#BookReview :: Family Ties by Danielle Steel

Annie Ferguson was a bright young Manhattan architect. Talented, beautiful, just starting out with her first job, new apartment and boyfriend, she had the world in the palm of her hand--until a single phone call altered the course of her life forever. Overnight, she became the mother to her sister's three orphaned children, keeping a promise she never regretted making, even if it meant putting her own life indefinitely on hold.
Now, at forty-two, as independent as ever, with a satisfying career and a family that means everything to her, Annie is comfortable being single and staying that way. She appears to have no time for anything else. With her nephew and nieces now young adults and confronting major challenges of their own, Annie is navigating a parent's difficult passage between lending them a hand and letting go, and suddenly facing an empty nest. The eldest, twenty-eight-year-old Liz, an overworked, struggling editor in a high-powered job at Vogue, has never allowed any man to come close enough to hurt her. Ted, at twenty-four a serious and hardworking law student, is captivated by a much older, much more experienced woman with children, who is leading him much further than he wants to go. And the youngest, twenty-one-year-old Katie--impulsive, artistic, rebellious--is an art student about to make a choice that will lead her to an entirely different world she is in no way prepared for but determined to embrace.
Then, just when least expected, a chance encounter changes Annie's life yet again in the most unexpected direction of all.

Annie Ferguson was happily settled into her Manhattan life concentrating on her career as an architect when her life changed in a blink of an eye. With the sudden accidental death of her sister and brother-in-law, she finds herself responsible for the lives of her two nieces and a nephew. Overnight she became a family person from a single career oriented woman. Over the years she balanced her career and family and came to genuinely came to love the kids as her own. Now, that they are all grown up and have moved out, Anne has trouble adjusting to the fact that she is on her own again. A chance encounter once again changes Annie’s life and things are in frenzied again!

While it may seem like that this is Annie’s story, the truth is that this story is about each and every member of this unique family. While Annie’s struggle to find a balance is touching, her outlook of not having time for love of her own is simply stupid. Liz is a successful Fashion editor with heartache of her own. Ted has fallen into an abusive relationship and just cannot walk away from it. Katy on the other hand falls for a man who is completely different from her and a trip to his homeland helps her realize the reality of their relationship.

The plot while predictable had a lot to offer to its readers. The different situations and problems of each character give us a glimpse into the vast range of human emotions. Though each character has their own shortcomings and problems, they are a loveable bunch when they come together. The author’s repetitive nature while telling a story shines through in this novel too but somehow it wasn’t as noticeable as it was in the last few books. 

So far, this is one of the best Danielle Steel novel that I have read.

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