Coming out - Pierwszy bal

Meet Olympia, a mother of four, full-time lawyer, devoted wife and daughter-in-law - As sympathetic a character as you can ask for. When she receives an invitation for her twin daughters to be presented at a debutante ball in high-society fashion, she nostalgically thinks back to her own coming out and what an experience it was. With great anticipation, Olympia excitedly resolves to provide the same to them. At this point, the story has some possibilities, and Danielle Steel has already gotten me to both sympathize (if not identify), with her heroine, and enjoy her ability to paint a narrative. I figure I'm getting into maybe a 4-star book.

The "conflict" in the story comes from one picket-toting daughter's rebellion and Olympia's current husband Harry's adamant refusal to get involved in elitist high-society. The plot "thickens" by way of a multitude of mundane crises, ranging from chickenpox to lost gloves, which of course can only be dealt with by Olympia. While these crises were realistic, they were not funny, and actually rather depressing. The end, in particular, was anticlimactic.

Complete with shallow and unchanging characters, devoid of any passion, and very little humor, we get the sense that Danielle Steel has decided to simply write realism rather than romance. The story seemed so realistic that I actually felt stressed out while reading it. I gave it two stars, because for all its faults, Danielle Steel is still a master wordsmith, and she did start off with a promising story. But what a disappointment from first impressions!

Another thing worth mentioning is that this latest book is very short, and in the hardcover goes for under 200 pages. Yet as I write this, I'm sitting down with a well-worn copy of one of her old classics, "The Ring", an enchanting novel that goes for just under 500 pages and at a smaller typeset. I guess it's nice to remind myself of just how good she used to be. But even if you collect everything by Ms. Steel, you would be wise to avoid this one. Let's just hope she recovers her old flair soon.