JOURNEY - Hardcover

Danielle Steel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0593040732 ISBN 13: 9780593040737

Publisher: Bantam, 2000

Synopsis

Everyone in Washington knows Madeleine and Jack Hunter. Maddy is an award-winning TV anchorwoman, and Jack is the head of her network and an adviser to the President on media issues. To the world, theirs is a storybook marriage. But behind the locked doors of their home, the woman the nation idolises lives in degradation and fear. The cruelty she experiences at Jack's hands leaves no bruises, no scars, only the wounds of fear, humiliation and isolation. Maddy's journey to healing begins when the President's wife offers her the opportunity to join her newly-formed Commission on Violence against Women, where she hears chilling stories from terrified wives and girlfriends that sound eerily familiar. And there she meets Bill Alexander, a distinguished scholar and diplomat who also works on the commission. Bill suspects that something is terribly wrong in Maddy's marriage and, as she takes the first steps towards freedom, a remarkable series of events begin to unfold. A devastating tragedy occurs which forces Maddy to realise just how much she has lost - her confidence, her trust, her self-respect. As her journey comes to a close, she finds a strength she never knew she had.and a gift which will change her life forever.

About this title

Review

It's amazing to think that Journey is Danielle Steel's 50th novel. What's even more amazing is the high standard she has maintained throughout all her books: when an author is this prolific, there is usually a falling off in inspiration, but Steel seems able to add new elements to each book that keep the level of invention fresh. Journey uses elements familiar from earlier Steel bestsellers, but manages a totally novel spin on the private problems of a very public marriage.

Madeleine and Jack Hunter are one of Washington's glittering couples. Jack is the head of a TV network, while Maddy is an award-winning anchorwoman. All around, people regard them as a golden couple: he advising the president on media issues, she at the top of the tree in her profession. Needless to say, the relationship we are shown behind the closed doors of their lavish Georgetown home is far more troubled than the public could ever know. As Maddy enjoys more and more career success, Jack's resentment and desire for control grow daily, and her life becomes hell in this fracturing marriage. Steel manages, as always, to convey character in concise paragraphs:

The diamond studs and her eight-carat engagement ring were her prize possessions. Not bad for a kid from a trailer park in Chattanooga, she often admitted to him, and he called her "poor white trash" when he wanted to really tease her. It was obvious that he thought calling her that was funny...

When Maddy joins the president's wife in the latter's newly formed commission on violence against women, the grim stories she hears from other terrified wives start her on a journey which will help her break the cycle of fear she is living through. Steel makes this situation resonate with a strong emotional impact, and the dark marriage is painted with the kind of skill we have come to expect from her. When Bill Alexander, a high-flying scholar and diplomat, enters the narrative and realizes what is happening in Maddy's marriage, the story is taken to a powerful new level, with their growing affection treated intelligently and sympathetically. --Barry Forshaw

From the Publisher

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About this edition

• Publisher: Bantam
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0593040732
• ISBN 13: 9780593040737
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 323