The Numbers Game by Danielle Steel – a Review

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Description:
Eileen Jackson was happy to set aside her own dreams to raise a family with her husband, Paul. Together they built an ordinary life in a Connecticut town, the perfect place for their kids to grow up. But when Eileen discovers that Paul’s late nights in the city are hiding an affair with a younger woman, she begins to question all those years of sacrifice and compromise. On the brink of forty and wondering what she’s going to do with the rest of her life, is it too late for her to start over?

Meanwhile, as Paul is thrust back into the role of suburban fatherhood, his girlfriend, Olivia, is in Manhattan, struggling to find herself in the shadow of her mother, a famous actress, and her grandmother, a fiercely independent ninety-two-year-old artist. With their unique brands of advice ringing in her head, Olivia takes a major step, expanding her art gallery business internationally. Seeing her mother pursue old dreams and even find new love, Olivia realizes that there is so much she must learn about herself before committing her life to someone else.

Ultimately, Eileen decides to chase her own dreams as well. She’s off to Paris to attend Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. What awaits is an adventure that reinvents her life and redefines her.

At every age, there are challenges to be met and new worlds to discover. In this surprising, illuminating novel, Danielle Steel gives us a warmhearted portrait of people driven by their emotions, life experiences, and loyalties, who realize that it’s never too late to turn a new page and start again.

Review:

The Numbers Game by Danielle Steel is another one of her wonderful stories of family and problems that have an effect on everyone lives along the way. The story centers around married couple, Eileen and Paul, who both gave up their dreams as teenagers to marry, as she was pregnant.  Years later, they live in a nice house in Connecticut, with Eileen being a stay at home mom, and Paul having a successful career in New York; they have three children, with the oldest being Penny at 17. 

When Paul works very long hours, Eileen begins to suspect that he may be having an affair.   When she approaches Paul, he reluctantly confesses that he has been seeing a younger woman.  Eileen and Paul will separate, and their lives and choices is the focus of this story. Paul lives in New York, with his very young girlfriend, Olivia, who has a successful art gallery.  Olivia comes from a famous family, her mother is an actress, and grandmother is a world renown sculptor.

Eileen, slowly begins to adjust life without Paul, and finds herself becoming more self sufficient and changes in her life are for the better.  She decides that though she is in her 40’s, she is still young enough to fulfill her dreams.  Eileen, who is a good cook, signs up for a class in Paris to attend Le Cordon Bleu cooking school, as she wants to start a catering business. To do so, she convinces Paul to stay with the kids for three months, which he agrees, since he feels he owes her this, even if it begins to hurt his relationship with Olivia.

The story revolves around Eileen, as well as Olivia, and to a smaller content, Penny (Eileen & Paul’s daughter), Gwen (the actress), and Gabriella (grandmother), as we watch how all their lives, each at various ages, develop in this heartwarming and wonderful story about life effecting each of them.   I did like all the women involved, and though Eileen was a great heroine, as she was not only a wonderful person, but very likeable.  At first, I was not a fan of Olivia, but over time, she turned out pretty good, and also likeable.

What follows is watching each of them come to major decisions, with many changes along the way, including breakups, divorce, love, happiness and family.  The Numbers Game was very well written by Danielle Steel. 

Reviewed by Barb

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