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Loading... Jewels (edition 1993)by Danielle Steel
Work InformationJewels by Danielle Steel
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. This review is difficult because I really enjoyed the story. I loved the main characters. I realize this is a work of fiction but the way the occupation of France was portrayed bothered me. More than once the comment that France was safer than England was made. England did suffer greatly but it was never occupied by enemy troops. The French suffered that I know, my father helped liberate that country. I heard some of what the French endured. The author mentioned the resistance but did not say anything about the harsh German reprisals. I did really enjoy the family story but I just think that history needs to be written close to reality as possible I was uncomfortable with romanticizing the occupation. I liked this book just as much as I did years ago. The pace of the story-telling in the last quarter of the book still bugs me, however. It feels rushed. You could look at the change of pace as a metaphor for how Sarah looses touch with her children, while still being part of their lives (that's just what happens when kids become adults) --- And I know this probably sounds presumptious considered the genre in which this book falls. Nevertheless, I still feel it could have done with an extra 100-ish pages, without being too long. That being said, I really like this book, despite it falling into a genre of which I'm usually not a big fan. Maybe it's because this book is romantic, but not sappy. Or because jewelry and stones form the background for most of the story. JEWELS BY DANIELLE STEEL is the first and only book of this authors I have read. I have to give credit where credit is due. My mom insisted I read this one as I am a fan of Historical Fiction, so I did and loved it! Since I am a newby of this authors I cannot compare it to any of her other works. I found characters that were true to real life, Sarah & her disastrous first marriage, her miscarriage & her profound depression. Sarah, literally forced to go to Europe with her parents, finds William, first a friend then her lifelong soulmate. We see Sarah at age twenty two right up to her birthday at a very young seventy five. We see Sarah fall hopelessly in love with William, marry move to Europe and endure the second world war and beyond. We get to experience the birth of Sarah's children Spanning the decades I fell in love with Sarah, William & Danielle Steel. Jewels by Danielle Steel This book is about Sarah and her life. Starts out when she is young and marries a guy in high society. She soon learns he is using her name and status to get what he really wants. They divorce and the parents are lucky to drag her over to England where they attempt to set her up with a new interest, to no avail. She ends up meeting a duke that acts like a regular guy and he's one she can talk to about world affairs. They end up marrying and she really wants the chateau in France on 10 acres of land. The war takes them from each other and she misses her sister, brother in law and children, along with her parents. Love all the scenes of her fixing up the house where they will live, the war invasion and how she befriends the German soldier that delivers her 2nd child. Happy and sad events as she travels, after the war to visit her mother in law...love how strong she is during the whole time under siege and after the war as she helps others heal from their wounds. Like hearing of her design work and how her career took place....travels around the world. I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device). no reviews | add a review
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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 dutchess 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. After the Nazi forces take over the chateau, Sarah continues to survive the terror and deprivation of the Occupation, unwavering in her belief that her missing-in-action husband is still alive. After the war, as a gesture of goodwill, the Whitfields start buying jewels offered for sale by impoverished war survivors. With Sarah's style and keen eye, the collection becomes the prestigious Whitfield's jewelry store in Paris. Eventually, their jewelry business expands to London and Rome, as their family grows. Phillip, their firstborn, is stubborn and proud; Julian, their second son, is charming and generous and warm; Isabelle is rebellious and willful; and Xavier, unusual and untamed, is the final unexpected gift of their love. They each find their own way, but will be drawn to the great house of gems their parents built. In "Jewels, Danielle Steel takes the reader through five eventful decades that include war, passion, international intrigue, and the strength of family through it all. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Jewels is like Zoya and Fine Things got together and had a baby called No Greater Love, who then had a baby with Family Album and made this. If you're into historical fiction with a dash of romance, Sarah, Duchess of Whitfield and owner of Whitfield Jewlers is for you. All the aforementioned books storyline is found in this, and I suggest you read my reviews of her other books and you know what guilty pleasure at the end of her good run you're working with.
The television movie was so lackluster and unmemorable I can't even remember who the hell was in it! ( )