User:Nori pancakes/sandbox

About Danielle Steel and "The Ghost" Cultural Context
Steel was born August 14, 1947 in New York City. " Danielle Steel is the fourth-best-selling fiction author of all time with over 800 million copies sold and over 20 titles turned into movies." She is published in 69 countries and 43 languages. "Steel has written more than 163 books, 139 of which are novels; 18 children’s books, including Pretty Minnie in Hollywood and Pretty Minnie in Paris about her white long-hair teacup Chihuahua; four works of nonfiction, including His Bright Light: The Story of Nick Traina, A Gift of Hope: Helping the Homeless, and Pure Joy: The Dogs We Love; a book of poetry; and she has written the lyrics for a music album . Steel wrote many books before “The Ghost,” but the “The Ghost was published in 1998. Steel has written a lot of books that were bestsellers so, only to name a few, some are “Past Perfect,” The Duchess,” and “Blue.” The Ghost was published in 1998. This late 90s period was kind of on the cusp of a new relationship with technology: more people had cellphones, etc. “The Ghost” switches from Charlie’s world (late 1990s) and Sarah Pellerin (the late 1700s). During Sarah’s time she had just moved to America where George Washington was president at the time. Her timeline even mentions a few wars with the Indians, and how the president and Francois (her husband) have met to decide on political issues.

The Ghost
Despite its name, "The Ghost" is a romance novel. The main characters are Charlie and Sarah. Charlie and Carole were a happy married couple, or so Charlie thought. After a man named Simon sweeps Carole away Charlie sells his home in London, takes an unwanted job in New York, and later finds solace in Shelburne Falls. There he finds a new home and a new friend, Gladys. Charlie ends up renting Gladys' other home that's been in the family ever since Sarah had died in the 1700s. At his new chateau, Charlie finds Sarah's journals stashed in the attic. Sarah’s first entry is dated 1789 and her journals consist of her whole story from leaving an abusive marriage in England leading up to her death, "Without self-pity or sentiment, she writes of her harrowing journey from her native England, having fled the brutality of her aristocratic husband. Settling in Massachusetts, Sarah finds an unfamiliar land seething with the turbulence of the Indian wars. Determined to start a new life in the vast new world, Sarah finds freedom–and danger–as she builds her home in the wilderness and meets a man who will transform her life. His name is François de Pellerin, a French nobleman adopted by Indians and drawn into the battle for the growing nation. Their fateful union is a testament to a love so powerful it reaches across the centuries." Sarah's journals help Charlie move on from his past, and he seeks to realize his potential future with a woman and her daughter."Main Characters: Charlie and Sarah.""Side Characters: Francesca, Monique, Carole, Gladys, and Simon.""C-List Characters: Edward and Haversham (and his wife and kids)."

Cultural Moment
Danielle Steel’s idea was very original for the late 1990s. No other author had the idea of, “Hey! Let’s make a story that bounces from the 1990s to the 1790s, and have a person long gone fix someone from the present with their writing” Maybe at this time, Steel wanted to bring the readers back to simpler times. She creates the notion that no matter what issues one may be going through that even Sarah overcame her horrid issues and found happiness. Other best seller books of 1997 were “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by JK Rowling, “Cold Mountrain” by Charles Fraizer, and “The Partner” by John Grisham ; none of these best sellers did what Steel did when writing “The Ghost.”

Theme of Divorce
This story tackles divorce, and offers a solution for Charlie (and Francesca) to overcome it. Reading Sarah's journals helps Charlie drop his resentment towards Carole and move on.

=== Divorce Statistics of 1997 are true to Steel's "The Ghost: ===
 * 2/3 to 3/4 of divorces are initiated by women: Carole and Francesca both initiated their divorces, and although Edward technically did Sarah had left him before that.


 * statistics suggest that 50% of all marriages will end in divorce: It just so happened Charlie and Francesca found each other when they did.


 * Five years later (after divorce) after most men and women have remarried, women's household incomes increased slightly more above pre-divorce levels than those of their ex-husbands: Francesca's income level did rise after the divorce, and her ex husband's new wife and he started losing a little with the Olympic training.