Accident [Hardcover]

"She doesn't look like she's going to make it." Danielle Steele's Accident revolves around how a car accident forever changes the lives of two families. This novel is chick fiction because it involves love and courage. Steele did a great job of bringing all the characters to life.
The tragedy begins when two perfect teenage girls lie to their parents and go out with two older guys. On their way home they collide with another car head-on. Page, the mother of one of the girls, discovers her daughter may not live and her husband is having an affair. Trygve, the other girl's dad, becomes the only one to comfort Page. They develop a great relationship while battling their daughters' accident.
The setting works very well. Maintaining smooth and obvious shifts made the setting clear and easy to follow. The story takes place in Ross, a small town near San Francisco, California. The car accident occurs when the couples "[drive] quietly and smoothly toward the Golden Gate Bridge". Medical teams rush the teenagers to Marin General Hospital where most of the story takes place because of the girls' conditions.
The characters are incredibly realistic and relatable. Page Clarke and Trygve Thorensen become the protagonists in the novel. Page, the thirty-nine year old mother of Andy and Allyson, "is a good mother, a good wife, the kind of friend anyone would be grateful for...she is unconsciously beautiful, and fun to be with." Trygve, the father of Chloe and a divorcee, " is patient, kind, and very attractive." Chloe Thorensen and Allyson Clarke, static characters, are fifteen year old best friends who lie to their parents to go out with two older guys. Allyson remains in a critical coma after the accident, and Chloe suffers severely injured legs. Brad Clarke, static character and antagonist, is Page's husband and Allyson's dad who is caught in an affair. Many of the characters face the decisions of courage, love, and loyalty. Steele brings all of them to life amazingly well.
The novel, told in third person omniscient, revolves around Page Clarke's life. When Allyson and Chloe become seriously injured, everyone's lives change drastically. All of the events make the story completely believable; a car accident, a marriage gone wrong, and a mother's sorrow while trying to keep her family and her life together. Steele foreshadows Brad's affair when he unexpectedly leaves on a business trip with his secretary without leaving the number of his hotel. Page flashes back to how she held a perfect marriage and life before the accident. Steele did a great job of introducing all the characters and wrapping everything up at the end without leaving the reader hanging.
While using everyday language, Steele involves all the emotions. The reader will want to smile, cry, laugh, or frown. Intenseness and sadness occur when Allyson remains in the hospital and no one knows whether she will live or not. Disgust, guilt, and misery rise between Brad and Page while they go through confrontations about the affair. The writing involves love, romance, and inspiration while Page and Trygve fall for each other. This type of language makes the novel more intriguing and suspicious. The reader never knows what will happen next.
Accident is a powerful, yet glorious novel about lives that shatter and change in one shocking moment. The beginning conveys Page's "perfect life", then disaster occurs and the rest of the story just pulls the readers' hearts right into it. Teenage girls and women will absolutely love this book.

As a huge fan of Danielle Steel, I of course loved this book. It's one I have on my shelf & will probably read again in the future. It's a sad story and one that makes you think about your own life & not wasting the time that you have left.

I loved this story. It was written in true steel fashion...exciting, interesting, and fullfilling!