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25th out of 39 books
—
2 voters
44 Charles Street
A magical transformation takes place in Danielle Steel’s luminous new novel: strangers become roommates, roommates become friends, and friends become a family in a turn-of-the-century house in Manhattan’s West Village.
The plumbing was prone to leaks, the furniture rescued from garage sales. And every square inch was being devotedly restored to its original splendor—even as...more
The plumbing was prone to leaks, the furniture rescued from garage sales. And every square inch was being devotedly restored to its original splendor—even as...more
Hardcover, 336 pages
Published
April 5th 2011
by Delacorte Press
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So far....this is the most poorly written book I have EVER read! I would love to edit with a red pen as I have already found so many errors. I love the stories DS creates but how she has sustained through the years is beyond me! Why am I reading it? Who knows! It is almost a compulsion. I started reading DS as a teenager and cannot stop. I guess it is a fascination to me to see how my critical reading skills have increased. The good news, the story is interesting. So far I am about half way thro...more
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I enjoyed some of Danielle Steele's novels a few decades ago. I stopped reading them when they started to be too predictable. I read somewhere that she had written a few good books lately, so I decided to give her another try. I found this story to be horribly written. My guess is that Ms. Steele was committed to churn out a certain number of words by a deadline. There was so much repetition from page to page, even sentence to sentence, that it was ridiculous. Buried under the poor writing / edi...more
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My mother in law said I should read this book because of "our family situation." So I kept reading trying to imagine how our family situation resembled the people on 44 Charles Street. I couldn't figure it out, until it finally struck me: Oh, yes, of course (smacks forehead): It's about the trials and tribulations of the couple having to put up with the two world famous gourmet chefs renting their spare room and continually trying out their fabulous recipes for their new cookbook on us (oh, the...more
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The story was pleasant enough but nothing exciting. I liked the theme of second chances, learning to let go of the past and moving ahead with your life. The characters were pretty well written, however, they were a bit frustrating. I felt that Francesca was incredibly naive for a 35 YO who owns her own art studio. With parents like hers, I would have thought she would be a little more worldly. I was disturbed by the way the roommates handled the situation of domestic abuse of one of their own. T...more
Here is a small sampling of things I learned while reading this novel:
- When young women meet men via online dating websites, they have tattoos, piercings, and drive motorcycles. They also rape, strangle and kill young women
- The above scenario is the woman's fault. Women experience "Internet insanity" and when they are trapped in abusive relationships, the only way out is death
- People look for rooms to rent in the newspaper
- People refer to brownstones in the West Village as "houses"
- 65 year...more
- When young women meet men via online dating websites, they have tattoos, piercings, and drive motorcycles. They also rape, strangle and kill young women
- The above scenario is the woman's fault. Women experience "Internet insanity" and when they are trapped in abusive relationships, the only way out is death
- People look for rooms to rent in the newspaper
- People refer to brownstones in the West Village as "houses"
- 65 year...more
6 likes · like · see review
This book was recommended to me by a friend she thought that I would be able to relate to it. She was right ... At 38 with my 15.5 year marriage ending I find myself house sharing for the first time. For me it seemed quite a traumatic thing at times. My first house share with 5 others in Brighton being a bit of an eye opener. My second house share a much more peaceful affair. I read the book from cover to cover and my heart was comforted life does indeed go on. People find love again when they l...more
I love Danielle Steel novels for the days where I want an undemanding formula read with a mostly happy ending. 44 Charles Street delivered just that, so I'm a happy woman.
We join Francesca Thayer just as her marriage is ending and her finances are dire. She faces losing her home and her business imminently. Although beautiful, slim, and impeccably high-class as Steel's heroines always are, her fears, struggles, and heartache will resonate for many readers. The pain for this character is finely d...more
We join Francesca Thayer just as her marriage is ending and her finances are dire. She faces losing her home and her business imminently. Although beautiful, slim, and impeccably high-class as Steel's heroines always are, her fears, struggles, and heartache will resonate for many readers. The pain for this character is finely d...more
This was my first Danielle Steel book. I've never been intrigued enough to read any of her books but my mom left this behind for me to give to a charity shop and I figured I should read it first.
It was okay but I think I was expecting something different. I've heard people say her books are really violent and sexual(or at least my memory believes this to be true). This reminded me more of melodramatic movies where not that much happens, such as Terms of Endearment or Fried Green Tomatoes. You kn...more
It was okay but I think I was expecting something different. I've heard people say her books are really violent and sexual(or at least my memory believes this to be true). This reminded me more of melodramatic movies where not that much happens, such as Terms of Endearment or Fried Green Tomatoes. You kn...more
I received this book as a gift from my husband for Valentines. He hadn't read any reviews on it until after bringing it home to me, if he had I am pretty sure he would have picked up a different book for me.
I say don't read this book unless you are a die hard Daniel Steel reader other than that this book is very poorly written. She repeats herself repeatedly about the mother who is obsessed with getting married and how selfish, and childish she is. There were also more than several repeats abo...more
I say don't read this book unless you are a die hard Daniel Steel reader other than that this book is very poorly written. She repeats herself repeatedly about the mother who is obsessed with getting married and how selfish, and childish she is. There were also more than several repeats abo...more
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I've read quite a few Danielle Steel books through the years, mostly on audio CD's, and this was no exception. She is great to take when driving on vacation, because she is easy to follow. This book, is not one of her best. She seems like a preacher, in that she tells you many, many times, which of her characters you should like, and which you shouldn't. She tells you at least a hundred times, that internet dating is dangerous. This book would be a guilty pleasure, beach read. The book follows h...more
Let me begin by saying I have been reading Danielle Steel for 30+ years and have read all her books. Why you ask? Hell if I know, but I am the type that always finishes what I start!! Her plots are certainly not thick and her characters are interchangeable from one book to the other. She repeats herself so much that I do believe if I read every fourth page I wouldn't miss a thing. And I still keep reading them! [what does that say about me?] But they are so quick to get through and once in awhil...more
5 likes · like · see review
44 Charles Street
By Danielle Steel
After a recent break up Francesca Thayer struggles to keep her house and business running. Since she can no longer afford to pay the full mortgage on her on she decides to take in roommates. First comes Eileen fresh out of college and recently moved to New York from San Diego after she began receiving unwanted attention from a man who would not take no for an answer, then comes Chris recently divorced and with joint custody of a seven year old boy, then Marya a...more
By Danielle Steel
After a recent break up Francesca Thayer struggles to keep her house and business running. Since she can no longer afford to pay the full mortgage on her on she decides to take in roommates. First comes Eileen fresh out of college and recently moved to New York from San Diego after she began receiving unwanted attention from a man who would not take no for an answer, then comes Chris recently divorced and with joint custody of a seven year old boy, then Marya a...more
Aug 18, 2011
Jinky
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-in-2011,
playaway-audio
I'm glad I'm rediscovering Danielle Steel. She's not the raunchy romance novelist that I pegged her out to be. I don't remember which of her books that I read in the '80s that gave me that impression but the raunchiness is gone! In fact, she's mixing in a bit of mystery (ex. Southern Lights). Anyway, this book was straight out romance. Man and woman meet, buy a house and live together, partnership a business, then things just don't work out and woman scramble a plan to save house and business.
T...more
T...more
Geez she sure is repeptive! lol.. You'll be reading that same comment in a lot of her book reviews. Yea, I'm a single 34 year old man and I read Danielle Steel. *feels you silently judging me. I read her books because they are usually good stories and they are easily readable, I can finish one in two days without much effort. But over the years her books have gotten even more formulaic andrepetitive with interchangeable characters, etc.. Her writing style is very simplistic which makes, sometime...more
I really hate giving a book one star, but by the end of this I disliked it...strongly. I read this on someone else's recommendation. Now I remember why I don't read Danielle Steele books. First, I really don't usually like pop-romance stories. And this book reminded me why. One dimensional characters, all pretty much stereotypes, simplistic, and predictable. The writer just tells you all about each person. Then they act accordingly. There is no discovery, no surprises, no depth. This is a creati...more
I tried. I made it almost halfway through this one before I decided that my available reading time was too precious to waste it on this novel. Perhaps a part of me hopes and wishes that Danielle Steel would write good romances again, but starting with Wanderlust, I haven't really enjoyed anything "new." As others have commented, there is far too much repetition in this novel. Yeah yeah, I get it. No need to remind me again and again. I also find that the novels cruise through time with inane det...more
When reading a new book, one of the first things I do is read the reviews of what others have said about it. The ones for this book were surprisingly low. Sure it doesn't hold the punch or appeal as Fifty Shades of Grey or fantasy lure like Twilight, but Danielle Steel is a totally different author. She had been around for quite a while and in the eyes of romance, would be considered quite the expert. Her books were the ones that really got me interested in reading and when I read what 44 Charle...more
Danielle Steel writes either over-the-top tragedy or contemporary romance-with-issues books. This one is in the romance category, and I really enjoyed it. The main character Francesca faced some difficulties in the beginning which prompted her to get roommates. Subsequently, the cast of characters turned out to be diverse and interesting, and their interactions were intriguing. I liked the development of the characters, and the story kept my interest throughout.
Favorite quote on relationships, "...more
Favorite quote on relationships, "...more
This is a contemporary romance taking place in New York City. Francesca Thayer lives in an old four story fixer upper, running an art gallery. Her boyfriend, Todd, managed the business end of the venture and is now bowing out--both of her life and the business. Francesca is left to figure out how to buy out her boyfriend, while still maintaining hold of the house and business. Her solution is to find 3 room mates. Eileen is the first and is a special ed teacher from LA. She is quite young and fo...more
It was easy to read, had lots of interesting characters and character development. It was basically a story about relationships, endings, moving on and new beginnings - written in a way to keep you wanting to keep reading until the end.
I started reading Danielle Steel many years ago and have read most of her books. I enjoy picking up one of her books and reading it when I want something lighter (escapism so to speak) and a refreshing change from some of the heavier memoirs and biographies I ofte...more
I started reading Danielle Steel many years ago and have read most of her books. I enjoy picking up one of her books and reading it when I want something lighter (escapism so to speak) and a refreshing change from some of the heavier memoirs and biographies I ofte...more
It's ok. I've never read any Danielle Steele and I have a feeling I won't anymore. The story was interesting, but as others have said, the writing is terrible. So many things were repeated over and over again that it's like she was trying to beat it into the reader's head that: Internet dating is bad, her mom was married a bunch of times and she didn't want to be like her, etc. There were times when a character would say something like "I don't think online dating is safe", which she had to foll...more
I hadn't read a Danielle Steele book in at least a decade, but saw this one at the library and figured why not. It was entertaining enough, but not a great book. Most of the book is written from Francesca's perspective, but sometimes all of a sudden it changes for one sentence or two. From the beginning, it was clear to me how things would end (even though there were still a few unexpected twists). It was strange how some things would be very detailed, and then suddenly two full weeks would be d...more
This is the first Danielle Steel novel I've read and I am really not motivated to read any more.
This book was so painful to read through. It was really dry and most of the characters were so flat. My favourite character was Marya, who was one of the roommates, but otherwise everyone else was quite static. The love that blossomed with the protagonist felt completely out of nowhere and I just didn't believe in it.
There was not enough dialogue. There would be a description of a character having a...more
This book was so painful to read through. It was really dry and most of the characters were so flat. My favourite character was Marya, who was one of the roommates, but otherwise everyone else was quite static. The love that blossomed with the protagonist felt completely out of nowhere and I just didn't believe in it.
There was not enough dialogue. There would be a description of a character having a...more
Francesca (owns art gallery) breaks up with her boyfriend and rents out rooms to help pay the mortgage.
Marya ..well known chef (Everyone who rents rooms should rent to CHEF!)
Chris ..Divorced guy with son. His ex is an addict who keeps OD'ing.
Eileen .. Special Ed teacher who gets questionable dates off the internet.
Not one of her best. Rather then have 1 big conflict through out the whole book, there were several conflicts that were solved within 10 min. Seemed like the problems were solved befor...more
Marya ..well known chef (Everyone who rents rooms should rent to CHEF!)
Chris ..Divorced guy with son. His ex is an addict who keeps OD'ing.
Eileen .. Special Ed teacher who gets questionable dates off the internet.
Not one of her best. Rather then have 1 big conflict through out the whole book, there were several conflicts that were solved within 10 min. Seemed like the problems were solved befor...more
As an young adult, Danielle Steel was one of the first authors I read. I enjoyed her books back then. Her story lines always featured main characters who experienced personal tragedy, followed by the life lesson to 'keep on keeping on' cause eventually you get past the pain.
As a older adult, I recently returned to her as an author anticipating the same enjoyment.... but, this story didn't do it for me. Her writing style had so much repetition (I don't recall that from my younger years), that at...more
As a older adult, I recently returned to her as an author anticipating the same enjoyment.... but, this story didn't do it for me. Her writing style had so much repetition (I don't recall that from my younger years), that at...more
Another typical Danielle Steel book - girl encounters adversity (in this case a relationship that doesn't work out, and needs money to pay the mortgage on a VERY large house), girl does something about it (in this case she takes in boarders, rather than selling her house, to which she is very attached), and girl falls in love (in this case with one of the boarders). Some minor bumps, but good almost always triumphs over evil (and when it doesn't, it's somewhat glossed over). Ms. Steel's writing...more
Show don't tell.... Show don't tell.. Come on Danielle you've written a hundred books, How can you still not know how to do this >< She does this with such obvious information that it's almost as if she feels her readers are idiots or has to remind herself what is going on.
I guarantee that if I took this manuscript and tried to shop it around to agents, I would have a pile of rejection letters all telling me that the book needs more emotion and dialog between the characters.
*The guy wh...more
I guarantee that if I took this manuscript and tried to shop it around to agents, I would have a pile of rejection letters all telling me that the book needs more emotion and dialog between the characters.
*The guy wh...more
I read Danielle Steel once a long, long time ago...can't even remember the title, but I remember not being able to put it down and crying so hard I swore I'd never read another. I broke down and picked this up when my hold list was not producing anything to read. It's hard to describe this book: the character development is wonderful but the pace....I don't know. The book plodded along and I honestly don't know why I kept reading it. Almost no style and despite the drama going on with the charac...more
Danielle Steel was one of the first authors I read. I enjoyed her books back then. Her story lines always featured main characters who experienced personal tragedy, followed by the life lesson to 'keep on keeping on' cause eventually you get past the pain.
I recently returned to her as an author anticipating the same enjoyment.... but, this story didn't do it for me. Her writing style had so much repetition (I don't recall that from my younger years), that at times I felt like was re-reading the...more
I recently returned to her as an author anticipating the same enjoyment.... but, this story didn't do it for me. Her writing style had so much repetition (I don't recall that from my younger years), that at times I felt like was re-reading the...more
This is my first danielle steele book. I think I may have read one back in high school, but I can't even remember the title or what it was about. This was a nice story, but it definitely could have been better. It takes place over the course of one whole year, and it is about a young woman who can't afford to pay the mortgage on her home after her boyfriend leaves her, so she takes in boarders and the story is basically about how these boarders become friends, and about their life together over...more
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| Danielle Steel Bo...: 44 Charles Street | 1 | 1 | Nov 20, 2012 09:05pm |
Since 1981, Ms. Steel has been a permanent fixture on the New York Times hardcover and paperback bestseller lists. In 1989, she was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for having at least one of her books on the Times bestseller list for 381 consecutive weeks. But Guinness was premature. The fact is that one or more of Ms. Steel's novels have been on the New York Times bestseller list for...more
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“There's a lid for every pot... You Just have to find yours. -Avery”
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“She wasn't on heroin then, but she was a mess. I thought I was going to put Humpty Dumpty back together and turn her into a princess. Instead, she turned into scrambled eggs, and always was”
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