Customer Reviews

Kaleidoscope

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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!

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.

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.)

I read this a few years ago for the first time. Its a great book, its got a lot of twists and the story begins in war torn Europe where sam walker first appears as a brave and very likeable charactor. He meets cowardly Arthur and they become best friends. They go on to fall in love with the same women whom Sam eventually wed's. I dont want to give too much away but there's a great twist at the end which I for one never saw coming. Read it, if you like DS you ll definately enjoy.

This is actually the first Danielle Steel novel I'd ever read and since there was no synopsis on the book anywhere I had no idea what I was reading about. After finishing the story I sorta came to the conclusion that it is almost an exploration of nature versus nuture in terms of how people turn out.
The story follows two generations of a family, starting with two friends that meet in WW2 and their interactions with a young frenchwoman named Solange. In the end one of them marries Solange and they lead a nearly perfect life with a tragic ending, leaving their children orphaned and eventually seperated. The story picks up again in bits and pieces about each childs life and how they progress based on their new living conditions, and when the other friend - the one who wasn't married to Solange - is near death he wishes to seek them out again and make sure that each child is ok. Romance, breakups, disturbing sequences, and questions of self and ones place in the world arise and the ending of the story comes somewhat full circle to the beginning but overall it is a bit cheesy.

Regardless of which the story itself is captivating, and if this is typical of Steel's work then you should be satisfied. The story is well connected, if not particularly well stylized, it is written in very generic form where everyone is gorgeous and the world is nearly perfect, even the 'bad' people in the story are perfectly bad. While the book doesn't send out any major messages to its readers, it is a fun intriguing read for the summertime.

And if you are wondering about the title Kaleidoscope, it refers to how with each turn of said toy, even though you have all the same pieces on the inside you see something completely different in the little window. Just like with each of the children in the story, while they all started out in the same living conditions, each of their lives took a different turn and produced different images...yet Steel is quick to point out they share certain mannerisms, hence the nature versus nurture question.

This book was very moving. Some of the text drove me to tears. This was one of the best books I have ever read. I could not bring myself to put it down. Ms. Steel is truly a brilliant author. She captured in print the eldest daughter's pain: her abuse when she was growing up and trying to find her sisters. I cried when she was finally reunited with her family. I applaud Ms. Steel for writting a great book

I know this is an old Steel novel, but it was just as good, if not better than her new work. I had already seen the movie version of this novel, but the book was 100 times better, as always. If you'r e a Danielle Steel fan and you haven't read this novel, I strongly recommend it.

I am a huge fan of Danielle Steel. I have been reading her books for 15 years now and I just finished up on called KALEIDOSCOPE. OMG, this is the best one I have read yet. Danielle Steel is a magical woman. I have never read anything so wonderful before. To me the characters are so real. In this book you laugh a lot and you cry and you get really angry. I could not put this book down. I read it in a week. I wish I could go into the book and meet the characters and live in their world. I am looking forward to reading more of Danielle's works.

I read this book thinking it would be a normal happy ever after books like any other. Although, I was surprised through the sad times and happy times throughout the reading. With all of the twists and turns I could barely take my eyes off of it! To learn that Sam would dare to kill Solange, and for the three girls to keep their heads up throughout life, not knowing the truth, they took the news of their biological family very well. However, the most exciting part was when Sams' best friend Arthur turned out to be the father of the youngest of the three children. I would most definitely recommend this book to anyone that I know. Absolutely an AMAZING book.

This is an amazing book! It was very addicting. It starts off kind of slow, but once you get pass the first few chapters you will just want to keep reading. I couldn't put the book down I had to find out what happens in the next chapter. A muxt ready you will be very pleased!!!