I voluntarily read an early copy of this book.

In this powerful novel, #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel tells the story of two World War II concentration camp survivors, the life they build together, and the son who faces struggles of his own as a first generation American determined to be his own person and achieve success.

When U.S. troops occupy Germany, friends Jakob and Emmanuelle are saved from the terrible fate of so many in the camps. With the help of sponsors, they make their way to New York. In order not to be separated, they allow their friendship to blossom into love and marriage, and start a new life on the Lower East Side, working at grueling, poorly paid jobs.

Decades later, through talent, faith, fortune, and relentless hard work, Jakob has achieved success in the diamond business, invested in real estate in New York, and shown his son, Max, that America is truly the land of opportunity. Max is a rising star, a graduate of Harvard with friends among the wealthiest, most ambitious families in the world. And while his parents were thrown together by chance, Max chooses a perfect bride to start the perfect American family.

An opulent society wedding. A honeymoon in Tahiti. A palatial home in Greenwich. Max’s lavish lifestyle is unimaginable to his cautious old-world father and mother. Max wants to follow his father’s example and make his own fortune. But after the birth of children, and with a failing marriage, he can no longer deny that his wife is not the woman he thought she was. Angry and afraid, Max must do what he has never done before: struggle, persevere, and learn what it means to truly walk in his father’s footsteps, while pursuing his own ideals and setting an example for his children.

Moving from the ashes of postwar Europe to the Lower East Side of New York to wealth, success, and unlimited luxury, In His Father’s Footsteps is a stirring tale of three generations of strong, courageous, and loving people who pay their dues to achieve their goals.

A powerfully compelling story of strength, love and gumption! We’re magically thrust into a story of two people who face the worst and yet prosper with little more than the love they share and the clothes on their back simply because of their unique mindset of being grateful for every single thing they have in life. The two of them and the foundation they laid for their family simply made this story! The characters and early plot were complex and rich. The later story had a little less follow through but still gave a fulfilling conclusion. Overall I really enjoyed it!

Through tortuous situations, heartache and loss, Jakob Stein and Emmanuelle Berger manage to hold on long enough to be rescued from their imprisonment in a German conservation camp. Knowing little about each other, but knowing a kindred spirit when they see one, they decide to trust in their friendship enough to wed before being sponsored to freedom in the United States and let their love brew and grow naturally. They find themselves living miserly in low paying jobs and hard conditions, but are thankful for how far they have come since losing their family, history and possessions to such horror. As the years pass, they lean on each other through it all and devote their lives to the son they were blessed with as they bask in their love. They try to teach him how important family is, and the proper work ethic to go through life with in order to never be placed in a position of having to pull yourself up from rock bottom.

Their son Max grows into a well educated Harvard graduate who takes the knowledge and help his father shared with him to go on and prosper through real estate ventures to become an early success. He finds who he thinks is the love of his life and through an elaborate ceremony and opulent lifestyle sets out to grasp the world at his fingertips and go for a ride of riches and prosper. Years later he finds himself delighted with the birth of children, yet overworked and stressing more every day about becoming all that he can become while his marriage seems to get worse by the day with a woman that isn’t at all what he was expecting. Finally finding himself faced with a dire situation, he must reevaluate his life and struggle like his parents before him to make sure his family is at the top of his mindset as he forges a new life from the ruins he’s climbing out of.