Family Ties by Danielle Steel

Book Name: Family Ties

Author: Danielle Steel

Genre: Family, Drama

About the book: The story is of a woman Annie, who has to, due to unfortunate circumstances, take care of her sister's three children. It talks about how life changes after the kids have grown up and what new responsibilities Annie has to take on, even after the youngest has left the nest. 

Let me at first say, that this was my first Danielle Steel novel, ever. Most people I told his to, were shocked to say the least. I also had no idea what to expect from a Danielle Steel novel. (I know, it almost sounds like I live on a remote island off the coast of Antarctica). Having said this, the best I'd hoped from the book was a sort of Jodi Picoult meets soft romance. Did I get what I expect? I don't think so. I felt that the book wanted to cover much too much in the short span of the book. Right from issues of being a single parent, to an unmarried woman, from being orphaned and looked after by your aunt to adjusting to a Eastern world culture. Just far too much. And of course to make all the drama seem possible some characters had to act of the normal. Case in point, one character that thoroughly disappointed me, that of Ted. He is till a point the most sanest of characters, the descriptions of his personality portray him as a young man who knows what he is in life. And suddenly his actions don't make sense. Suddenly he becomes helpless and all just to add drama to the story. Why would Ted not see the signs. Okay,maybe he could have been deceived by the lady for a while, but after a point you know you have to stand up for yourself. Any ways, the point of this is that many of the situations that keep cropping up in the book seem forced, just so that certain issues could be tackled. A Muslim boy friend just so that we can tackle issues of "other" cultures was where it was pushed far too much.

Overall, I was thoroughly disappointed by my first book of Danielle Steel. But many have told me that she has written better books. I do hope to get my hands on them and read them before I decide whether I should go back to living on my island off the coast of Antarctica!

My Rating: 2/5