Produktdetails
- Verlag
- Random House LLC US
- Erschienen
- 2020
- Sprache
- English
- Seiten
- 349
- Infos
- 349 Seiten
171 mm x 106 mm - ISBN
- 978-0-399-17952-5
Kurztext / Annotation
The book follows a young woman's extraordinary adventures in World War II and afterward in India, Pakistan, Morocco, Hong Kong, Moscow, and Washington, D.C., when her husband enters the foreign service and both become witnesses to a rapidly changing world from post-war to Cold War. She lives life on the edge, with a secret she must always keep hidden.
Textauszug
Chapter 1
It was one of the first really warm days in early June, as Kate Morgan looked at the meticulously neat stacks of files on her desk. She liked everything to be precise around her, and an orderly life. She had lived through the unexpected shocks that can happen when her husband died nineteen years before, and she d had to make order from chaos. Her children, Tamara, Anthony, and Claire, had been thirteen, ten, and seven at the time. She herself had been thirty-five, and had never expected to be widowed at that age.
Her husband, Tom Morgan, had been a beloved congressman. They d met when she was in college and he was in law school, and married when she graduated. His dream had been to go into politics, hers to go to law school, but she had staunchly stood beside him instead, as the perfect political wife, raising their three children. He had died in a helicopter accident in a storm, while visiting a disaster area in Upstate New York after a flood. The news coverage about him had made him sound like a modern day saint. Friendly, open, accessible, he had been popular ever since his first election. Kate and the children had been devastated, and she had struggled to put meaning back into their lives without him. He had been a wonderful father, and a good and loving husband for most of their marriage. Now, nineteen years later, the children still revered him, and Kate had seen to it that their memories of their father were untarnished.
The insurance money he had left for them had made them comfortable though not rich by any means, and had given Kate options she hadn t considered before. A year after Tom s death, she had started law school at Columbia University in New York. It had been a struggle managing school and taking care of the children, but she d hired a housekeeper and also had her mother to help her. At thirty-six, she was the oldest student in her class, and had graduated with honors at thirty-nine.
She had worked at Berrigan Feldman and McCarthy for the past fifteen years, since she d passed the bar, and was a senior partner now. Her specialty was corporate law, and she was a talented litigator, handling some of the firm s most important lawsuits.
Kate had three trials scheduled in the next few months, if they didn t settle first. She was a tough negotiator and a strong person, though a devoted mother and gentle in her private life. Becoming an attorney had added a whole new dimension to her life. She loved her work, and her children had adjusted to her schedule as her career grew exponentially. They were as proud of her as she was of them. She worked hard and was a strong role model for them. Now that they were grown up, she had more time and worked even harder. It had been a juggling act when they were younger, helping them with homework every night, and getting them to their sports games and school performances, but she did it. She expected excellence from them, and set the bar high for her children and herself. The results had been impressive, three solid, stable, well-balanced kids, all good students who had moved on to jobs they loved. She d never had a serious problem with any of them, which Kate assumed was the norm, although she occasionally conceded she d been lucky.
She had encouraged her children to pursue careers that were meaningful to them. They had survived their father s death with no visible signs of damage, no drug or alcohol problems, no failing grades, no problems with the law. Neither of the girls had ever gotten pregnant. Kate was the envy of her friends. As adults, all three were nice human beings with social consciences, and had graduated from good schools and colleges. Her own successful career had supplemented Tom s insurance handsomely. She loved spending time with her children, and was grateful for their time together now, despite busy lives and demandi
Langtext
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The lessons our children teach us are the hardest ones. What do we do when our children don t pursue our hopes for them? In this riveting novel, Danielle Steel explores how families can evolve and grow in unexpected ways.
A senior partner at a prestigious New York law firm, Kate Morgan couldn t be prouder of her three grown children. Tamara, Anthony, and Claire all went to great schools, chose wonderful career paths, and would have made their father proud. A single mother for years after the death of her husband, Kate keeps a tight rein on her family, her career, and even her own emotions, never once asking herself if she truly knows her children . . . or if her hopes for them are the right ones, and what they want. She is about to find out.
During one hectic summer in Manhattan, Kate s world turns upside down. One child has been keeping an astonishing secret while another confesses to an equally shocking truth. A wonderful match and picture-book wedding are traded for a relationship that shakes Kate to her core. A totally inappropriate love affair and an out-of-wedlock baby complete the chaos. Challenged as a mother and as a successful independent woman herself, Kate struggles to keep up with a dizzying and escalating chain of events, and begins to realize that she has a part to play in the chaos. Because Kate too has kept secrets from her children.
Sometimes the surprising choices our children make are the right ones . . . better than what we wanted for them. More often than not, parenting is about letting go of our dreams and embracing theirs.
Über den AutorIn
Danielle Steel has been hailed as one of the world s bestselling authors, with a billion copies of her novels sold. Her many international bestsellers include Happiness, Palazzo, The Wedding Planner, Worthy Opponents, Without a Trace, The Whittiers, The High Notes, and other highly acclaimed novels. She is also the author of His Bright Light, the story of her son Nick Traina s life and death; A Gift of Hope, a memoir of her work with the homeless; Expect a Miracle, a book of her favorite quotations for inspiration and comfort; Pure Joy, about the dogs she and her family have loved; and the children s books Pretty Minnie in Paris and Pretty Minnie in Hollywood.