On a warm May night in San Francisco, the Ritz-Carlton ballroom shimmers as a glittering, celebrity-studded crowd gathers for a charity dinner dance. The evening is perfect—until, just minutes before midnight, the room begins to sway….
In the earthquake’s aftermath, the lives of four strangers will converge.… Sarah Sloane, the wife of a financial whiz, watches her perfect world fall to pieces…. Grammy-winning singer Melanie Free comes to a turning point in her life and career…. Photographer Everett Carson finds new purpose amid the carnage…and Sister Maggie Kent, a nun who works with the homeless, searches through the rubble—and knows that there is much to be done….
As the city staggers back to life, a chain reaction of extraordinary events will touch each of the survivors…. Sarah discovers a crime and a betrayal, then a strength she never knew she had. Volunteering at a refugee camp opens new worlds of possibility for Melanie. Everett will forge an unlikely relationship with Maggie, who helps him rebuild his shattered life—and upends her own in the process. And as a year passes each discovers the unexpected gifts in a tragedy’s wake…and the amazing grace of new beginnings.
Throughout these enthralling pages, Danielle Steel creates a stunning array of contrasts —from the dazzle of a society benefit to the chaos of a makeshift hospital, from the pampered lives of rock stars to the quiet heroism of emergency volunteers. It is her most powerful and life-affirming novel to date.
This is a fast read, but a slight one. I've noticed in her more recent books that she seems to do so much 'telling' that it's almost like reading a summary of story, rather than experiencing it as it happens. It's too bad, because she is a great storyteller and could have done so much more with this. I agree with the other poster especially, who said that it seemed wrapped up in hurry. Not one of her better books I'm afraid.
This is my first Danielle Steel novel. I bought it because I just made my first visit to San Francisco and was familiar with many of the areas referred to in the story. I enjoyed the first 18 chapters very much, from that point on it was disappointing. It seemed like it just lost steam. I got the feeling that the author was in a hurry to finish the book. The characters that had been well developed up until that point were given a speedy conclusion to end the book. It was a shame that the ending seemed rushed when there could have been such a moving and dramatic finish to the book. It had all the potential to be a great novel and fell short in my opinion.
On a warm San Franciscan night, Sarah Sloane the socialite wife of a financier hosts the black tie Littlest Angels Ball fund-raiser at the downtown Ritz-Carleton. The entertainment for this black-tie evening comes from award winning teenage rock star Melanie Free, who has problems with her martinet mom-agent. Covering the affair is Everett Carson, a former war correspondent who suffers from battle fatigue syndrome having seen too many atrocities. Attending as a rare outsider is Sister Maggie Kent whose flock is the homeless.
These four have nothing in common beyond the charity event until a deadly earthquake hammers the city. Sarah learns that her spouse has conducted nefarious illegal transactions that will cost the family more than just their reputation and place in high society as he may do time. Melanie has gained freedom from her mother and volunteers at the temporary shelter to help victims and makes non musical friends like Tom the archeology student. Maggie and Everett forge a friendship that both knows is love, but as they confide their feelings they must consider she is a nun.
AMAZING GRACE is an interesting look at the impact of a major disaster on the lives of various people especially the prime four described above. The story line provides a convincing description of people struggling with the calamity, but is nowhere near the depth of non-fiction accounts of Katrina or Burke's JESUS OUT TO SEA; nor does it use the World Series earthquake as a realistic anchor. Additionally, none of the main quartet seems fully developed with Everett and Maggie especially feeling one dimensional. Still Danielle Steel provides an entertaining look at the aftermath of a disaster.
