A Novel with Thoughts and Ponderings

BUNGALOW 2

Author: Danielle Steel ISBN: 0385338317 7/2007 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: DELACORTE PRESS

Bungalow 2 by Danielle Steel

The phone call came on a hot July day—a day like any other for Marin County mom and freelance writer Tanya Harris. But this call—from Tanya’s agent—was anything but ordinary, offering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: the chance to write a major Hollywood screenplay, a dream she had put aside long ago to devote her energies to her family. This time, Tanya knows she cannot refuse, even though she’s torn about leaving her husband and their daughters. From the moment she steps into her lush bungalow at the fabled Beverly Hills Hotel, Tanya is thrust into an intoxicating new world where she feels reborn—energized by the creativity swirling around her—yet the pull of her family at home is strong.

Suddenly she’s working alongside A-list actors and a Hollywood legend: Oscar-winning producer Douglas Wayne, a man who always gets what he wants–and who seems to have his sights set on her. Flying home between shoots, struggling to reconnect with a family that seems to need her less and less, Tanya watches helplessly as her old life is pulled out from under her in the most crushing of ways.

As her two lives collide, as one award-winning film leads to another, Tanya begins to wonder if she can be a wife, a mother, and a writer at the same time. And just as she confronts the toughest choice she has faced, she is offered another dazzling opportunity—one that could recast her story in an amazing new direction, complete with an ending she never could have written herself.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

If you are a fan of Danielle Steele, then you will no doubt be happy to have another offering from her. For me, BUNGALOW 2 is not worth the $27.00 hardcover price tag.

Based on a suburban mom with dreams of writing a movie script, despite her fulfilling life at home, it is all about the downward spiral Tanya's life takes after she finally gets her wish. Or as I see it, follows her dream. I don't like reading about the idea that "something's got to give" if you do something for yourself. Sure, it is a monumental struggle to balance career and family, but it can be done without a cheating husband that encourages her to do something just for herself in the first place. It is depressing to read about backstabbing friends and horribly selfish daughters, as well as shallow boyfriends in order to win awards in Hollywood.

For me, BUNGALOW 2 is a turn off, despite it's so called "happy ending".

Shannon Johnson

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