Danielle Steel Redefines Family in ‘The Apartment’ [REVIEW]

Four very different women become a new kind of family when they share a Hell’s Kitchen loft in Danielle Steel’s THE APARTMENT. (Photo by Delacorte Press)

In Danielle Steel’s latest novel, The Apartment, a loft in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen is home to four vastly different young women who become roommates out of necessity but a family by choice.

Claire is a shoe designer who dreams of creating fashionable shoes for the world’s best designers, but is stuck working for an old school miser who shoots down every idea she has.

Delacorte Press

Abby, the daughter of a successful Hollywood power couple, has always wanted to become a novelist, but she sets aside her dreams when she falls in love with an off-off Broadway producer who makes grand promises but never fulfills them.

Morgan, who works for a legendary investment manager, is in love with a successful restaurant owner but has no intention of ever getting married or having children.

And Sasha is an OB/GYN resident at NYU who lives her life in scrubs and Crocs while her supermodel twin jet sets all over the globe with some of the world’s most wealthy and unscrupulous men.

Together, these four women help each other through life’s ups and downs, through breakups, letdowns, disappointments, triumphs, tragedies, and lots of family drama. They become one another’s biggest cheerleaders, and their home is frequently filled with late night conversations, Sunday dinners with friends, and most of all the love and respect they’ve cultivated among one another.

The author of novels like Family Album, Kaleidoscope, The Ranch, and 44 Charles Street has once again written a touching portrait about the importance of family and friendship, and calls into question the definition of what a family truly is.

Here she pulls back the curtain and shows us that frequently the family we are born into can be difficult, ugly and cruel. Sometimes, we have to look beyond our own circumstances and keep our hearts open to the possibilities, and to strangers who can ultimately buoy us through the challenges of life and carry us on to the other side.

This book doesn’t cover brand new territory for the author in that this story seems comfortably familiar to some of her previous work, but it does offer an insightful look into the lives of modern women, makes us examine what it takes to become a success, and shows us the sacrifices we must make to pursue our dreams.

Most importantly, with The Apartment, Danielle Steel reminds us that while the world around us can turn on a dime, the one thing that we all need to find happiness isn’t money or fame, but hope, love, and if we are fortunate enough to find them, really good friends.

Danielle Steel
(Photo courtesy Brigitte Lacome)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hailed as one of the world’s most popular authors, Danielle Steel has more than 650 million copies of her novels in print.

Many of her books have become international bestsellers, including Property of a Noblewoman, Blue, Precious Gifts, Undercover, Country, Prodigal Son, Pegasus, A Perfect Life, Power Play, Winners, and more.

The mother of nine children, Steel has also written children’s books, including Pretty Minnie in Hollywood, Pretty Minnie in Paris. She also wrote His Bright Light, the story of her son Nick Traina’s life and death.

A humanitarian and philanthropist, she has done much to help the homeless, and chronicled her work in the book, A Gift of Hope. 

She divides her time between San Francisco, California and Paris, France. Visit her homes on the Web at daniellesteel.com and her blog at daniellesteel.net. On social media? Like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

THE APARTMENT
By Danielle Steel
336 pgs. Delacorte Press. $28.95.