姐妹Sisters

出版时间：2008-1  出版社：Danielle Steel Dell (2008-01出版)  作者：Danielle Steel  

内容概要

Four sisters, a Manhattan brownstone, and a tumultuous year of loss and courage are at the heart of Danielle Steel’s new novel about a remarkable family, a stunning tragedy—and what happens when four very different young women come together under one very lively roof.
Candy–it’s the only name she needs—is blazing her way through Paris, New York, and Tokyo as fashion’s latest international supermodel. . . . 
Her sister Tammy has a job producing the most successful hit show on TV, and a home she loves in L.A.’s Hollywood Hills. . . . In New York, oldest sister Sabrina is an ambitious young lawyer, while Annie is an American artist in Florence, living for her art. . . . On one Fourth of July weekend, as they do every year, the four sisters come home to Connecticut for their family’s annual gathering. But before the holiday is over, tragedy strikes and their world is utterly changed.
Suddenly, four sisters who have been fervently pursuing success and their own lives—on opposite sides of the world—reunite to share one New York brownstone, to support each other and their father, and to pick up the pieces while one sister struggles to heal her shattered body and soul. Thus begins an unscripted chapter of their lives, as a bustling house is soon filled with eccentric dogs, laughter, tears, friends, men . . . and the kind of honesty and unconditional love only sisters can provide. But as the four women settle in, they are forced to confront the direction of their respective lives. As the year passes and another July Fourth approaches, a season of grief and change gives way to new beginnings—as a family comes together to share its blessings and a future filled with surprises and, ultimately, hope.
With unerring insight and compassion, Danielle Steel tells a compelling story of four sisters who love and laugh, struggle and triumph . . . and are irrevocably woven into the fabric of each other’s lives. Brilliantly blending humor and heartbreak, she delivers a powerful message about the fragility—and the wonder—of life.
 From the Hardcover edition.

作者简介

Danielle Steel has been hailed as one of the world’s most popular authors, with over 570 million copies of her novels sold. Her many international bestsellers include Amazing Grace, Bungalow 2, Sisters, H.R.H., Coming Out, The House, and other highly acclaimed novels. She is also the author of His Bright Light, the story of her son Nick Traina’s life and death.From the Hardcover edition.

章节摘录

Chapter One   The photo shoot in the Place de la Concorde, in Paris, had been going  since eight o'clock that morning. They had an area around one of the fountains cordoned  off, and a bored-looking Parisian gendarme stood watching the proceedings. The model  stood in the fountain for hours on end, jumping, splashing, laughing, her head thrown  back in practiced glee, and each time she did it, she was convincing. She was wearing  an evening gown hiked up to her knees, and a mink wrap. A powerful battery-operated  fan blew her long blond hair out in a mane behind her.  Passersby stopped and stared,  fascinated by the scene as a makeup artist in a tank top and shorts climbed in and  out of the fountain to keep the model's makeup perfect. By noon, the model still  looked like she was having a fabulous time, as she laughed with the photographer  and his two assistants between shots as well as on camera. Cars slowed as they drove  by, and two American teenagers stopped and stared in amazement as they strolled by  and recognized her.  "Oh my God, Mom! It's Candy!" the older of the two girls intoned  with awe. They were on vacation in Paris from Chicago, but even Parisians recognized  Candy easily. She was the most successful supermodel in America, and on the international  scene, and had been since she was seventeen. Candy was twenty-one now, and had made  a fortune modeling in New York, Paris, London, Milan, Tokyo, and a dozen other cities.  The agency could barely handle the volume of her bookings. She was on the cover of  Vogue at least twice a year, and was in constant demand. Candy was, without a doubt,  the hottest model in the business, and a household name even to those who knew little  about fashion.  Her full name was Candy Adams, but she never used her last name,  just Candy. She didn't need more than that. Everybody knew her, her face, her name,  her reputation as one of the world's leading models. She managed to make everything  look like fun, whether she was running through snow barefoot in a bikini in the freezing  cold in Switzerland, walking through the surf in an evening gown in the winter on  Long Island, or wearing a full-length sable coat under a blazing sun in the Tuscan  hills. Whatever she did, she looked as though she was having a ball doing it. Standing  in the fountain in the Place de la Concorde in July was easy, despite the heat and  the morning sun, in one of Paris's standard summer heat waves. The shoot was for  another Vogue cover, for the October issue, and the photographer, Matt Harding, was  one of the biggest in the business. They had worked together hundreds of times over  the last four years, and he loved shooting with her.  Unlike other models as important  as she was, Candy was always easy—good-natured, funny, irreverent, sweet, and surprisingly  naive after the success she'd enjoyed since the beginning of her career. She was  just a nice person, and an incredible beauty. She didn't have a single bad angle.  Her face was virtually perfect for the camera, with no flaws, no defects. She had  the delicacy of a cameo, with finely carved features, miles of naturally blond hair  that she wore long most of the time, and blue eyes the color of sky and the size  of saucers. Matt knew she liked to party hard and stay out late, and amazingly it  never showed in her face the next day. She was one of the lucky few who could get  away with playing and never have it show afterward. She wouldn't be able to get away  with it forever, but for now she still could. If anything, she only got prettier  with age, although at twenty-one, one could hardly expect her to be touched by the  ravages of time, but some models started to show it even at her age. Candy didn't.  And her natural sweetness still showed through just as it had the first day he'd  met her, when she was seventeen and doing her first shoot for Vogue with him. He  loved her. Everyone did. There wasn't a man or woman in the business who didn't love  Candy.  She stood six foot one in bare feet, weighed a hundred and sixteen pounds  on a heavy day, and he knew she never ate, but whatever the reason for her light  weight, it looked great on her. Although she was thin in person, she always looked  fabulous in the images he took of her. Just like Vogue, which adored her and had  assigned him to work with her on this shoot, Candy was his favorite model.  They  wrapped up the shoot at twelve-thirty, and she climbed out of the fountain as though  she had only been in it for ten minutes, instead of four and a half hours. They were  doing a second setup at the Arc de Triomphe that afternoon, and one that night at  the Eiffel Tower, with the sparklers going off behind them. Candy never complained  about difficult conditions or long hours, which was one of the reasons photographers  loved working with her. That, and the fact that you couldn't get a bad photograph  of her. Her face was the most forgiving on the planet, and the most desirable.  "Where  do you want to go for lunch?" Matt asked her, as his assistants put away his cameras  and tripod and locked up the film, while Candy slipped out of the white mink wrap  and dried her legs with a towel. She was smiling, and looked as though she had enjoyed  it thoroughly.  "I don't know. L'Avenue?" she suggested with a smile. She was easy.  They had plenty of time. It would take his assistants roughly two hours to set up  the shoot at the Arc de Triomphe. He had gone over all the details and angles with  them the day before, and he didn't need to be there until they had the shot fully  ready. That gave him and Candy a couple of hours for lunch. Many models and fashion  gurus frequented L'Avenue, also Costes, the Buddha Bar, Man Ray, and an assortment  of Paris haunts. He liked L'Avenue too, and it was close to where they were going  to shoot that afternoon. He knew it didn't matter where they went, she wasn't likely  to eat much anyway, just consume gallons of water, which was what all the models  did. They flushed their systems constantly so they didn't gain an ounce. And with  the two lettuce leaves Candy usually ate, she was hardly likely to put on weight.  If anything, she got thinner every year. But she looked healthy, in spite of her  enormous height, and ridiculously light weight. You could see all the bones in her  shoulders, chest, and ribs. Just as she was more famous than most of her counterparts,  she was also thinner than most. It worried Matt for her sometimes, although she just  laughed when he accused her of having an eating disorder. Candy never responded to  comments about her weight. Most major models flirted with or suffered from anorexia,  or worse. It went with the territory. Humans didn't come in these sizes, not after  the age of nine. Adult women, who ate even halfway normally, just weren't that thin.  They had a car and driver who took them to the restaurant on the Avenue Montaigne,  and as usual at that hour and time of year, it was mobbed. The couture collections  were being shown the following week, and designers, photographers, and models had  already started to fly in. In addition, it was high tourist season in Paris. Americans  loved the restaurant, but so did trendy Parisians. It was always a scene. One of  the owners spotted Candy immediately, and showed them to a table on the glassed-in  terrace, which they referred to as the "Veranda." It was where she liked to sit.  She loved the fact that she could smoke in any restaurant in Paris. She wasn't a  heavy smoker, but indulged occasionally, and she liked having the freedom to do it,  without getting dark looks or ugly comments. Matt commented that she was one of the  few women who made smoking look appealing. She did everything with grace, and could  make tying her shoelaces look sexy. She simply had that kind of style.  Matt ordered  a glass of white wine before lunch, and Candy asked for a large bottle of water.  She had left the giant water bottle she usually toted around in the car. She ordered  a salad for lunch, without dressing, Matt ordered steak tartare, and they settled  back to relax, as people at tables around them stared at her. Everyone in the place  had recognized her. She was wearing jeans and a tank top and flat silver sandals  she had bought the year before in Portofino. She often had sandals made there, or  in St. Tropez; she usually got there every summer. You could see her nipples through  the thin white cotton tank top, which didn't bother her at all, nor the men who watched  her. She was totally at ease in her own skin, and with who she was.  "Are you coming  down to St. Tropez this weekend?" Matt asked, assuming she was. "There's a party  on Valentino's yacht." He knew that Candy would have been one of the first to be  asked, and she rarely turned down an invitation, and surely not this one. She usually  stayed at the Byblos Hotel, with friends, or on someone's yacht. Candy always had  a million options, and was in huge demand, as a celebrity, a woman, and a guest.  Everyone wanted to be able to say she'd be there, so others would come. People used  her as a lure, and proof of their social prowess. It was a hard burden to carry,  and often crossed the line into exploitation, but she didn't seem to mind, and was  used to it. She went where she wanted to, and where she thought she'd have the best  time. But this time she surprised him. Despite her incredible looks, she was a woman  of many facets, and not the mindless, superficial beauty some expected. Candy was  not only gorgeous but decent, and very bright, even if still naive and young, despite  her success. Matt liked that about her. There was nothing jaded about Candy, and  she enjoyed it all, whatever she did.  "I can't go to St. Tropez," she said, picking  at her lettuce. So far, he had seen her actually swallow two bites.  "Other plans?"  "Yeah," she said simply, smiling. "I have to go home. My parents give a Fourth of  July party every year, and my mother would kill me if I didn't show up. It's a command  performance for me and my sisters....

编辑推荐

From Publishers Weekly Four stunningly beautiful Connecticut-bred sisters pursue their disparate careers in prolific Steel's (H.R.H.) latest. There's Candy, 21, a supermodel with an eating disorder, on location in Paris; Annie, 26, a RISD-grad studying painting in Florence; Tammy, at 29 an L.A. TV producer with a new hit and no life; and Sabrina, 34, a workaholic, commitment-phobic family attorney. No matter what, all meet at Mommy and Daddy's for July 4, Thanksgiving and Christmas. During one of the reunions, a disastrous car accident kills their beautiful, dutiful mother and leaves artist Annie blind. Sabrina comes up with a plan for the sisters to live ensemble in a New York brownstone, so that they might grieve and ease Annie's transition into the sightless world. The questions then become Will Candy eat? Will Sabrina commit? Will Tammy have a hit? Will Annie transition? And will Dad love again? Legions of fans expect an emphatic yes, and they won't be disappointed. But they can also expect decapitation, rape and emotional betrayal, which work like little shocks to keep pages turning. (Feb.) 

名人推荐

From Publishers Weekly  Four stunningly beautiful Connecticut-bred sisters pursue their  disparate careers in prolific Steel's (H.R.H.) latest. There's Candy, 21, a supermodel with  an eating disorder, on location in Paris; Annie, 26, a RISD-grad studying  painting in Florence; Tammy, at 29 an L.A. TV producer with a new hit and no  life; and Sabrina, 34, a workaholic, commitment-phobic family attorney. No  matter what, all meet at Mommy and Daddy's for July 4, Thanksgiving and  Christmas. During one of the reunions, a disastrous car accident kills their  beautiful, dutiful mother and leaves artist Annie blind. Sabrina comes up with  a plan for the sisters to live ensemble in a  New York brownstone, so that they might grieve and ease Annie's transition into  the sightless world. The questions then become Will Candy eat? Will Sabrina  commit? Will Tammy have a hit? Will Annie transition? And will Dad love again?  Legions of fans expect an emphatic yes, and they won't be disappointed. But  they can also expect decapitation, rape and emotional betrayal, which work like  little shocks to keep pages turning. (Feb.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.   

用户评论 (总计1条)

•   书是精装，硬皮封面，里面字体很大，看起来不累眼睛，书很厚，只是书脊处不太结实，下方略有破损。