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The house on Hope Street

Author : Hema Blog :TELL A STORY - MY WAY Date: 7/7/2012 2:07:00 PM

The House on Hope Street, near San Francisco, is the home of the Sutherlands. Liz and Jack Sutherland have been married for 18 years, and are successful lawyers at family law. Their house is teeming with their five children and everyone knows that they are crazy about each other. The author's description of the family and the love between the couple is so magical that everything is so picture perfect. All works out well till Amanda Parker, their client walks into their lives. Jack goes a bit hard handed with Philip Parker, husband of Amanda, freezing all his assets to give Amanda a fair share of his money. They close their office on Christmas Eve for the holidays and the mood is set for Christmas.

The story takes a wild turn when Jack gets killed on Christmas day by an enraged Phillips Parker. The family is totally shattered on hearing the news and the immediate aftermath of it sits really heavy on our minds. Around 1/3rds of story is about how the family copes with the disaster and the author [Danielle steel] gradually strings events that help them turn the corner. When life starts to run smooth, Peter, their eldest son, gets hurt and is taken to the hospital. This becomes the turning point as Peter's doctor, Bill Webster, falls for Liz. Their relation slowly starts to bloom, but is vehemently objected by Liz's daughters. To add insult to the injury the thanksgiving dinner becomes a disaster and Bill decides to walk out of Liz's life. A heart broken Liz tries to cope with all these sadness but she does not find the will and strength within. What happens to Liz afterwards? Does the family unite despite all the misunderstandings? Will Bill come back into their life again? Read this page turning novel to find out more.

The author has made very lucid description of every event especially the day of the murder and the funeral. It was a very heavy feeling and my heart reached out for Liz. The love between the couple was almost real and there was no scenes of vulgarity. The fact that Liz was juggling between half a dozen responsibilities, sleeps only for 3-4 hours were all a bit too unrealistic, but still it is what that defines her whole character. The author gives us a good romantic drama with tender and heart breaking moments and hopes of a better life by happiness and smaller miracles.

I send this review to the "Whats in a Name" challenge hosted by Beth Fish.