Mixed Blessings [Paperback]

Danielle Steel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2, 1993

In Mixed Blessings, her thirtieth novel, Danielle Steel weaves a powerful tale of three couples who face decisions about having children that will test, in unexpected ways, the ties that bind them as lovers, partners and friends. Diana Goode and Andrew Douglas are a California couple who seem to have it all, and after their wedding, Diana teases that she will make a baby on their honeymoon. But long afterwards, she is still not pregnant. As they wait out each month with anticipation, only to be bitterly disappointed, they are forced to question just how much they are willing to go through to have a baby, and at what cost to their marriage. Charlie Winwood, having grown up as an orphan, dreams of a house filled with children, but his bride, fun-seeking actress Barbie Mason, has other ideas. Their marriage is strained, but Charlie is convinced that a baby will solve it all - only to have to rethink his deepest values. Pilar Graham, a prominent Santa Barbara attorney in her early forties, astonishes her friends by marrying Judge Brad Coleman, in his sixties and the father of two grown children. Pilar begins to wonder if some day she will regret not having a baby with Brad, but it will not be an easy road for them as they encounter the world of high-tech medicine and the bittersweet rewards it brings them. Through the lives of these couples, Danielle Steel shows us the mixed blessings we face as we make our modern families. But despite hardship and heartache, she reminds us again of the triumphant spirit of love.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The prolific Steel ( No Greater Love ) turns her attentions to a contemporary topic: infertility, and the desperate measures that couples resort to in the hope of biological parenthood. Steel's approach, however, is often maudlin and simplistic. Here, three California couples are married on the same day; none of the women proves able to conceive. The couples never meet, but Steel tracks their common fate with a vigor that rivals her characters' quest for children. Various partners consult fertility experts, and ultimately every conceivable aspect of reproductive medicine, including surrogate motherhood, is given its due. Steel explores the emotional strain on the couples: Diana and Andy, who previously led charmed lives; bubbleheaded would-be starlet Barbi and unexciting but wholesome Charlie; and 42-year-old Pilar, a successful attorney, and 61-year-old Bradford, a judge and widower who has two children. Marriages founder, but conventionally good characters find their way to happy endings. While Steel sets up potentially complex family relationships, she forgoes developing them; just as it wreaks havoc on the characters, the single-minded pursuit of babies damages the narrative. Major ad/promo; Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selection.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

After the wedding of Diana Goode and Andrew Douglas, Diana teases that theywill make a baby on their honeymoon. But long afterward, she is still notpregnant. As Diana and Andrew wait out each month only to be bitterlydisappointed, they are forced to question just how much they are willing to gothrough to have a baby.

Charlie Winwood dreams of a house filled with children. His bride, party-girlactress Barbie Mason, has other ideas. When he discovers he is sterile,Charlie has to rethink his deepest values -- and his marriage to a woman whoshares none of his dreams.

After ten years of living together, Pilar Graham, a prominent Santa Barbaraattorney, marries Judge Brad Coleman, who is nineteen years her senior andfather of two grown children. They are happy with their comfortable lifetogether, à deux, until Pilar begins to wonder if she will somedayregret not having a baby with Brad. Are they crazy to begin now -- with Bradabout to become a grandfather and Pilar with a busy career, and in her earlyforties, possibly putting herself at risk?

Through the lives of these couples, Danielle Steel shows us the mixed blessingswe face as we build our families and live our modern lives. She touches uswith the triumphant people who prevail, their victories, their defeats, theirtragedies and joys, their compromises, their lives.
--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Corgi (December 2, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0552137464
• ISBN-13: 978-0552137461
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.1 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,785,153 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

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars very real story to me, June 6, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Mixed Blessings (Hardcover)

I checked this book out of the library. I wasn't sure if I wanted to read it because at the time I was suffering through my own infertility. But once I started I was hooked. I could relate to Diana so easily, the heartache that occured at the same time each month, and the feeling that there was something wrong long before I went to any doctor. Like Diana, I too was able to overcome this problem, and now have two beautiful sons (our own biological children, too!) I didn't relate quite as well to the other couples, but did find their stories facinating as well. The research Danielle Steel did was very good except for one flaw - when Pillar had her miscarriage around New Year's she was back in getting another insemination done the next month -I also had this procedure done and doctors will not do this procedure for three months after a miscarriage. Also her discription of the procedure itself was a little different than mine. But excellent reading none the less!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mixed Emotions, January 10, 2004

By 

Sara Swihart (Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mixed Blessings (Mass Market Paperback)

"Mixed Blessings" follows couples who marry and face the question of whether they want to have children or not and how they overcome their infertility.

I really began to resent, and almost hate, Barbi. I thought that maybe Charlie hadn't really thought about the marriage completely before he married her, or perhaps he was hoping that she would settle down and change her mind.

However, I questioned why Pilar would want to have a child with Brad, considering that he is already 60. By the time the child graduates from high school, he would be pushing 80.

I think a lot of people will be able to relate to this book, considering 1 in 5 people will have difficulty conceiving. And I think that people can also relate to the characters on the basis of "What do I really want in life?"

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Mixed Blessings, July 22, 2002

By 

Mary Ellen Kok (Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mixed Blessings (Hardcover)

This was a very poorly written book, reading more like a fertility manual than a novel. Danielle Steel leaves nothing for the readers imagination. We are told the same things over and over. Pilar doesn't want children, she never got along with her mother, she never had good family relationships, etc. In a very short period of time, she goes from being vehemently opposed to having children to going to a fertility specialist, receiving in vitro fertilization, miscarrying, repeating in vitro, becoming pregnant with twins, losing one baby, resolving conflicts with a step daughter, etc. Barb (Barbie, Barbara)does not want to have a child, her husband does, she is impregnated by some one else, tells Charlie after he has learned that he is sterile, divorces him, he finds a girl to marry who already has a child, and soon adopts a son from the same orphanage where he himself was raised. Diana and Andy are unable to conceive, miraculously adopt a baby available to them through an old aquaintance of Andy's, and immediately Diana becomes pregnant, and quickly repairs the dastardly relationship she has with her two sisters, who are walking baby factories.

While I am sure these problems present in any relationship would be major life events for most, there is no depth to any of the characters beyond these issues. They have no concern for anything other than their ability to produce babies. Their reactions to life events are consistently more dramatic than the average person in real life. Steel should spend time developing her characters and show us the real angst of couples who go through these challanging situations, rather than giving readers simplistic answers to very hard life events.