Answered Prayers

From Booklist Steel's latest novel doesn't veer from her tried-and-true formula, so her loyal fans can happily anticipate enjoying this one without any surprises. Faith Madison, a beautiful, wealthy Manhattan housewife, has begun to question her life. Her two daughters are more or less raised; her husband, while cold and standoffish, remains a dependable partner; and their family is comfortably wealthy and fairly happy. Faith's nagging need for change is stimulated further when her stepfather dies. At the funeral, as painful memories from her sad past resurface, she runs into an old friend, Brad Patterson. Brad, who shares a close bond with Faith (due to some shared grief from the past), is also trapped in an unhappy marriage. As Faith's marriage deteriorates, she begins a long-distance correspondence with Brad, and although the two assure themselves that their relationship is purely platonic, things steadily heat up between them. In the meantime, spouses, children, and other events conspire to keep them apart. But as Faith slowly begins to believe in herself and her dreams, both she and Brad find the courage to overcome these obstacles. Steel's fans will be waiting for this one--librarians should stock up. Kathleen HughesCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Product Description Danielle Steel’s 56th bestselling novel is about family and friendship, about one woman’s struggle to break free from the past—and the man who helps her triumph. And most of all, it is about daring to believe in...Answered Prayers. On the outside, Faith Madison is the very picture of a sophisticated New Yorker. Slim, blond, stylish, Faith has a life many would envy. Overcoming a childhood marked by tragedy, married to a successful investment banker and having raised two grown daughters, Faith has enjoyed her role as mother and wife, and the good life that emanates from their bustling Manhattan town house. But every step of the way, Faith has carried within her a secret she could divulge to no one. And with it, she has kept an even more painful secret from herself. For Faith, it is the sudden death of her stepfather—a man who, like her husband, Alex, always remained just beyond her reach—that will touch off a journey of change and revelation. At the funeral, painful memories flood back—and an old friend reenters Faith’s life. Faith is greeting mourners, when she hears a voice behind her and a single word that brings a quick smile to her face: “Fred.” Only one person aside from her older brother, Jack, called her that. Brad Patterson was Jack’s best friend, a long, lanky boy who teased, tormented, and protected Faith when they fancied themselves “The Three Musketeers” as kids. When Jack died years later, Faith and Brad came together again in their common, inconsolable grief, then lost touch once more amid the demands of families and busy lives a continent apart. Now a lawyer in California, Brad has reentered Faith’s life just as she is making a decision that plunges her marriage into crisis. Determined to fulfill a long-held desire for a career of her own, Faith applies to law school against her husband’s wishes, igniting a barrage of anger and recrimination. Faith’s only solace is the correspondence she has begun with Brad, a man trapped in an empty marriage of his own, a friend she once lost and has found again. Soon e-mails are flying between them, bridging three thousand miles, sharing much-needed friendship, support, laughter. And as these two childhood friends rediscover each other, something extraordinary is beginning to happen. In the safety of their friendship, Brad will find the courage to make a decision he should have made years before. And Faith, too, is changing, beginning to believe in herself—and in her right to grab hold of her dreams. Gathering a strength she never knew she had, Faith is finally ready to face the most painful step of all: of sharing the secret that has long been haunting her, a