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The House on Hope Street |
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 The House on Hope Street byDanielle Steele Delacorte Press 231 pages, 2000 ISBN 0385333064 Reviewed by Julie Failla Earhart There are no new surprises in Danielle Steele’s 49th bestseller The House on Hope Street but then I didn’t want or expect any. I always know what to expect from Ms. Steele, and she always delivers. Jack and Liz Sutherland are a unique couple. They have had a happy, romantic marriage for the past nineteen years, have five well-balanced children (ranging from sixteen to nine), and work closely together in their successful family law practice. Jack is the bluster and the balls and the bully in the partnership, both in the courtroom and at their home on Hope Street. Liz is the complete opposite, and they have done a skillful dance together. On Christmas morning, while Liz clears the breakfast table, Jack runs into their law office to get a file he would like to look over during the long holiday week. Phillip Parker, the estranged husband of one of their clients, Amanda Parker, follows him. Disheveled, dirty and hungover, Phillip knows that Jack talked Amanda into the court proceedings that froze his business assets. Wild-eyed, he has already carried out his threats to kill his soon-to-be-ex-wife. Now he plans to kill Jack. Jack’s death on a cool San Francisco Christmas morning is nothing less than total devastation for Liz, the kids and their many family members and friends. Liz takes a few days off to put herself and the kids together - especially Jamie, who is a little slower than most nine-year-olds. Now Liz is forced to do double duty as mother/father and lawyer/lawyer. As the year progresses, each holiday always highly celebrated by the Sutherland clan, is a moment to be dreaded. One by one they come around, Valentine’s Day, Easter, and the 4th of July. Shortly before Labor Day, the oldest child Peter is involved in an auto accident that almost shatters Liz. She hasn’t even faced the loss of her husband yet, how could she face the death of her child. Liz refuses to leave his bedside, continually praying and speaking to the comatose young man. Peter’s doctor, the charming Bill Webster, is a saving grace for the frightened Liz. Bill Webster is a lonely man and has been divorced for ten years, yearning for the comforts of a woman. He connects with something inside Liz, and the two begin dating. The boys, Peter and Jamie, don't object to their mother moving on with her life. The girls - Megan, Rachel and Annie - feel their mother is betraying their father by dating so soon. Megan especially makes Bill feel unwelcome. The first Thanksgiving dinner without Jack, but with Bill, is a total disaster. Will they make it through to Christmas and the first anniversary of Jack’s death? Liz and Bill are not so sure. The House on Hope Street is a book about the difficulty of moving on after a loved one leaves, whether by death or divorce. As always, Steele does a good job in defining her characters and their situations. It’s a good, quick read, although somewhat depressing by conjuring up old memories. |
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