book. This is an emotional story about reconnecting and dark family secrets. This is a well written story about a woman who has suffered lose only to have a wildfire add to her lose. As her sister comes to help her turn a new life, things start to be uncovered. Will they find a closeness they once had? I enjoyed the characters in this story. They brought the story to life and brought a ton of emotion as well. They truly made the story for me. I highly recommend this book and this author.
Good book. Has a few twists and turns yet some of the book is predictable. Kept my interest.
Adoption, sexual harassment and assault, and religion. A compassionate book of women dealing with live and loss, with a happy ending.
emotional
Six years after her 10-year-old son died from cancer, Melissa Henderson is still mourning his loss, only wanting to be left alone. She lost everything with his death: her marriage, her identity as a mother, and her career as a popular author. She buys an old Victorian house in rural New England and has thrown herself into its restoration, becoming a recluse. But after a wildfire that threatened her life and home was featured on national news, Melissa gets a phone call from her estranged sister, Hattie. They had become farther apart than ever when Hattie chose to become a nun. After a bad experience being forced to give up her newborn baby in a gloomy Irish convent, Melissa can't accept Hattie's career choice. But now Hattie uses her position to try and find the child through the red tape and destroyed files. When she finally discovers what actually happened and finds her niece, her own life falls apart while Melissa is finally happy with a daughter and grandchildren she never thought she'd have.
This book touched on two very different topics, catholic adoptions and the #metoo movement. After Ashley is found and the family reunited, the subject flips to sexual harassment/assault in Hollywood. I got a little whiplash trying to figure out where exactly the author was going with this after an already supposedly happy ending. But by the end of the book I was nodding my head along saying ah...ok, I see. I still think the transition between topics could have been a bit smoother, but I ultimately loved this book.
Thank you to Danielle Steel and Random House Publishing for the opportunity to read this book. I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The views and opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
This book touched on two very different topics, catholic adoptions and the #metoo movement. After Ashley is found and the family reunited, the subject flips to sexual harassment/assault in Hollywood. I got a little whiplash trying to figure out where exactly the author was going with this after an already supposedly happy ending. But by the end of the book I was nodding my head along saying ah...ok, I see. I still think the transition between topics could have been a bit smoother, but I ultimately loved this book.
Thank you to Danielle Steel and Random House Publishing for the opportunity to read this book. I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The views and opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
I have read every Danielle Steel romance story. Some have been better than others. This one falls in the top half. A female writer is living her best life when tragedy strikes. She leaves her marriage, city life, and the public spotlights and lives under the radar in the Berkshires in Massachusetts.
If you have read a Danielle Steel book before, you know that the main character will meet someone, meet some challenge(s), and then things will fall into place before she lives happily ever after. I’m not knocking the story. It is a good formula and is written well.
I do want to caution anyone who may be a conservative Catholic. They may be a little put out by how the Church is portrayed, but it really isn’t anything that hasn’t been in the media. Also, in addition to references to the Catholic Church, there is also another character’s story grounded in the #MeToo movement. You might think that this is a lot for one book, but it really does come together and make sense.
If you’re looking for a book to take your mind of things, as usual, this book will do the trick.
Thank you to Delacorte Press, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion.
If you have read a Danielle Steel book before, you know that the main character will meet someone, meet some challenge(s), and then things will fall into place before she lives happily ever after. I’m not knocking the story. It is a good formula and is written well.
I do want to caution anyone who may be a conservative Catholic. They may be a little put out by how the Church is portrayed, but it really isn’t anything that hasn’t been in the media. Also, in addition to references to the Catholic Church, there is also another character’s story grounded in the #MeToo movement. You might think that this is a lot for one book, but it really does come together and make sense.
If you’re looking for a book to take your mind of things, as usual, this book will do the trick.
Thank you to Delacorte Press, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion.
emotional
relaxing
fast-paced