Literary reviews by Tim Love.
Warning: Rather than reviews, these are often notes in preparation for reviews that were never finished, or pleas for help with understanding pieces. See Litref Reviews - a rationale for details.

Sunday, 20 July 2025

"Resurrection" by Danielle Steel

Darcie Grey (42, Eng Lit at Princeton) married Charley while at University. They had twin girls early - Penny (who spent a year in Hong Kong) and Zoe (a year in the Sorbonne). Darcie is a successful influencer, blogging for 13 years. Charley has fashion shops in New York and elsewhere. His company recovered from the pandemic. Penny thinks her father should focus on online sales. They're a hard working couple and had old parents who died early in their marriage. They weren't openly emotional. He goes to Italy fortnightly. She decides to surprise him in Rome. But he's been having an affair with 33 y.o. Flavia for 2 years. Darcie and Charlie have been drifting apart. In Rome, Darcie discovers that Flavia is having a sonogram. Charley and Darcie discuss the matter calmly. Both accept some blame. Darcie goes to Paris. While there, there's another lockdown. Zoe's boyfriend dies. Darcie's stuck in an AirBnB (owned by a once famous actress) with Bill, an American widower. Charley is hospitalised with the virus. The twins begin to suspect an issue with their parents.

Charley loses his US shops. Bill tells Darcie on the day before she leaves that he works for the US government, itinerant since his wife's death.

Charley returns briefly to the States to tell his daughters about the divorce and arrange thing. Bill returns to the States to ask Darcie if he should resign from the CIA and go freelance - they still haven't slept together. Charley returns to Italy and helps Flavia's family relaunch their companies. His daughters gradually forgive him. They all live happily ever after.

There's lots of tell (rather than show) which needn't be a problem except that the details (e.g. how the couple are too busy to have much quality time, how Darcie is a successful influencer, how the closeness of multigenerational Italian households made the pandemic more dangerous, how Flavia's family suffered, how the first pandemic started in China, how the 2024 pandemic didn't seem as dangerous as the earlier ones, "best kept secret in Paris", etc) are repeated, sometimes almost word for word. I think the text needed an edit.

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