The Long Road Home (Danielle Steel) [Abridged, Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Danielle Steel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1998 | Series: Danielle Steel

From her secret perch at the top of the stairs, Gabriella Harrison watches the guests arrive at her parents' lavish Manhattan townhouse. At seven, she knows she is an intruder in her parents' party, in her parents' life. But she can't resist the magic. Later, she waits for the click, click, click of her mother's high heels, the angry words, and the pain that will follow. Gabriella already knows to hide her bruises, certain she is to blame for her mother's rage--and her father's failure to protect her.Gabriella's only escape is through her stories. Only writing can dull the pain of her lonely world. And when her parents' marriage collapses, Gabriella is given her first reprieve, as her mother abandons her to a convent. There, Gabriella's battered body and soul begin to mend. And there, amid the quiet safety and hushed rituals of the nuns, Gabriella becomes a woman. Then a young priest comes into her life. Joe Connors never questioned his vocation until Gabriella entered the confessional and shared her soul. Confession leads to friendship. And friendship grows dangerously into love. Like Gabriella, Joe is haunted by the pain of his childhood, consumed by guilt over a family heartbreak. With Gabriella, Joe takes the first steps toward healing. But their relationship leads to tragedy as Joe must choose between the priesthood and Gabriella, and life in the real world where he fears he does not belong.With profound insight, Danielle Steel has created a vivid portrait of a child's broken world and a woman's unbreakable spirit. A work of daring and compassion, The Long Road Home is more than riveting fiction. It's an inspiration to us all.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

At age 6, our heroine, lovely Gabriella Harrison, a rich kid on Manhattan's Upper East Side, "looked startled much of the time, like an angel who had fallen to earth, and had not known what to expect here." What Gabriella gets is a mother like Lucifer and a father who slips out to sleep with Italian prostitutes while Mrs. Harrison is busy breaking Gabriella's spirit--and sometimes her bones. Gabby's tormentor makes the real-life moms in Mommie Dearest and Mommy Dressing look sweet.

Gabriella gets a better break when her parents divorce and dump her in a convent. She meets a sensitive, older man with a deep, dark secret, and pretty soon they've got some steamy erotic secrets in common.

Unfortunately, he's a priest, and troubles erupt that are too much for any confessional to contain. Soon Gabriella is living on the East Side again, only this time in Mrs. Boslicki's boarding house, where the richness in people's hearts makes up for their relative material poverty. A kindly, retired Harvard English professor resembling Einstein nags her into trying her hand and purging her demons as a writer. "When I say you have talent, young lady, I mean it," says Professor Thomas. "They didn't hire me at Harvard to grow bananas." Will Gabriella have the courage to confront her talent? Can she face her past at last, conquer the future, and land a man to share it? Hey, is this a Danielle Steel novel or not? --Tim Appelo --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Scandal, betrayal and treachery do little to animate this dreary saga from the prolific Steel (The Ghost). By the time she's six, Gabriella Harrison has known nothing but torture at the hands of her battering mother, Eloise, a socialite who hates children?especially her own. Gabbie's alcoholic father is incapable of dealing with the madness that rules the mansion and soon escapes with another woman. Then Eloise decides she's tired of mothering and abandons 10-year-old Gabbie at St. Matthew's convent. Gabbie blossoms at the nunnery, where she finds unconditional love from the sisters, a talent for writing and, later, illicit passion in the arms of a priest. When discovered, the affair leads to the priest's suicide and Gabbie's eviction from the convent. Always one to make lemonade of life's lemons, however, Gabbie assuages her grief with new friends, a new lover and her burgeoning talent as a writer. Still, tragedy tails her like a lost puppy, and her monstrous mother casts a long shadow over her triumphs. Steel's latest attempt at a redemption story falls flat because of repetitious prose and two-dimensional characters. The inevitable happy ending, when it finally arrives, can't make up for a plodding narrative lacking in any real suspense.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Random House Audio; Unabridged edition (April 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553455702
• ISBN-13: 978-0553455700
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 4.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (162 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,213,736 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #87 in Books > Books on CD > Authors, A-Z > ( S ) > Steel, Danielle

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

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Steele Inspires, July 20, 2000

By 

"goldcoastreviews" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Long Road Home (Mass Market Paperback)

For inspirational words of hopes and desires, noone out there does it as prolifically in fiction as Ms. Steele. In, "The Long Road Home", readers are witness to a profound story of victory of the human spirit.

We meet Gabbie Harrison at a young age and follow her harrowing journey from vile physical child abuse by her wealthy mother, irritating ignorance from her father, and a 10 year old girl who is then totally abandoned into the hands of a strict yet loving Mother Superior.

It is here at St. Matthews Gabbie meets Father Joe Connors. Going against all they know to be immoral, a relationship of impossibilities flowers. Only to be gnarled into deep emotional desperation.

Gabbie's long road home takes her then to New York, to be on her own, to her writing, to more disappointment and despair. How she survives and conquers is a lesson in forgiveness and fortitude we can all learn from.

A well written story that moves quickly. I highly recommend this insightful read.

Thanks for your interest & comments-CDS

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The Long Read Home, May 30, 2002

By 

GingerTeaBooks - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Long Road Home (Hardcover)

Oh, my God! I have never read Danielle Steel before, and I certainly expected more than what I got from this bestselling author. The story was full of pathos and grabbed my attention all right, but much of the horror came from the poor quality of her writing and research. Such stories of abuse do exist, but I don't think Steel has a clue about the real impact that the (unrealistic) conditions she set up would have on a young girl like Gabriela. The dialogue was pedestrian and she continually "told" us what emotions her characters were having, rather than "showing" us through skillful storytelling. I will run rather than walk if I see another book by this author coming my way.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My FIRST of Many Danielle Steel Books, January 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Long Road Home (Mass Market Paperback)

The Long Road Home was the 1st Danielle Steel book I had ever read...and I LOVED it. It sent me on an emotional roller coaster. One moment I was Angry, then Sad, then Happy...throughout the book, I was up and down. I never knew what was going to happen next. Because I enjoyed the book so much, I have begun reading ALL of her books, starting with her very 1st. To anyone who has never read a Danielle Steel book...The Long Road Home comes HIGHLY recommended. Enjoy!