A Good Woman
by Danielle Steel
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Book Reviews of A Good Woman
Book Review: One of Danielle Steel's best books ever
Summary: 5 Stars
Once again Danielle Steel has shown why she is one of the most read authors i the world today.
"A Good Woman" is the story about 19 year old Annabelle Worthington, a young girl growing up among New York's upper classes, loved, protected and privileged. Until tragedy strikes and in the course of three years her life is shattered.
Annabelle, who has always been interested in medicine and has done volunteer work in hospitals and among immmigrants at Ellis Island, goes to France to volunteer in World War I. She works as a medic near the front, has a child out of wedlock under appalling circumstances and later becomes a physician and settles in Paris with her little daughter after the war.
Although Annabelle is a rich woman with a large inheritance in America, the fact is of no particular interest in the bok. This is the story about a very special person. Pretty, yes, but also intelligent, strong and brave. In spite of the wealth and sheltered upbringing, she has more than her fair share of life's adversities and goes through it all with her head held high. Her life is forever changed and her secure world and naïve view of people never to be restored.
From the horrors of war to the glamour of post war Paris, the British aristocracy and dazzling New York - all in true Danielle Steel style - the main thing is Annabelle's story. What happens in her life and mind. What makes her the 32 year old doctor and mother who visits her home country for the frst time ten years after she left in disgrace.
One of the best books Danielle Steel has ever written, filled with wisdom and funny bits of delicious humour.
Book Review: fine early twentieth century saga
Summary: 4 Stars
The Worthington family is at the top of Fifth Ave and Newport society. The patriarch is an affluent banker; his wife is a leader of the upper crust; and their two children are highly regarded. Everything changes when the Titanic goes down in 1912 as the patriarch and the son die in the tragedy leaving behind nineteen years old Annabelle and her mom to grieve their loss.
A banking colleague of her late dad Josiah Millbank kindly offers marriage to Annabelle; she accepts. Two years later having never made love, Josiah informs his young wife that he has syphilis and demands a divorce because he wants to be with his male lover. Annabelle says no so Josiah files for a divorce on the grounds of adultery. Everyone assumes the kind banker is the victim leaving Annabelle a pariah. She goes to Paris to start over hoping to become a doctor based on her volunteer work at Ellis Island.
Annabelle makes the historical tale fun to read as her strength shines through even when her reputation is unfairly destroyed. The plight of women in high society just prior to WW I comes into deep focus by the way Annabelle's peers react to first the Titanic tragedy, then her marriage, and finally the accusations. Fans will enjoy Danielle Steele's fine early twentieth century saga of a woman who could quote Sinatra's That's Life because Annabelle knows that "Some people get their kicks, Stompin' on a dream" but she also would sing "Each time I find myself, flat on my face, I pick myself up and get back in the race".
Harriet Klausner
Book Review: Writing Sub-par
Summary: 2 Stars
Annabelle Worthington has lived a life of privilege but her world is turned upside down when RMS Titanic sinks tragically in the North Atlantic. Needing to make sense of the tragic way her life has turned, she throws herself into volunteer work by nursing the poor. By doing so, she finds her path in medicine and thereby turns her life around. But her life is again taken a turn for the worse after she marries. Her husband has secrets and the whispers that follow her chase her to war-torn France. Here in the midst of a war, she finds herself and with the aid of a friend, begins to heal wounds she has been carrying around for a long time.
The story premise held so much promise! Unfortunately, the execution left a great deal to be desired. The repetitiveness of the writing seriously detracted from the storyline. I imagine most readers are on the ball enough that they don't need to be reminded ad nauseaum regarding certain details. If you are looking for a strong DS title might I suggest her earlier work such as THE RING, there is much more passion found in her older stories.
Book Review: Just don't.
Summary: 1 Stars
Within the worst five books I have ever read, easily. Steel's writing is that of an unimaginative preteen: her dialog forced and cringe-worthy; her character faultless and persecuted. Reading the exposition was trudging through a swamp of back story that was not well incorporated into the main flow, but rather presented bare for the reader to push him or herself through in hopes of reading solid, stable plot, eventually. Her romances are nothing short of banal, one-dimensional portrayals of some adolescent false ideal. The story is rife with a homophobic agenda, creating a villain out of the protagonist's first husband, and later referring to him with insensitive, slurring language. Her other lovers are conniving and pathetic; and the protagonist truly never does wrongly to anyone. A friend purchased this for me, and I could not in conscience give a satisfactory review when the gift came up in conversation. As another reviewer stated, the concept sounded intriguing, but the execution was horrendous.Book Review: Wow - what a bad book
Summary: 1 Stars
I have never read a Danielle Steel book before, but if this is any indication of her writing, I will never read another as long as I live. My husband bought this book for me at Costco and was very excited to give it to me, as he thought it sounded interesting. According to the jacket write-up, it should have been interesting. What starts out as a great premise for a book turns out to be boring, trite, lacking in descriptive detail, and repetitive. It was as if we had to keep being reminded, chapter after chapter, about the same information from earlier in the book; as if we forgot what had previously happened in the story. I see Ms. Steel has written a slew of previous novels, many of which were apparently very popular. Maybe she's getting tired, or maybe she's getting paid by the word or something. The only reason I finished this book was, well I'm not sure. Maybe hope that at any moment it would get good. Well, it didn't.