E-book
Coming out [electronic resource] / Danielle Steel.
When Olympia Rubinstein's twin daughters are invited to a debutante ball, chaos erupts. One twin and Olympia's ex-husband are anxious to go, while the other twin and Olympia's current husband refuse to go.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780307566386 (electronic bk. : Adobe Digital Editions)
- ISBN: 0307566382 (electronic bk. : Adobe Digital Editions)
- Publisher: New York, N.Y. : A Dell Book, c2006.
Content descriptions
| General Note: | Title from eBook information screen. |
| System Details Note: | Requires OverDrive Media Console Requires Adobe Digital Editions (file size: 2164 KB). |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Twins > Fiction. Debutante balls > New York (State) > New York > Fiction. Coming out (Sexual orientation) > Fiction. |
| Genre: | EBOOK. Domestic fiction. Electronic books. |
Other Formats and Editions
Electronic resources
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2006 May #1
In her sixty-seventh novel, Steel sticks to what she knows best, the lifestyles of the rich and glamorous. Here "coming out" refers to an exclusive debutante ball in New York, to which the twin daughters of attorney Olympia Crawford Rubinstein have been invited. Olympia, a blue-blooded spawn of New York's upper class, has three children from a previous marriage and a five-year-old son with her current husband, Harry. To Olympia's surprise, the invitation has caused turmoil and chaos in her household. Ex-husband Chauncey, a stereotypical polo-playing upper-class lout, is demanding that the girls attend the ball and has threatened to withhold college tuition if both girls do not attend. Olympia's current husband Harry, the son of Holocaust survivors, and a hard-working man with liberal tendencies, is violently opposed to the event, which he finds racist and elitist. In addition, the twins have their own ideas, with Veronica, a passionate liberal, refusing to attend, and Virginia already shopping for a dress. Olympia, who fondly recalls her own debut, is upset by her husband's feelings but thinks he'll come around and gently encourages her daughters to attend. The entire plot of this fairly short novel is focused on the resolution of this family dilemma, and as usual, everything works out for the best in the end. ((Reviewed May 1, 2006)) Copyright 2006 Booklist Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2006 May #1
Manhattan matron struggles to keep the family peace when her wildly divergent twin daughters are invited to a debutante ball.With blueblood originsâif not inclinationsâOlympia Crawford Rubenstein is sweetly nostalgic when she receives an invitation for her 18-year-old twins Veronica and Virginia to attend New York's toniest coming-out ball. A former debutante herself, but now a busy lawyer with a five-year-old son by her adoring second husband, Harry, Olympia knows that the days of rich girls finding suitable husbands at such society events are long over. Still, she thinks it would be a nice opportunity for the girls. Boy-and-shopping-crazed Virginia agrees, and she is overjoyed at the idea of wearing a white dress to the fancy party. Her more serious left-leaning sister, however, thinks the whole ritual is ridiculous and refuses to go. Olympia's ex-husband, Chauncey, a polo-playing blowhard, not only insists that his daughters make their debut, but he even threatens to cut off their college tuition unless they both participate, unfairly pitting the sisters against each other. Harry, an otherwise mensch of a judge, wants nothing to do with the waspy tradition, believing it to be elitist and anti-Semitic. That is why he is disappointed when his Holocaust-survivor mom Frieda, thinking it will be great fun, agrees to go as a family guest. Olympia is left stuck in the middle, and needless to say, additional stresses, such as a punk-rock escort, an ill-advised tattoo and an unexpected bout of chicken pox nearly derail her careful attempts to make the evening work. And then there is Olympia's dutiful eldest son Charlie, a college senior, who, it is repeatedly noted, seems preoccupied and sad. What ever could be wrong with the boy? Hint: Coming out is not just for debs anymore! Fortunately, compromises are made and family bonds prevail in Steel's short and syrupy latest (The House, 2006, etc.).A slight confection that spares no heartwarming family cliché, but one that acknowledges the unique challenges of today's mixed families. Copyright Kirkus 2006 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2006 March #1
All's well for Olympia Crawford Rubinstein until her twin daughters receive an invitation to a coming-out ball. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2006 April #4
In her 67th novel (following May's The House) bestselling author Steel (more than 530 million copies sold) fashions a plot around a single event: an invitation to a debutante ball in New York City. Attorney Olympia Crawford Rubinstein manages to juggle a challenging full-time job; a loving relationship with her second husband, Harry (an appeals court judge who is her former law professor ); the care of their five-year-old son, Max, and her three older children from a previous marriage. Olympia's first husband, Chauncey, is a stereotypical, upper-class snob, with no job but a passion for playing polo. Harry, son of Holocaust survivors, champions liberal causes. When Olympia's teenage twin daughters, Veronica and Virginia, are invited to an exclusive "coming out" ball, everyone's lives are thrown into turmoil. Most of the book revolves around the arguments and disagreements spurred by the invitation, and Steel appears overly didactic as she tries to pump life into the simplistic setup: Olympia's Jewish mother-in-law, Afro-American law partner and gay older son are trotted out like polo ponies at auction. Steel's metier is glamour and romance; her attempt to deal with social injustice falls flat. (July) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
