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Search - Coming Out
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Book Description:
Olympia Crawford Rubinstein has a busy legal career, a solid marriage, and a way of managing her thriving family with grace, humor, and boundless energy. With twin daughters finishing high school, a son at Dartmouth, and a kindergartner from her second marriage, there seems to be no challenge to which Olympia cannot rise. Until one sunny day in May, when she opens an invitation for her daughters to attend the most exclusive coming-out ball in NY--and chaos erupts all around her. One twin's excitement is balanced by the other's outrage, and Olympia's previous husband's profound snobbism is in sharp contrast to her current husband's flat refusal to attend.
For Olympia's husband, Harry, whose parents survived the Holocaust, the idea of a blue blood debutante ball is abhorrent. Her daughter Veronica, a natural born rebel, agrees--while Veronica's identical twin, Virginia, is already shopping for the perfect dress. Then there's Olympia's ex, an insufferable snob, who sees the ball as the perfect opportunity for a family feud. And amid all the hubbub, Olympia's college-age son, Charlie, is facing a turning point in his life--and may need his mother more than ever. But despite it all, Olympia is determined to steer her family through the event--until, just days before the cotillion, things begin to unravel with alarming speed.
From a son's crisis to a daughter's heartbreak, from a case of the chicken pox to a political debate raging in her household, Olympia is on the verge of surrender. And that is when, in a series of startling choices and changes of heart, family, friends, and even a blue-haired teenager all find a way to turn a night of calamity into an evening of magic. As old wounds are healed, barriers are shattered and new traditions are born, and a debutante ball becomes a catalyst for change, revelation, acceptance, and love.
In a novel that is by turns profound, poignant, moving, and warmly funny, Danielle Steel tells the story of an extraordinary family finding new ways of letting go, stepping up, and coming out...in the ways that matter most.
For Olympia's husband, Harry, whose parents survived the Holocaust, the idea of a blue blood debutante ball is abhorrent. Her daughter Veronica, a natural born rebel, agrees--while Veronica's identical twin, Virginia, is already shopping for the perfect dress. Then there's Olympia's ex, an insufferable snob, who sees the ball as the perfect opportunity for a family feud. And amid all the hubbub, Olympia's college-age son, Charlie, is facing a turning point in his life--and may need his mother more than ever. But despite it all, Olympia is determined to steer her family through the event--until, just days before the cotillion, things begin to unravel with alarming speed.
From a son's crisis to a daughter's heartbreak, from a case of the chicken pox to a political debate raging in her household, Olympia is on the verge of surrender. And that is when, in a series of startling choices and changes of heart, family, friends, and even a blue-haired teenager all find a way to turn a night of calamity into an evening of magic. As old wounds are healed, barriers are shattered and new traditions are born, and a debutante ball becomes a catalyst for change, revelation, acceptance, and love.
In a novel that is by turns profound, poignant, moving, and warmly funny, Danielle Steel tells the story of an extraordinary family finding new ways of letting go, stepping up, and coming out...in the ways that matter most.
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Top Member Book Reviews
Christie C. (
6 member(s) found this review helpful.
Very predictable. Quick read since I actually skimmed it as it wasn't very good at all. Silly conversations, no real plot, just how important this debutante ball was again and again. Characters aren't developed so you don't really come to care for any of them, though could be due to the short length of the book. Definitely not one of her best, though her newer books pale in comparison to her old ones. I can't say I recommend this one, though not as bad as Impossible was.
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
Another book by Steele about the rich and privileged, where the main problem is whether "coming out" at the debutante ball is too old fashioned, socially or ethnically biased. Oh my, to have such a problem! All to be decided while jetting to Aspen over Christmas and Europe in the summer! Every few years, I forget and read one of her books and it amazes me that she remains so popular.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
It had been years and years since I picked up a Danielle Steele book, so I decided to try this one. Now I remember why I stopped reading her novels! Her sentences are short, she "tells" everything but "shows" nothing, and the premise is paper-thin. I knew the way the book would turn out by the third page. It makes me wonder: How in the world did this woman get published in the first place?
If you want an example of how NOT to write, this is the book for you.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Not as good as her others. A little slow, but a decent book.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Quick read. I thought it was too predictable. Fast moving storyline.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Not the best D. Steel novel, but still entertaining.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
a good read, but only 194 pgs. and not one of Steel's best
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From Booklist
In her sixty-seventh novel, Steel sticks to what she knows best, the lifestyles of the rich and glamorous. Here "coming out" refers to an exclusive debutante ball in New York, to which the twin daughters of attorney Olympia Crawford Rubinstein have been invited. Olympia, a blue-blooded spawn of New York's upper class, has three children from a previous marriage and a five-year-old son with her current husband, Harry. To Olympia's surprise, the invitation has caused turmoil and chaos in her household. Ex-husband Chauncey, a stereotypical polo-playing upper-class lout, is demanding that the girls attend the ball and has threatened to withhold college tuition if both girls do not attend. Olympia's current husband Harry, the son of Holocaust survivors, and a hard-working man with liberal tendencies, is violently opposed to the event, which he finds racist and elitist. In addition, the twins have their own ideas, with Veronica, a passionate liberal, refusing to attend, and Virginia already shopping for a dress. Olympia, who fondly recalls her own debut, is upset by her husband's feelings but thinks he'll come around and gently encourages her daughters to attend. The entire plot of this fairly short novel is focused on the resolution of this family dilemma, and as usual, everything works out for the best in the end.
I have never read a Danielle Steel book before. I thought that it was excellent. I was into it within the first couple of pages and finished it in one day.
Linda D. (Olympia Crawford Rubinstein has a busy legal career, a solid marriage, and a way of managing her thriving family with grace, humor, and boundless energy. With two daughters finishing high school, a son at Dartmouth, and a kindergartner from her second marriage, there seems to be no challenge to which she cannot rise. Until one sunny day in May, when she opens an invitation for her daughters to attend the most exclusive coming-out ball in New York - all chaos erupts all around her. Good book
In her 67th novel (following May's The House) bestselling author Steel (more than 530 million copies sold) fashions a plot around a single event: an invitation to a debutante ball in New York City. Attorney Olympia Crawford Rubinstein manages to juggle a challenging full-time job; a loving relationship with her second husband, Harry (an appeals court judge who is her former law professor); the care of their five-year-old son, Max, and her three older children from a previous marriage. Olympia's first husband, Chauncey, is a stereotypical, upper-class snob, with no job but a passion for playing polo. Harry, son of Holocaust survivors, champions liberal causes. When Olympia's teenage twin daughters, Veronica and Virginia, are invited to an exclusive "coming out" ball, everyone's lives are thrown into turmoil. Most of the book revolves around the arguments and disagreements spurred by the invitation, and Steel appears overly didactic as she tries to pump life into the simplistic setup: Olympia's Jewish mother-in-law, Afro-American law partner and gay older son are trotted out like polo ponies at auction. Steel's métier is glamour and romance; her attempt to deal with social injustice falls flat.
Danielle Steel would be better off sticking to writing romance novels instead of trying to be political. Don't be fooled by the book description about her two daughters coming out. This book has a very serious hidden agenda , and I thought it was sneaky at best (without giving out the whole story). I have read all of her books and as of this one , she has lost me as a reader!
Another great great Daniell Steel short novel. A true tear jerker!!
To be completely honest I didn't really enjoy this book at all. It just seemed to me like the author said the same things over and over and over again and that book isn't even that long.
I finally was able to figure a plot out before the end of the book. But it is still a good Steele book.
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