The Whittiers by Danielle Steel – a Review

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Description:
Preston and Constance Whittier have built a happy life together with a brood of six children raised in a beautiful historic Manhattan mansion. Now, with a nearly empty nest, it’s easier than ever for the Whittiers to maintain their tradition of a solo romantic “wintermoon” ski trip.

But with this year’s trip comes tragedy. Suddenly, their adult children find themselves reuniting in the family home without their parents for the first time ever. The oldest, Lyle, is reaching a breaking point in his marriage and must decide whether a divorce would be best for him and his two children. Gloria’s big job on Wall Street has kept her single at forty, and growing ever more cynical. The twins, Caroline and Charlie, moved out long ago to start a fashion business that may now be faltering. Benjie, with special needs, is hit hard by the loss of his parents and needs his siblings’ help. And Annabelle, the youngest, drops out of college and starts to spin out of control.

The eldest four are forced to put aside their personal issues and their grief to keep the family together and support each other and their two youngest siblings. Selling the house, along with all the memories that live in its walls, feels like yet another devastating loss. Could there be another way, as unconventional as it seems?

In The Whittiers, Danielle Steel delivers an inspiring story about the everlasting bonds of one unforgettable family.

Review:

The Whittiers by Danielle Steel is another one of her wonderful standalone novels.  The Whittiers is a fantastic family-oriented story line.  We meet the entire family from the start, with the parents, Preston and Connie, as well as their children, Lyle (oldest at 42), Gloria (39), twins Charlie and Caro (33), Benjie (28- autism spectrum) and Annabelle (youngest at 21); as they all celebrate Christmas every year.  They are a very close-knit family, with only Amanda, Lyle’s wife being an outcast, only caring about money. After the holidays, Preston and Connie always go away to Europe for an annual vacation, with this year going skiing to France. 

But a tragedy happens while they were skiing, and hit by an avalanche; killing them both instantly. The family is shocked, and find themselves reuniting at the family mansion to make decisions and console each other. Their parents left a generous bequest to each of their six children, thinking that they can also share the bigger inheritance if they sell the mansion; worth between $50-100 Million. However, 5 of the six children do not want to sell at this time, with most ending up going back home to stay at the mansion together.  It was so wonderful to see how they all moved in to help Benji, and Annabelle (who becomes pregnant), as well as Lyle, who was separated from his wife.  I enjoyed the love between all family members, and how they were always there for each other.  Each family member had their own life issues, as well as finding love for all. 

Lyle, worried about his two children, bringing them to the mansion every other week, and doing everything he could to finalize his divorce. Gloria was a successful lawyer, who had no relationships with others.  Caro and Charlie, were running a fashion business, which were long hours, and more funds were needed to help promote their work.  Benjie was at times hard to handle, but the love of his family always helped him; he also had two cute dogs. Annabelle was the wild one, always staying out all hours, until she needed help from her family.

What follows is a wonderful heartwarming story, with the family determined to keeping everyone together, especially with the older siblings helping to support Benji and a pregnant Annabelle. The Whittiers was a fabulous storyline, with fantastic family that had to deal with grief, hostile divorce, expansion and wonderful romances along the way.   The Whittiers was so very well written by Danielle Steel.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher