* Review * THE NUMBERS GAME by Danielle Steel

* Review * THE NUMBERS GAME by Danielle SteelThe Numbers Game by Danielle Steel
Published by Random House LLC on March 3, 2020
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four-stars

In Danielle Steel’s stunning novel, modern relationships come together, fall apart, and are reinvented over time, proving that age is just a number.

Eileen Jackson was happy to set aside her own dreams to raise a family with her husband, Paul. Together they built an ordinary life in a Connecticut town, the perfect place for their kids to grow up. But when Eileen discovers that Paul’s late nights in the city are hiding an affair with a younger woman, she begins to question all those years of sacrifice and compromise. On the brink of forty and wondering what she’s going to do with the rest of her life, is it too late for her to start over?

Meanwhile, as Paul is thrust back into the role of suburban fatherhood, his girlfriend, Olivia, is in Manhattan, struggling to find herself in the shadow of her mother, a famous actress, and her grandmother, a fiercely independent ninety-two-year-old artist. With their unique brands of advice ringing in her head, Olivia takes a major step, expanding her art gallery business internationally. Seeing her mother pursue old dreams and even find new love, Olivia realizes that there is so much she must learn about herself before committing her life to someone else.

Ultimately, Eileen decides to chase her own dreams as well. She’s off to Paris to attend Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. What awaits is an adventure that reinvents her life and redefines her.

At every age, there are challenges to be met and new worlds to discover. In this surprising, illuminating novel, Danielle Steel gives us a warmhearted portrait of people driven by their emotions, life experiences, and loyalties, who realize that it’s never too late to turn a new page and start again.

 

A bit of an unorthodox Danielle Steel novel, but riveting none-the-less! More often than not, we get two sides of one relationship to digest throughout the course of a story … but this one shakes it up a bit. All of the characters are intermixed, but each one reveals the challenges that they are facing regardless of their age, their circumstances or their place in society. It’s dramatic, multi-faceted and kept me guessing throughout!

A couple realize they don’t see eye to eye on how to handle a dramatic occurrence in their teen daughter’s life, and the fallout brings question and turmoil to what they thought was a settled life.

Once infidelity is brought to light, we get the point of view of the wife, the husband, the kids and the mistress. Everyone’s life is in turmoil, but growth from various characters shine a light on moving forward no matter the resistance you might meet.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a family saga rich in parental interaction, realization of dreams and the awakening of not settling for less than you deserve.

four-stars

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