Saturday, May 3, 2008

Coming Out by: Danielle Steel

This was a really good book to listen to. I cheated and listened to it on my iPod. But it was really good. I liked all the twists and turns and surprises that happened in this book.

Olympia Crawford Rubinstein has a busy legal career, a solid marriage, and a way of managing her thriving family with grace, humor, and boundless energy. With twin daughters finishing high school, a son at Dartmouth, and a kindergartner from her second marriage, there seems to be no challenge to which Olympia cannot rise. Until one sunny day in May, when she opens an invitation for her daughters to attend the most exclusive coming-out ball in New York--and chaos erupts all around her. One twin's excitement is balance by the other's outrage, and Olympia's previous husband's profound snobbism is in sharp contrast to her current husband's flat refusal to attend.

For Olympia's husband, Harry, whose parents survived the Holocaust, the idea of a blue blood debutante ball is abhorrent. Her daughter Veronica, a natural born rebel, agrees--while Veronica's identical twin, Virginia, is already shopping for the perfect dress. Then there's Olympia's ex, an insufferable snob, who sees the ball as the perfect opportunity for a family feud. And amid all the hubbub, Olympia's college-age son, Charlie, is facing a turning point in his life--and may need his mother more than ever. But despite it all, Olympia is determined to steer her family through the event--until, just days before the cotillion, things begin to unravel with alarming speed.

From a son's crisis to a daughter's heartbreak, from a case of the chickenpox to a political debate raging in her household, Olympia is on the verge of surrender. And that is when, in a series of startling choices and changes of heart, family, friends, and even a blue-haired teenager all find a way to turn a night of calamity into an evening of magic. As old wounds are healed, barriers are shattered, and new traditions are born, a debutante ball becomes a catalyst for change, revelation, acceptance, and love.

No comments: