Customer Reviews

The Ghost (Danielle Steel)

5 star:		(71)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

Did you ever want to live in a haunted house and discover that person's journals from the 1800's? Read the novel The Ghost by author Danielle Steel. The novel is about an American named Charles Waterston who lived in England until he got divorced from his wife. He decided to go back to the States and start a new life in New York. He doesn't like New York, so he decides to go skiing in Vermont. On his way there, a snowstorm makes him stop. He meets an old widowed lady, who lets him stay at her Bed & Breakfast. As the days go by, the elderly lady lets him rent out her other home in Deerfield. She tells him that Sarah Ferguson use to live there in the 1800's. When he moves in he sees Sarah's ghost, but he thinks it's his mind playing tricks on him. So the next day, he goes see Gladys and she knows that he had seen the ghost and he told her he did. She told him that when she was younger she had seen her ghost too, but has never seen it again. When Gladys son and his wife moved in, her daughter-in-law had seen Sarah's ghost too and decided to move out. This novel also tells the story about how Sarah had come to the states after she left her abusive husband in England. She takes the trip over on a boat that takes two months. Then in time, she meets her next husband Francois de Pelerrin, who is an Englishman, who is adopted by the Indians. This novel is amazing. Danielle Steel did a wonderful job combining two different stories from two different time periods; but in a way, the two stories do have some similarities between each other. I would recommend that whoever likes ghost stories to read this novel. It's a mix between romance and mystery.

"The Ghost" was a twist in the average Steele stories. I enjoyed the storyline because this time the shoe was on the other foot. Charles was the jilted husband, who so very much wanted his marriage to work. However, his wife had other ideas. She left him for her business partner, an older man. I felt sorry for Charles, who was really heartbroken. However, I was glad when Charles moved from London and went back to the states.

After taking a leave of absence from work, Charles rented a house from an elderly widow and set out to enjoy his free time. The house had quite a history and something from the past -- the ghost of the lovely Sarah. Charles takes a look at Sarah's journals and learns all about Sarah's past life.

During, Charles' stay in the Massachusetts town, while doing research on Sarah at the library, Charles meets Francesa, the librarian, and eventually makes friends with Francesa's daughter. A relationship develops between Charles and Francesa.

"The Ghost" was a touching and heartwarming story. Through Charles' readings of Sarah's journals, we learn the story of Sarah and the abuse she suffered at the hands of her abusive first husband. Also, we learn of the love Sarah found when she fled to America.

Ms. Steele has written another winner with "The Ghost."

Danielle Steel touched upon many of our fears and hesitations in real life within the pages of "The Ghost".

"The Ghost" is a story of a man [Charlie] who is trying to get over the pain and loneliness of his in-process divorce from his wife [Carol]. Charlie, still hurt by his wife who had an affair and left him for an older man, finds himself wounded and filled with more questions than answers. Even Charlie's job talks him into working in N.Y. City, which he hates, and finds that his professional life in N.Y. no longer provides any comfort or happiness for him.

Taking some time off, Charlie finds himself in the small town of Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. Here he rents a house believed to be haunted. Within these "haunted" walls Charlie will learn of a love story so powerful that it touches him even after the story has ended two hundred years ago.

Can the old love story of Sarah Ferguson and François de Pellerin, set in the early conflicts of the Native American Indians and the United States, show Charlie how to love again?

Can the lessons of Sarah Ferguson (a woman who's been beaten and battered, yet remains courageous and strong) teach Charlie how to breach the seemingly impenetrable walls around the heart of Francesca Vironnet, another woman who has given up on love... given up on Hope... just like Charlie?

Can a ghost from the past still teach us all how to love again... how to keep the Faith and have Hope?

I simply loved this book. One of her best! Both Danielle Steel and Sarah Ferguson teach us all, by example, that we should never let our hearts turn cold... never let the cruelty and pain of past loves destroy our futures... always have Faith... never lose Hope... and above all they teach us...

That love ends... and begins again.

I've been an avid reader of Danielle Steele since the first book I've read written by her, "Perfect Strangers". And my last one will be "Ghost". How many novels can a person write about the same plot with different character name and circumstances??

"The Ghost" is the first Danielle Steel novel I have ever read. Normally, I do not read romantic fiction but I was curious. I know that Steel is an enormously popular writer and it seems like one of her books is always on the bestseller lists. I wanted to see for myself if her reputation is deserved. Unfortunately, I didn't have much success with "The Ghost" at first. Her main character, Charlie Waterston is the most unsympathetic and unattractive person I have ever read about. His wife is fooling around on him and eventually leaves him for the other man, but instead of feeling sorry for Charlie, I found myself commiserating with the wife. Charlie is so self-absorbed and his suffering is so maudlin, I shut the book at page 105 and decided not to continue. Normally, I don't like to leave books unfinished if I can help it, so this was a tough decision. But the thought of 300+ pages more of Charlie whining and whimpering was unbearable. That's how much I disliked him. Then I read the reviews for the book on this page and found many readers saying that the really interesting story involves Sarah and Francois (just after the point where I stopped reading), so I decided to give it another go. I'm glad I did. Make no mistake - Steel's writing style and grammer is often atrocious. The novel is replete with runon sentences and the overuse of commas and conjunctions. Another distraction is that Sarah's journal entries were written in the same style as the rest of the book, and if you have ever read anything from the 18th century, you know that the language is richer and more complex. It's a shame Steel and her editor didn't spend more time cleaning up the text, because the storyline involving Sarah is really great. When I read the sections about her, I lost track of time. I can only give the book 2 stars because of the incredibly weak opening, but if you can get past the first 100 pages, you're in for an entertaining read.

As I mentionned in previous review's to DS's books, I've read her entire collection. Ghost was on my bookshelf for the longest time but never got around in reading it. I finished it last night and it was absolutely a page turner. I was expecting this book to be more science fiction maybe because of the title. But it was of course a really good romance. Thanks Danielle for bringing us amazing books.

This is the first Danielle Steele book I've ever read and I'm not sure I will read anything else by her. I couldn't give the book anything higher than 2 stars because of the disgraceful number of grammatical errors and the fact that the first 100 pages was actually painful to get through. And I can't give the book anything less than 2 stars because the subplot of the book (Sarah & Francois) was really captivating. My verdict? The Ghost is an interesting read, but I am at a loss to understand how it could have been so poorly edited.

Steele has done it again! I love the historical and modern mix of two beautifully told stories. This is truly a novel displaying courage, healing, and love, Danielle style. And who doesn't love a good "ghost" story! Great read. I highly recommend it. It is one you will read over and over.
Dawn Kurtz author of Secret of the Mexican Doll

The narrator was excellent and keep you on your seat. This is a great story, would highly recommend.

Loved it! I couldn't wait to get into my car. This audio book was perfect timing in my life. It gives you hope and courage.