The Long Road Home by Danielle Steel

[mommyofone1]

Gabriella was abused from the day she was born. Her mother was jealous of her beauty and hated children so any doing, whether it was her fault or not, was taken out on Gabriella. From broken bones, concussions, near death beatings, and knowing her father was watching and did nothing, was only part of what she had to deal with. Her mom dropped her off at a convent when she was 10 and abandoned her. She learned through trial and error about relationships, life, and surviving.


This book was amazing. It had everything a good book has, happiness, sadness, a hero, a villian, twists and turns. From the moment I picked this book up, I simply couldn't put it down. Danielle Steel captured the very vivid and very real issue of child and spousal abuse from a child's point of view. While most children end up being murdered or become abusers themselves when they get older, Steel's character Gabriella rose up beyond all the ugly and horrid things that her mother did to her and became a strong and beautiful soul. I cried. I laughed.