Annabelle Worthington started out with a very charmed life, but unfortunately, life began throwing some very difficult and dark situations her way. This latest story from Danielle Steel shows us how Annabelle managed to keep her sanity and rise above the most impossible situations.
This story took place in the early twentieth century, when Annabelle’s parents and brother were passengers on The Titanic. Annabelle had been suffering with the flu, so she stayed behind while the rest of the family went on the cruise that had been planned many months before. Two members of her family perished on that fateful cruise, and one returned home. However, their lives were changed forevermore.
Annabelle was a bit of a strange sort of woman. She was fascinated by medical things, and studied medical books instead of romance novels like other girls her age. She fulfilled her passion by volunteering at various hospitals and doing as much as she was allowed to do, given the fact that she was a woman and not medically trained formally. But, as in all Danielle Steel books, fate had a way of changing the course of Annabelle’s life.
A man named Josiah, who was much older than Annabelle, stole her heart and married her. Even while reading this story, I felt uneasy about Annabelle marrying him. And as it turned out, I was right. I can’t tell you how, but a scandal associated with that marriage made Annabelle flee to France. She did not deserve this fate, but she felt she had no choice but to go there and work at a hospital that serviced soldiers who were hurt and damaged by the ravages of World War I.
This story had so many historical images, that I felt taken back to that time and that era along with Annabelle. We could feel her strength and her longing to do good in the world, and we were rooting for her all along the way. Just when you thought things would improve in Annabelle’s life, another blow was thrown her way. And like in all Danielle Steel’s novels, we hung on to feel just how these blows were overcome.
While in Paris, Annabelle, with her strong spirit and against all odds for women in that era, managed to go to medical school and become a doctor. However, another horrific event happened to her one night as she was walking home alone.
Further in the story, Annabelle and her precocious little daughter moved into a cute place while in Paris. That is where Annabelle started her very own medical practice. Romance comes and goes in Annabelle’s life, as in all Danielle Steel novels, so you’ll just have to read A Good Woman to find out exactly what happens to the strong-willed Annabelle Worthington, who is a very good woman indeed.
Danielle Steel somehow always manages to empower us as women. We feel close to the women in her novels and get caught up in their world and their dramas. And as they untangle the difficult situations and dilemmas that come their way, we feel the strength of the main character and also feel the triumph and elation as she overcomes monumental obstacles in her life. That is what makes Danielle Steel’s books so enormously popular. I can’t wait to start her next novel.