Helpful Score: 7
This has to be one of my all time favorite books by Danielle Steel!! Bittersweet and touching. Need tissue for this book :)
Helpful Score: 6
For over a decade, young Danina Petroskova has known no life but that of the ballet and her mentor Madame Markova. When a deathly illness steals her from the stage, the young dancer is inconsolable, and, desperate to speed her recovery, Madame Markova agrees to hand Danina over to the talented Dr. Nikolai Obrajensky for treatment. Convalescing with the Romanovs at the Tsarskoe Selo palace, Danina learns to live in and love the world beyond the ballet. And while grateful for Nikolai's companionship, she is startled by the intense emotions growing inside her for the married doctor. Drawn to Danina, Nikolai cannot ignore the passion between them either, and the strength of their love quickly overpowers their resistance. Soon Madame Markova and Nikolai's wife remind them of their previous obligations, and as the Revolution hovers on the horizon, the two must make a decision that will change their lives forever.
As if a romance set in the twilight years of czarist Russia doesn't have enough intrinsic pathos, Danielle Steel takes great care to give her hero and heroine the bittersweet combination of incomparable virtue and external duties. When the young prima ballerina and the married doctor meet, they are drawn to the corresponding sense of integrity and duty in each other. However, when love and duty conflict, the struggle is never easy.
Maestro Steel knows where the heartstrings are, and she plays them with her reliable talents. While students of history may cringe at the simplified approach to the historical period, readers just looking for a good time have found it. With the tough-but-loving mother figure, the ill-but-lovable Prince Alexander, the borrowed ball gowns, and the emotional grand jeté, this book has everything a TV movie needs except a small, cuddly pet. Put your feet up, set aside your spoilsport logic, and enjoy this novel for what it is: a classic romance.
As if a romance set in the twilight years of czarist Russia doesn't have enough intrinsic pathos, Danielle Steel takes great care to give her hero and heroine the bittersweet combination of incomparable virtue and external duties. When the young prima ballerina and the married doctor meet, they are drawn to the corresponding sense of integrity and duty in each other. However, when love and duty conflict, the struggle is never easy.
Maestro Steel knows where the heartstrings are, and she plays them with her reliable talents. While students of history may cringe at the simplified approach to the historical period, readers just looking for a good time have found it. With the tough-but-loving mother figure, the ill-but-lovable Prince Alexander, the borrowed ball gowns, and the emotional grand jeté, this book has everything a TV movie needs except a small, cuddly pet. Put your feet up, set aside your spoilsport logic, and enjoy this novel for what it is: a classic romance.
Helpful Score: 4
I really enjoyed this book. I don't usually read Danielle Steel, but found this to be very touching. This was a quick read, only taking a couple of hours to get through the entire book. I would try reading other Danielle Steel books after reading this one!
Helpful Score: 4
Fantastic book! Absolutely lovely, touching and thought provoking. It makes you realize how little we know about our grandparents or even parents lives before we knew them.
Helpful Score: 4
the author did really well on this book and made you feel as if you were traveling around the world with the character and watching her perform in her ballet recitals.
Helpful Score: 3
This was the first Danielle Steel book I have read. I don't know what I was expecting, but I guess this was a good read if you're looking for something light. I was dying to know the names of the Russian Duchesses just to see if I had the right ones in mind, but after mentioning Alexei I knew what she was talking about.
Helpful Score: 2
I couldn't put it down. I loved it. This was the first Danielle Steel book I read and I want to read more of her books.
Helpful Score: 2
When her grandmother dies a young woman realizes that there was a whole nother life before she became her grandmother. It begins after the funeral and takes you through her death. I really enjoyed it.
Helpful Score: 2
An easy read about a ballet dancers life in Russia
Helpful Score: 2
I had this book on tape, and it was such a sweet story. Pretty much everyone I know has borrowed mine and loved it. (Typical Danielle Steel - with all the ups and downs of life).
Helpful Score: 1
The secret past of a ballerina in Russia is revealed to her granddaughter after the grandmother passes away.
Helpful Score: 1
typical Daniel Steel Storyline execellent hours of reading
Helpful Score: 1
Some of her books has lost interest in me though this one makes it feel that you are there with the characters and feel everything that is going on and I loved reading this book from day one. For I finished it in 3 days.
Helpful Score: 1
A simple book that was very easy to read.
Helpful Score: 1
This starts out in the year 1902. Granny lived in Russia and became a great ballerina. Events happen during her life where she has to bake a heartbreaking choice - as the world around her is about to change forever.
Helpful Score: 1
A very good Danielle Steele. Easy read.
Helpful Score: 1
Sweet little novel!
Helpful Score: 1
charming book about the world of a russian ballet dancer
Helpful Score: 1
I'm not a Danielle Steel fan normally, but I liked this one a lot. Good fast read.
Helpful Score: 1
Great story! Best Danielle Steel I've ever read!!
Helpful Score: 1
I loved this book!
Helpful Score: 1
Excellent book for quick reading.
Another Danielle Steel good read!
This fairy tale is fully outfitted with dreamy details such as ermine-trimmed gowns, coverfed sleights and royal balls in glittering palaces.
This book is about the magic of history of youth and beauty, love and dreams.
Excellent listening. Very nostalgic. Loved it.
One great story! Short read but very good!
Really good story about a granddaughter and her Granny.,
One of Danielle Steel's best!!!!
I loved this book. Could not stop reading it.
A real story of the heart!
Really good story line. Typicaly wonderfull Danielle Steel!
Beautiful story about the belated relationship of a young woman and her grandmother. I enjoyed it very much and passed it on to my daughter.
She was the cherished grandmother who sang songs in Russian, loved to roller-skate, and spoke little of her past. But when Granny Dan died, all that remained was a box wrapped in brown paper, tied with string. Inside, an old pair of satin toe shoes, a gold locket, and a stack of letters tied with ribbon. It was her legacy, her secret past, waiting to be discovered by the granddaughter who loved her but never really knew her. It was a story waiting to be told.
This book is large print.
Haven't read Danielle Steele for quit some time but I did enjoy this book. Nice change from all the mysteries I have been reading.
In my eyes she had always been old, always been mine, always been Granny Dan. But in another time, another place, there had been dancing, people, laughter, love...She had had another life before she came to us, long before she came to me... She was the cherished grandmother who sang songs in Russian, loved to roller skate, and spoke little of her past. But when Granny Dan died, all that remained was a box wrapped in brown paper, tied with string. Inside, an old pair of satin-toe shoes, a gold locket, and a stack of letters tied with ribbon. It was her legacy, her secret past, waiting to be discovered by the granddaughter who loved her but never really knew her. It was a story waiting to be told...
The year was 1902. A new century was dawning as a motherless young girl arrived at a ballet school in St. Petersburg, Russia, at the age of seven. By age 17, Danina Petroskova had become a great ballerina, a favorite of the Czar and Czarina, who welcomed her into the heart of the Imperial family. But events both near and far away shook the ground upon which she danced. A war, an extraordinary man, and a devastating illness altered the course of her life. And when revolution shattered Russia, Danina Petroskova was forced to make a heartbreaking choice-as the world around her was about to change forever. -You'll love this story as I did.
The year was 1902. A new century was dawning as a motherless young girl arrived at a ballet school in St. Petersburg, Russia, at the age of seven. By age 17, Danina Petroskova had become a great ballerina, a favorite of the Czar and Czarina, who welcomed her into the heart of the Imperial family. But events both near and far away shook the ground upon which she danced. A war, an extraordinary man, and a devastating illness altered the course of her life. And when revolution shattered Russia, Danina Petroskova was forced to make a heartbreaking choice-as the world around her was about to change forever. -You'll love this story as I did.
very good
For over a decade, young Danina Petroskova has known no life but that of the ballet and her mentor Madame Markova. When a deathly illness steals her from the stage, the young dancer is inconsolable, and, desperate to speed her recovery, Madame Markova agrees to hand Danina over to the talented Dr. Nikolai Obrajensky for treatment. Convalescing with the Romanovs at the Tsarskoe Selo palace, Danina learns to live in and love the world beyond the ballet. And while grateful for Nikolai's companionship, she is startled by the intense emotions growing inside her for the married doctor. Drawn to Danina, Nikolai cannot ignore the passion between them either, and the strength of their love quickly overpowers their resistance. Soon Madame Markova and Nikolai's wife remind them of their previous obligations, and as the Revolution hovers on the horizon, the two must make a decision that will change their lives forever.
As if a romance set in the twilight years of czarist Russia doesn't have enough intrinsic pathos, Danielle Steel takes great care to give her hero and heroine the bittersweet combination of incomparable virtue and external duties. When the young prima ballerina and the married doctor meet, they are drawn to the corresponding sense of integrity and duty in each other. However, when love and duty conflict, the struggle is never easy.
Maestro Steel knows where the heartstrings are, and she plays them with her reliable talents. While students of history may cringe at the simplified approach to the historical period, readers just looking for a good time have found it. With the tough-but-loving mother figure, the ill-but-lovable Prince Alexander, the borrowed ball gowns, and the emotional grand jeté, this book has everything a TV movie needs except a small, cuddly pet. Put your feet up, set aside your spoilsport logic, and enjoy this novel for what it is: a classic romance.
As if a romance set in the twilight years of czarist Russia doesn't have enough intrinsic pathos, Danielle Steel takes great care to give her hero and heroine the bittersweet combination of incomparable virtue and external duties. When the young prima ballerina and the married doctor meet, they are drawn to the corresponding sense of integrity and duty in each other. However, when love and duty conflict, the struggle is never easy.
Maestro Steel knows where the heartstrings are, and she plays them with her reliable talents. While students of history may cringe at the simplified approach to the historical period, readers just looking for a good time have found it. With the tough-but-loving mother figure, the ill-but-lovable Prince Alexander, the borrowed ball gowns, and the emotional grand jeté, this book has everything a TV movie needs except a small, cuddly pet. Put your feet up, set aside your spoilsport logic, and enjoy this novel for what it is: a classic romance.
Awesome story but then Danielle Steel has not written a book I that I never liked.
From inside cover-
She was the cherished grandmother who sang songs in Russian, loved to roller skate and spoke little of her past, But when Granny Dan died, all that remained was a box wrapped in brown paper, tied with string. Inside, an old pair of satin toe shoes, a gold locket, and a stack of letters tie with ribbon. It was her legacy, her secret past, waiting to be discovered by the granddaughter who loved her but never really knew her. It was a story waiting to be told.
She was the cherished grandmother who sang songs in Russian, loved to roller skate and spoke little of her past, But when Granny Dan died, all that remained was a box wrapped in brown paper, tied with string. Inside, an old pair of satin toe shoes, a gold locket, and a stack of letters tie with ribbon. It was her legacy, her secret past, waiting to be discovered by the granddaughter who loved her but never really knew her. It was a story waiting to be told.
Great book in great condition
no dust jacket
She was the cherisher grandmother who sang songs in Russian, loved to roller skate, and spoke little of her past. But when Granny Dan died, all that remained was a box of satin toe shoes, a gold locket, and a stack of letter tied with ribbon.
Granny Dan is about the magic of history...reminds us how little we know of those who came before us.
Granny Dan is about the magic of history...reminds us how little we know of those who came before us.
She was the cherished Grandmother who sang songs in Russian, loved to roller-skate, and spoke little of her past. But when Granny Dan died all that remained was a box wrapped in brown paper tied with string. Inside, an old pair of satin toe shoes, a gold locket, and a stack of letters tied with ribbon. It was her legacy, waiting to be discovered by the granddaughter who loved her but never really knew her.
From the cover: She was the cherished grandmother who sang songs in Russian, loved to roller-skate, and spoke little of her past. But when Granny Dan died, all that remained was a box wrapped in brown paper, tied with string. Inside, an old pair of satin toe shoes, a gold locket, and a stack of letters tied with ribbon. It was her legacy, waiting to be discovered by the granddaughter who loved her but never really knew her. It was a story waiting to be told...
The year was 1902. A new century was dawning as a motherless young girl arriv ed at a ballet school in St. Petersburg, Russia, at the age of seven. By age seventeen, Danina Petroskova had become a great ballerina, a favorite of the Czar and Czarina. But events both near and far away shook the ground upon which she danced. A war, an extraordinary man, and a devastating illness altered the course of her life. And when revolution shattered Russia, Danina Petroskova was forced to make a heartbreaking choice- as the world around her was about to change forever. GRANNY DAN is about the magic of history. In it, Danielle Steel reminds us how little we know of those who came before us--and how, if we could only glimpse into their early lives, we would learn so much. For in this extraordinary novel, a simple box, filled with mementos, offers the greatest legacy of all: an unexpected gift of a life transformed, a long-foregotten history of youth and beauty, love and dreams.
The year was 1902. A new century was dawning as a motherless young girl arriv ed at a ballet school in St. Petersburg, Russia, at the age of seven. By age seventeen, Danina Petroskova had become a great ballerina, a favorite of the Czar and Czarina. But events both near and far away shook the ground upon which she danced. A war, an extraordinary man, and a devastating illness altered the course of her life. And when revolution shattered Russia, Danina Petroskova was forced to make a heartbreaking choice- as the world around her was about to change forever. GRANNY DAN is about the magic of history. In it, Danielle Steel reminds us how little we know of those who came before us--and how, if we could only glimpse into their early lives, we would learn so much. For in this extraordinary novel, a simple box, filled with mementos, offers the greatest legacy of all: an unexpected gift of a life transformed, a long-foregotten history of youth and beauty, love and dreams.
From the inside back cover: She was the cherished grandmother who sang songs in Russian, loved to roller-skate, and spoke little of her past. But when Granny Dan died, all that remained was a box wrapped in brown paper, tied with string. Inside, an old pair of satin toe shoes, a gold locket, and a stack of letters tied with ribbon. It was her legacy, waiting to be discovered by the granddaughter who loved her but never really knew her. It was a story waiting to be told....
The year was 1902. A new century was dawning as a motherless young girl arrived at a ballet school in St. Petersburg, Russia, at the age of seven. By age seventeen, Danina Petroskova had become a great ballerina, a favorite of the Czar and Czarina. But events both near and far away shook the ground upon which she danced. A war, an extraordinary man, and a devastating illness altered the course of her life. And when revolution shattered Russia, Danina Petroskova was forced to make a heartbreaking choice--as the world around her was about to change forever.
Granny Dan is about the magic of history. In it, Danielle Steel reminds us of how little we know of those who came before us--and how, if we could only glimpse into their early lives, we would learn so much. For in this extraordinary novel, a simple box, filled with mementoes, offers the greatest legacy of all: an unexpected gift of a life transformed, a long-forgotten history of youth and beauty, love and dreams.
The year was 1902. A new century was dawning as a motherless young girl arrived at a ballet school in St. Petersburg, Russia, at the age of seven. By age seventeen, Danina Petroskova had become a great ballerina, a favorite of the Czar and Czarina. But events both near and far away shook the ground upon which she danced. A war, an extraordinary man, and a devastating illness altered the course of her life. And when revolution shattered Russia, Danina Petroskova was forced to make a heartbreaking choice--as the world around her was about to change forever.
Granny Dan is about the magic of history. In it, Danielle Steel reminds us of how little we know of those who came before us--and how, if we could only glimpse into their early lives, we would learn so much. For in this extraordinary novel, a simple box, filled with mementoes, offers the greatest legacy of all: an unexpected gift of a life transformed, a long-forgotten history of youth and beauty, love and dreams.
Registered at bookcrossing.com; library discard; black line on side