A Good Woman by Danielle Steel

This is also another book by Danielle Steel. I found this book to be very entertaining, well written, and engaging to read.  I would definitely recommend this book and it is definitely an easy light read. I also enjoyed the historical context behind this book, and it was very detailed.

Synopsis: This book is about a woman named Annabelle Worthington.  She is raised in a very wealthy family. At the age of nineteen, she loses her father and brother on the Titanic. Her mother survived the sinking, and she married Josiah Millbank who was twice her age.

Annabelle and Josiah were married for two years but never consummated their marriage due to Josiah being gay and having feelings for his best friend Henry. Josiah divorced Annabelle soon after her mother died. Because Annabelle would not divorce him, Josiah divorced her on the charges of adultery which exiled Annabelle from all of her friends and family.

She then goes to war torn Europe and goes to medical school in France and becomes a doctor. While she is in France, she is raped by a drunk soldier and becomes pregnant with his daughter.  After the war is over, Annabelle stays in France and becomes a doctor and raises her child.

Eventually, Annabelle and her daughter return to New York and she comes to terms with her past.

Review:

After reading this book, I found several themes that stood out to me.

The first theme that stood out for me was the theme of Annabelle coming to terms with her past and realizing that she is a good woman despite her past.

“Their exchanges reminded Annabelle of the ones she had shared with her own mother, and she had given Annabelle much to think about with their conversation on the first day, about Annabelle not being daunted by the labels people had put on her unfairly. She kept reminding her throughout the weekend that she was a good woman.”

The other theme that stood out for me was Annabelle wanting more for her life than just being content being a wife and mother. Although those were things that were important for her, Annabelle also had higher dreams of being a doctor.

I admired how ardently Annabelle pursued her dreams and how much strength she showed despite everything that happened to her.