Another of the women’s interest novels that Danielle Steele does best. Against all odds is the story of the widowed Kate who runs a resale store called Simply Fabulous in New York where she sells vintage fashions that she picks up from mansions across America and sometimes France. Kate’s business is doing well and she has four children, who cut across different occupations and social issues. Isabelle is a lawyer, Justin a gay writer, Julie a dyslexic designer and Willie a geek. Simply told the story is how Kate’s successful life is disrupted by the love affairs of her children, most of which Kate has doubts about.
Isabelle for example is involved with a poor rich boy who does nothing for a living and is a drug user. Justin and his partner Richard want to have a baby through a surrogate. Julie loses her heart to a man who seems too good to be true. Kate’s nose tells her that there is a problem in most of the situations and she proves to be right except in one instance. The clutch of problems is a cross section of the issues that crop up in the modern day family — dealing with a gay son or a son-in-law who doesn’t want to work, or domestic abuse — though the abuse is kept secret from Kate till her daughter escapes. Striking a blow for the senior citizen is Kate’s mother Louise who in her eighties likes wandering the world with her widowed friend Frances and doing things like tangoing in Buenos Aires on New Year’s Eve.
It seems that the odds are stacked up against Kate and her family — the single long widowed mother too falls for a seductive Frenchman who says he is married but only on paper. In a world where relationships as we know them have changed, Steele addresses the results. Women in their fifties have a right to date, men can be gay and senior citizens should by all means enjoy themselves if they are fit. And yes, in most cases, mother does know best and children, even grown up children, should listen when their parents have doubts.
Of course, certain things are expected. Romance for Kate has to be on the cards since middle-aged women need relationships too. However Steele’s is finally a story about survival. Despite the odds if you have a supportive family — something that is becoming more and more vital in a world where nuclear families are the order of the day — you will make it through broken hearts and betrayals.
As always Steele is an easy read with no unnecessary style frills and quite a bit of Chanel and high heels thrown in. There’s enough difficulty to make it meaningful and the requisite dose of romance to keep readers feeling good.
Anjana Basu is the author of Curses in Ivory
