I enjoyed this one from Danielle Steel. This is historical fiction set in 1958, mostly in France during the first “Le Bal des Debutantés,” a ball for American and French debutantes held in Versailles. We follow four girls from America who are invited to France as part of this ball. Caroline has little interest because she’s already in love, but her movie star parents think it will be fun. Brilliant Felicity is constantly battling her weight and her verbally abusive sister, so a night in the spotlight is not appealing to her at all. Amelia and her mother Jane once had money, but are now in dire financial straits. How can they afford to go? Samantha has problems with her balance due to an accident years ago, and she is a bit worried about falling during the ball. Her very protective father has the same concerns.
This is set in a time when women had fewer rights and some families still thought that their daughter’s best “career” would be finding a rich husband. The financial struggles of Amelia’s mother Jane are very real, as her late husband came back from the war a different person and had left her with little money when he died. Her career struggles are very true to the period, as women were passed over for promotions and paid much less than men. In some of Ms. Steel’s previous books, someone with money might come in and rescue her, but I was pleased to see that did not happen in this one.
I loved the setting in Versailles, the decadence of the ball, and the descriptions of France. Steel has a tendency to “tell” instead of “show,” but she’s sold a billion books that way, so who am I to judge? Sometimes her style works for me and sometimes it doesn’t. This time it worked. The character Felicity was my favorite. Even though she is a brilliant student at MIT, all her mother and sister can see is her weight. That’s very true even today, and I loved that one of the characters did not have a “perfect figure.” So few of us do.
I highly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys books set in France and in the 1950s.
My rating is 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 on sites with no half-star option.
I received a free copy of this book from Random House via Netgalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own
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So I was just saying to my husband today how authors are always being told to “show and not tell” but I am reading yet another book from a NYTimes best seller than mainly tells than shows. It’s good but it’s not really showing me – she’s just writing it out like she would a synopsis in points. It is The Spectacular by Fiona Davis. It is good and it doesn’t bother me but I just roll my eyes when someone selling a class scolds authors for doing things that popular authors do ALL the time.
Also, I thought Danielle Steele was dead. I’m awful. Oops. Or is this one she wrote before? Or is she even real? lol
Steel is alive. Anne Perry from my other review is dead. I can’t remember who but I reviewed a book about six months ago by an author who had been dead over 10 years but is still putting out new books! I started joking about “ghost writers” and now I’m writing a story about it.
Excellent review, Bonnie. 😀
Thanks! I enjoyed it.
Beautiful review, Bonnie 🙂
I will add this to my shopping cart so I can purchase this book to read.
Excellent! I hope you enjoy it!
Nice details, Thanks for sharing…
Ramathra Fort
Please Don’t Shoot the Messenger
Hey Bonnie …
Only when one reviewer wrote, “Read this book as if your life depended on it,” did I finally feel vindicated.
Let me explain.
Although my name appears as the author, I was merely the scribe, taking dictation from cosmic intelligence. While this book primarily aims to save the 100 million extraterrestrial beings currently serving humanity from being trapped in the malefic matrix that has kept souls from advancing for millennia, it speaks to the survival of all sentient beings—including bloggers.
According to my sources, mankind has already crossed an existential Rubicon. It is highly unlikely that the human race will survive the two life-ending forces it has already embraced.
I expect the contents of this book will shock you, as it did me. It will likely make you angry and even despondent at having been so easily manipulated.
While there is no solution for the overwhelming percentage of the world’s population, individuals—should they choose to—have the opportunity to avoid their fate.
Thanks for considering something so far out of the box that it challenges the restraint of facile categorization.
In deep appreciation,
Jean-Claude Koven
Prism House Press
jckoven@aol.com
http://www.BelieveNothing.lol
PS Sorry to use this form to contact you. Nothing seemed available on your website.