Customer Reviews

Family Album

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Steel is at her best again. Faye is a woman with five children all of who are extremley different from one another.Her husband seems to take off everytime a problem arises.Faye is determined to love her children unconditionally even when she learns that her oldest son is gay. This book will take you through the ups and downs of life and how this family deals with their problems. It teaches you a lesson about life, not to give up when the going gets tough.So sit back and enjoy your ride.

ISBN 0440124344 - Oddly, I seem to be on a roll, reading books that begin during WWII and end in the next generation! Steel's done better, but it's a good story. The problems are more in the details than the storyline - Ward is an engaging, charming man one moment, and a petulant, spoiled child the next. Faye is a strong, capable woman, but it's hard to imagine that any strong, capable woman would put up with Ward's reactions to things not going his way. Most of the family falls in love with their soul mate on their first try, even if they don't realize it at first. It does take some effort to swallow some of it.

The Thayers have gathered to bury the heart of their family and Ward Thayer is devastated to the point of numbness. He met Faye Price during the war, when she traveled to entertain the troops. From Guadalcanal to the south of France, their love story is like everyone else's - they have their ups and downs, they fight, raise a family, have and lose everything, and love each other through it all. What makes it interesting, that their love story is so common, is that they are not. Ward is heir to a shipyard fortune and Faye is one of the brightest young stars of her time. Their life is glamorous and frivolous. All that ends when Faye discovers that Ward has been keeping a secret: they have almost nothing left! At this point, they've got five children, each other and a mountain of debt. Faye has a spine and Ward has an affair... and that's just the beginning.

The story of the family is realistic; the kids are people you can relate to, despite their wealth, most of the time. Besides, even in fiction, we all like to know that living in Hollywood doesn't mean they're not human, too. It's a fairly quick read, given that it's 400+ pages. I wouldn't buy it new, unless you're a big Steel fan.

- AnnaLovesBooks

I have read almost every novel that Danielle Steel has written, but Family Album was my first and it remains my favorite! This is a truly touching story about a family which, like many families, was full of problems and imperfections, but was also full of love. It was very easy to become attached to this cast of characters, and to feel as if they were people you knew. Faye Thayer is a truly phenominal woman who commands respect and admiration as she juggles a family and a successful career with style and grace at a time when most women couldn't even conceive of doing both. Family Album was the book that got me hooked on Danielle Steel, and it remains at the top of my list of favorites by her.

This story is simply about a typical family, with some extraordinarly lives and careers, but typical family problems. Each and every person in this family creates their own conflict, and bonds the family into something bigger and stronger. I loved the movie for this story, but I loved the book more... of course! Each member does something to test the love of the entire family unit, and the results are extraordinary! Anyone from a big family, will love this one!!

This is a book that shows women's strength. DS manages to do that in most of her books though. She takes you down a path & you feel as if you've lived it, even though it can be tough and sad. You are so happy when things go right...
Set aside some time to read this book. As several of her books do, they start out a little slow, but pick up after the first 50 pages, where she uses to describe the people & places.

If you are new to DS books, this is one of her better ones. The writing quality is fair. Stick to her early books... don't bother with anything she wrote after the mid-1990s. Her writing style became ridiculously repetitive and boring and the plots nonexistent. The early books have more intricate plots and characters that she actually bothered to develop.

This book does have repetitive phrases (yes, we get it that the women are beautiful). She gives her readers very little credit and finds it necessary to tell us that certain characters are good and some are bad. She does this in every book, so it may get old. She should let us decide for ourselves whose side we want to be on. But, you can definitely relax and enjoy the book without having to think too much. She put a lot of effort into the details and the characters (especially the children) are interesting.

All right! I am speaking to all of y'all who are devoted D/S fans and have read several of her books. Have ANY of you noticed just how similar "Family Album" is to "Jewels?" The only differences are: *FA is set in Hollywood while J is in France* *The husband in FA is more of a jerk at times and never gets crippled* *No one in J was homosexual or in a cult* These are really the only things that keep FA and J from being the exact same story. The children are quite alike and good portions of the "epics" take place during the same time. Please tell me I am not the only once who noticed this.

My goodness... could she have possibly slapped more homosexual sex and love into this novel. I thought it was so good until little Li turned into a male version of a slut... My goodness. What happened to her cool, chic and decent way of writing.

It was about time a mainstream author wrote a family story that included a realistic depiction of the coming out process of a gay son, and the parents and siblings' reactions to it. I'd only just met my first gay person when I read this book. I've since come to learn that the father's reaction is, unfortunately often typical. I've also learned that gay couples can be just as committed and loving as heterosexual ones, as this book depicts. Thank you Ms. Steel!

I love the way Steel started off this story... A family are in grief at the funeral of their mother, the woman who kept the family together and changed Ward Thayer's life in the long life they spent together.

Ward is heir to a shipyard fortune and Faye is a famous star. They meet during the war, while she is entertaining the troops and he is a solider. When the war is over he finds her and they settle down... this is where the story begins... not to give too much away, Faye realises that being with Ward is not going to be easy as she soon finds out he has a secret.

There's so many story lines in this book that I really enjoyed it, one of steels better books.