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On Sarah Whitfield's seventy-fifth birthday, memories take her back to New York in the 1930s. To a marriage that ends after a year, leaving Sarah shattered. A trip to Europe with her parents does little to raise her spirits, until she meets William, Duke of Whitfield. In time, despite her qualms, William insists on giving up his distant right to the British throne to make Sarah his dutchess and his wife. On their honeymoon, the newlyweds buy an old French chateau, but not long after, the war begins. William joins the allied forces, leaving Sarah, their first child, an infant, and their second child on the way, in France. After the Nazi forces take over the chateau, Sarah continues to survive the terror and deprivation of the Occupation, unwavering in her belief that her missing-in-action husband is still alive. After the war, as a gesture of goodwill, the Whitfields start buying jewels offered for sale by impoverished war survivors. With Sarah's style and keen eye, the collection becomes the prestigious Whitfield's jewelry store in Paris. Eventually, their jewelry business expands to London and Rome, as their family grows. Phillip, their firstborn, is stubborn and proud; Julian, their second son, is charming and generous and warm; Isabelle is rebellious and willful; and Xavier, unusual and untamed, is the final unexpected gift of their love. They each find their own way, but will be drawn to the great house of gems their parents built. In "Jewels, Danielle Steel takes the reader through five eventful decades that include war, passion, international intrigue, and the strength of family through it all.… (more)
User reviews
This book is about Sarah and her life. Starts out when she is young and marries a guy in high society. She soon learns he is using her name and status to get what he really wants.
They divorce and the parents are lucky to drag her over to England where they attempt to set her
She ends up meeting a duke that acts like a regular guy and he's one she can talk to about world affairs. They end up marrying and she really wants the chateau in France on 10 acres of land.
The war takes them from each other and she misses her sister, brother in law and children, along with her parents. Love all the scenes of her fixing up the house where they will live, the war invasion and how she befriends the German soldier that delivers her 2nd child.
Happy and sad events as she travels, after the war to visit her mother in law...love how strong she is during the whole time under siege and after the war as she helps others heal from their wounds.
Like hearing of her design work and how her career took place....travels around the world.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
We see Sarah at age twenty two right up to her birthday at a very young seventy five. We see Sarah fall hopelessly in love with William, marry move to Europe and endure the second world war and beyond. We get to experience the birth of Sarah's children Spanning the decades I fell in love with Sarah, William & Danielle Steel.