Rogue - From a first-time Steel reader
Written: Jul 17 '08 (Updated Jul 18 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fun, quick, fairytale read
Cons: A bit forced at times
The Bottom Line: Good romantic, fairytale summer-read
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| jumperless's Full Review: Danielle Steel - Rogue |
Danielle Steel has been writing books for what, 82 years now? Yet Rogue is the first of hers I've read and I'll probably read more of hers after it. Perusing Amazon for some light summer reading ideas, I came across Rogue in a best seller list with two good reviews. The story looked interesting, so I picked it up. Having just finished the very heavy A Thousand Splendid Suns, Rogue was a light reading vacation and I finished it in under a week which is lightening fast for my reading schedule. I realize that I'm not the typical reader of her books as a childless, female, working IT geek. But I decided to give it a try anyway.
Maxine Williams is a single mother raising 3 kids while maintaining a busy medical practice, with the help of a dedicated nanny, in New York City. At 42-years-old, she's already had a very successful career in youth psychiatry, written multiple books and assisted in many global disasters while raising kids with an absentee, jet-setting, billionaire husband ... a really hard working nanny, I guess. And despite eating pasta and brownies as a late dinner regularly, manages to stay slim.
5 years ago, she made a painful choice to divorce her tabloid-making, Peter Pan husband, Blake Williams, to pursue a more responsible, adult life for their children. But she and her children remain on great terms with him even though they see him maybe a few times a year. Blake jet-sets around the world, buying houses and changing girlfriends more than many change their underwear while Maxine lives a modest life dedicated to her work and children. Steel describes Blake's personality and charisma in a way that we can all relate him to someone we know. For me, it's my former boss ... plus billions of dollars.
Anyway, Maxine finally re-enters the dating scene when she meets Charles West, a fellow doctor and polar opposite to Blake, a quiet, responsible adult who she can relate to. The kind on man she thought she's always been looking for to lead a grounded, domestic life she could never have with Blake. She was thrilled when they decided to get married. It just happens that Blake experiences a life-altering event while working on a palace abroad and needs Maxine’s expertise to help, exposing both Maxine and Blake to sides of each other they've never seen. Now with the wedding coming up, Maxine has a tough choice to make.
I can see why Danielle Steel has been a popular author for so long. While the characters in Rogue weren't in total touch with reality, that's the point of fiction, right? She has the ability to tickle the readers mind with a dreamy, perfect life probably far from they're own. I know I'm not a successful, attractive, single female doctor, raising 3 kids and running a schedule that would spin most army drill sergeants heads on maybe 3 hours of sleep. I'd be in a mental institution before achieving such a life-style, but I like to think I can.
The character development seemed a little weak, I sometimes felt I was being force-fed facts about the characters that were just too far from reality to buy. Such as despite Blake never being around and MIA when Maxine needs him for child-related emergencies, she absolutely loves him still. Steel spends a bit of time taking the reader through Maxine's chaotic life, illustrating what drives her and her levels of dedication to her career and kids. Yet, Blake's development felt more forced and I found it hard liking someone who regularly forgets he has kids and values re-doing mansions abroad than spending time with his kids. At the same time, it was still a fun, quick modern fairy-tale which, like many, I could really use at times.
Recommended:
Yes
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jumperless
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