Danielle Steel’s ‘Complications’ Examines the Dramatic Lives Guests Lead at a High-End Paris Hotel [REVIEW]

A fabulous luxury hotel reopens to the public after a major renovation. When its loyal guests return, they find there are still some bugs to work out with new staff and upgraded systems. But the most disturbing events of all will unfold in the days to follow, and they will change the lives of its patrons forever in Danielle Steel’s enthralling new novel, Complications.

For decades, when the rich and famous travel to Paris, the Hotel Louis XVI has been their home away from home. Among its many distinguished guests, it is not uncommon to find politicians, musicians, businessmen, and other notable individuals. But after its beloved manager dies and the hotel undergoes four years of renovations, it is finally ready to open its doors to the public once more.

The new manager, Olivier Bateau, is an unworthy successor to his predecessor. He is a nervous man, and every time something goes wrong—which is inevitable at such a renowned establishment, particularly right after its grand reopening—he seems to pull a disappearance act worthy of Houdini. Fortunately for him, he has level-headed assistant manager Yvonne Philippe at his side. Few things ruffle her feathers, and she’s always prepared for the unexpected, a trait which will come in handy in the days to come.

Among the guests checking into the hotel are a French politician with a scandalous secret, an out-of-control rock star, a respected physician prepared to end his life, an art consultant recovering from a horrible divorce, and a couple ready to embrace a second chance at love. But one night, some major, unexpected complications will change all of their destinies forever. One of them will nearly die, another will be accused of a heinous crime, and others will forge new alliances that they never saw coming.

In Danielle Steel’s Complications, she does what Arthur Hailey once did with Hotel back in 1965. She pulls back the curtain on the inner workings of a grand property, revealing its many challenges even as she introduces us to the people who run the establishment as well as its many guests. While Steel doesn’t introduce us to the bellhops or housekeeping staff, she instead focuses on the management team and proves this gig isn’t for the faint of heart. Most of the novel’s action, however, transpires among the hotel’s guests, particularly after one night where the entire house of cards practically falls down around them.

Without giving too much away, I will say I enjoyed watching how hopes and dreams are both born and shattered in the lobby, hallways, and rooms of a famed hotel. Reading this book is like people watching with a good friend, and Steel is the one weaving elaborate stories about everyone who passes through the hotel’s doors. Except in this case, she also tells us what happens to the guests between visits.

As with all her books, Complications tells a story about people who lead lives far more extravagant than those led by most of her readers. These are people with wealth, power, public ambitions, and private secrets, whose decisions can save their lives or condemn them forever. So much weighs in the balance, it makes for a sumptuous read that we want to slurp down like an exquisite French champagne. Despite all that, though, this story is fueled by Steel’s trademark quality: hope. For even on her characters’ darkest days, there is the chance that this time things will be different if they are only brave and bold enough to make it so.

If you enjoy stories about the jet set and the opulent lives they lead—lives filled with unexpected triumphs, devastating scandals, and real human emotion—you’ll love Danielle Steel’s Complications and your visit to the Hotel Louis XVI.

COMPLICATIONS
By Danielle Steel
256 pp. Delacorte Press. $28.99

Purchase Complications direct from Jathan & Heather Books or from one of these other fine online retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Half Price Books, Hudson Booksellers, IndieBound, Powell’s, Target, or Walmart.