Svetlana's Reads and Views

Name of Book: Zoya Author: Danielle Steel ISBN: 978-0-307-56706-2 Publisher: Dell Type of book: Russia, 1917-1970s, America, history, multi generational family saga, Year it was published: 1988 Summary: Against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution and World War I Europe, Zoya, young cousin to the Tsar, flees St. Petersburg to Paris to find safety. Her entire world forever changed, she faces hard times and joins the Ballet Russe in Paris. And then, when life is kind to her, Zoya moves on to a new and glittering life in New York. The days of ease are all too brief as the Depression strikes, and she loses everything yet again. It is her career, and the man she meets in the course of it, which ultimately save her, as she rebuilds her life through the war years and beyond. And it is her family that comes to mean everything to her. From the roaring twenties to the 1980's, Zoya remains a rare and spirited woman whose legacy will live on. Characters: V...

Name of book: Family Album Author Name: Danielle Steel ISBN:  0-440-23686-X Publisher:  Dell Type of book: Adult, family saga, 1940s-1980s? Year it was published: 1985 Summary: Through forty years—from Hollywood's golden days in World War II to the present—Faye Price would create first a career as a legendary actress, then a family, and finally she would realize her dream of becoming one of Hollywood's first woman directors. But nothing was more precious to Faye than her five children. In a changing world, a milieu where family values are constantly challenged from without and within, the Thayers would face the greatest challenges and harshest test a family can endure, to emerge stronger, bound forever by loyalty and love. It is only when Faye is gone that they can each assess how far they have come, and how important their family album is. Characters: For the most part characters are not very consistent, and she only gives surface to them. Everything...

Name of the Book:  Jewels Author Name: Danielle Steel ISBN:   0-440-21422-X Publisher: Dell, Bantam Doubleday Dell Type of Book: Adult, historical Year it was published:   June 1993 Summary:  "On Sarah Whitfield's seventy-fifth birthday, memories take her back to New York in the 1930s. To a marriage that ends after a year, leaving Sarah shattered. A trip to Europe with her parents does little to raise her spirits, until she meets William, Duke of Whitfield. In time, despite her qualms, William insists on giving up his distant right to the British throne to make Sarah his duchess and his wife. "On their honeymoon, the newlyweds buy an old French chateau, but not long after, the war begins. William joins the allied forces, leaving Sarah, their first child, an infant, and their second child on the way, in France. Sarah survives the terror of the Occupation, unwavering in her belief that her missing-in-action husband is still alive. "After the war...

Name of the Book: Star Author Name: Danielle Steel ISBN: 0440205573 Publisher: Dell, Bantam Doubleday Dell Type of Book: Adult, historical, romance Year it was published: March 1990 Summary: Young, innocent and strikingly beautiful Crystal Wyatt was an outcast, envied and resented by all but her devoted father, with whom she shared a deep love for their remote California ranch. When her father dies, Crystal is alone and unprotected. Devastating events shake the once peaceful valley. With nothing but her dreams, her beauty, and her awe-inspiring voice, Crystal escapes to embark on the career that will ultimately make her a star. But stardom itself is shadowed by danger and violence and haunted by a memory that must be resolved before Crystal can find happiness and peace. Characters: The characters are on the flat side, women more so. There are two main women in the novel: the beautiful and innocent looking Crystal Wyatt and the smart intelligent Elizabeth Barclay H...

I have to admit that the book is pretty bad and repetitive. I will do my best to make this a short version without any descriptions of Crystal's beauty or whatnot. What will I do? Try to make chapters and just give main points. (Checks book, notices 44 chapters) wow this will be long... and also, since this is chapter by chapter, I will purposely include spoilers and plot twists so beware as you read it. Chapter 1 Basically this chapter begins with Crystal swimming and singing and how she loves the land. Her older sister Becky is getting married and it deals with preparations for the wedding such as food, the clothes she will be wearing for the wedding, etc. This also gives some background of the family and discusses their distaste towards foreigners, in particular for Boyd and Hiroko Webster. (This possibly takes place in 1946?) Chapter 2 Becky and her husband, Tom Parker marry, but Tom begins to flirt with Boyd's sister Ginny. A commanding officer, Spencer Hill shows up...