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Europe in the throes of WWI and II serves as backdrop for this latest
dose of melodrama from megabestseller Steel. Bookish, raven-haired beauty
Beata Wittgenstein meets dashing French nobleman Antoine de Vallerand
while on vacation in Switzerland and falls passionately in love.
An affluent German Jew whose strict Orthodox parents forbid
marriage outside the faith, Beata knows that a union with a Catholic from
war-rival France is out of the question. But love trumps all, and shortly
after returning to Germany, Beata defies her family, arranging to meet
Antoine in Switzerland, where they marry. When WWI ends, the de Vallerands
return to Germany and live happily with their young daughters, Amadea and
Daphne. Antoine manages the stables at an old friend's castle, the perfect
job for him, but just as all seems well, he's thrown from a headstrong
horse.
Meanwhile, Hitler's anti-Semitic sentiments spread across
Europe, and Beata fears that even her half-Jewish daughters are no longer
safe. Devout Catholic Amadea plans to become a Carmelite nun, but as the
Third Reich's campaign of cruelty escalates, she finds a greater sense of
purpose outside the convent walls.
There's enough romance to keep
readers going, but fans who prefer the glitz and glamour of Steel's
contemporary settings may be nonplussed, and the abrupt disappearance of
several major characters leaves giant holes in the
narrative.
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