Kaleidoscope [Hardcover]

Danielle Steel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1987

A beautiful Frenchwoman and a brilliant American actor--their love began like a fairy tale but ended in tragedy. Suddenly orphaned, their three children are cruelly separated. Megan, the baby, adopted by a family of comfortable means, becomes a doctor in the rural South. Alexandra, raised in lavish wealth, marries a powerful man whose pride is in his pedigree. Only Hillary, oldest of the Walker children, is cut off from every loving source.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The World War II love affair between lovely Frenchwoman Solange Bertrand and American GI-turned-actor Sam Walker burned too brightly and ended in tragedy, leaving their three young daughters orphaned. Megan, the youngest, adopted by a loving family, grows up to be a doctor in Appalachia. Alexandra, adopted by a wealthy family, marries a powerful man with an impeccable pedigree. Hilary, the oldest (and the only one who remembers her sisters), enters the sordid world of foster care before going out on her own to work her way up to being a New York news producer. In the pursuit of success and stability, Hilary foregoes building a personal life, especially when her efforts to locate her sisters hit a dead end. But when high-priced private investigator John Chapman is hired to reunite the three sisters, the secrets and lies that kept the women apart--and bound them together--are revealed and the love only sisters can share blossoms again. A heartwarming tale by master storyteller Danielle Steel. --Alison Trinkle --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From Publishers Weekly

The pages of Steel's newest novel are packed with an assortment of one-dimensional characters, each one more broadly sketched than the last. Sam Walker and Arthur Patterson, American soldiers in war-torn Paris, fall in love with Solange, a proud young Frenchwoman. Having won her, Sam brings his beautiful war bride to New York, where he instantly sets Broadway agog at his acting talent, mercurial temper and restless love affairs. Tragedy strikes when he kills Solange during an argument, and later himself, orphaning their three pampered daughters. Arthur cravenly arranges adoptions for the youngest two, but nine-year-old Hilary is dealt a life of utter misery. Determined to reunite her little family, she grimly survives only to find that the man responsible for her torment has lost all traces of her sisters. Years later, John Chapman is hired by a dying, penitent Arthur to find the sisters and bring them together. As he follows their trails, Chapman becomes obsessed by his quarryone the wife of a French baron, one a doctor in Appalachia and the third a cold, ambitious network executiveand his search for a happy ending that will wipe away the awful past. The book gets off to a slow, overly sweet start, but by the midway mark Steel has given these tired characters a fresh look and a vibrant momentum all their own. Major ad/promo.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 395 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Press (October 1, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385295944
• ISBN-13: 978-0385295949
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #660,583 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Danielle Steel has been hailed as one of the world's most popular authors, with over 590 million copies of her novels sold. Her many international bestsellers include 44 Charles Street, Legacy, Family Ties, Big Girl, Southern Lights, Matters of the Heart, One Day at a Time, and other highly acclaimed novels. She is also the author of His Bright Light, the story of her son Nick Traina's life and death.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Worst and Best Happen to Danielle Steel's characters!, November 11, 2000

By 

Andrea Egger, author of Grave Accusations (Gallup, NM USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kaleidoscope (Paperback)

I read this in celebration of Danielle Steel's 50th book. What an anniversary for her! This book, originally printed in 1987, is timely today just as it was then, detailing the heart-wrenching story of three sisters, torn from each other at a young age. Each sister went to a different family and had a different upbringing, with the oldest having been beaten and raped in her experiences in foster homes. Finally making it on their own, they are brought out of their lives in their thirties and are brought together by the very man who separated them, after he hires a private investigator to find them.

Little does the man know a big surprise is in store for him at the reunion.

The sisters reunite and swear never to stray far again.

A TV movie was made of the book, with Jacklyn Smith playing the oldest daughter. A very compelling movie, taken very carefully from the book and shown in a sequence of flashbacks.

An excellent book!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Her best book yet!!!!!!!!!!, May 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Kaleidoscope (Paperback)

i love this book!!!!! the rape scenes were kinda sick, but unfortunatly, rape is something that happens everyday. pretending it does not exist will only make the problem worse.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Good, April 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Kaleidoscope (Hardcover)

I bought this book when it first came out (1987) so I don't remember all the details, but I know that the book was very dramatic, emotional, and heartwrenching. I still remember the characters all very well, and some of the things they went through. I liked the 3 sisters a lot, even though I wished they all weren't perfectly beautiful. The violence in the home, and the scene were the girls were split up were well portrayed and felt very real. I also like their reunion--it wasn't all sweet and wonderful like they always show it on TV. I'm glad Ms. Steel put in a character who had some major flaws and yet was a lovable and sympathetic person despite it. Probably one of her best books (the original had the nicest cover I've ever seen too.)