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A Woman's Life #1
Sapphire and Shadow
They could have had it all.
Johanna Whitney does seem to have it all--beauty, intelligence, talent, and a rich husband whose genius has created stunning films. What she is desperately trying to cover up is just how tragically that life is coming unraveled. Her husband's drug use, fueled by his fear of being unable to replicate his success, renders him incapable of showing her the love she once gave up everything for. Her closest friend is killed in a plane crash and even her daughter seems to prefer her husband's latest young lover to her own mother. The harder Johanna works at trying to patch the holes of her life, the more things come undone.
It all comes to a head on location in London. Johanna watches happiness slipping away and turns for comfort to a young British artisan. He tries to teach her to love herself again, and to dare to reach for happiness. Though he manages to awaken her emotions, her husband's drug arrest in Italy and her daughter's sudden illness make her realize she needs to go home--not to Los Angeles, but to New York.
Leaving all the wealth and influence she's been living with behind, she and her daughter feel like refugees as they search for a place to live and a way to make a living. Both needs are answered when they find shelter with an old friend and colleague in his art gallery. Johanna is back to her roots in the art world, but she's been gone a long time and she searches to find ways to heal and blossom. Even more difficult is the struggle to release her heart from the chains of fear and learn to love again.
Johanna Whitney does seem to have it all--beauty, intelligence, talent, and a rich husband whose genius has created stunning films. What she is desperately trying to cover up is just how tragically that life is coming unraveled. Her husband's drug use, fueled by his fear of being unable to replicate his success, renders him incapable of showing her the love she once gave up everything for. Her closest friend is killed in a plane crash and even her daughter seems to prefer her husband's latest young lover to her own mother. The harder Johanna works at trying to patch the holes of her life, the more things come undone.
It all comes to a head on location in London. Johanna watches happiness slipping away and turns for comfort to a young British artisan. He tries to teach her to love herself again, and to dare to reach for happiness. Though he manages to awaken her emotions, her husband's drug arrest in Italy and her daughter's sudden illness make her realize she needs to go home--not to Los Angeles, but to New York.
Leaving all the wealth and influence she's been living with behind, she and her daughter feel like refugees as they search for a place to live and a way to make a living. Both needs are answered when they find shelter with an old friend and colleague in his art gallery. Johanna is back to her roots in the art world, but she's been gone a long time and she searches to find ways to heal and blossom. Even more difficult is the struggle to release her heart from the chains of fear and learn to love again.
307 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1991
52 people are currently reading
543 people want to read
About the author
Marie Ferrarella
1,229 books276 followersMarie Rydzynski-Ferrarella
aka Marie Charles, Marie Michael, Marie Nicole, Marie Ferrarella
Marie Rydzynski was born on March 28 in West Germany to Polish parents. She moved to America at the age of four. For an entire year, Marie and her family explored the eastern half of the country before finally settling in New York.
Marie swears she was born writing, "which must have made the delivery especially hard for my mother." From an early age, Marie's parents would find her watching television or tucked away in some private place, writing at a furious pace. "Initially, I began writing myself into my favourite shows. I was a detective on '77 Sunset Strip,' the missing Cartwright sibling they never talked about on 'Bonanza' and the 'Girl from U.N.C.L.E.' before there was a 'Girl from U.N.C.L.E.,' not to mention an active participant in the serialized stories of 'The Mickey Mouse Club.'" Marie began to write her first romance novel when she was 11 years old, although she claims that, at the time, she didn't even realize it was a romance! She scribbled off and on, while dreaming of a career as an actress.
Marie was only 14 when she first laid eyes on the man she would marry, truly her first love, Charles Ferrarella. During her days at Queens College, New York, acting started to lose its glamour as Marie spent more and more time writing. After receiving her English degree, specialising in Shakespearean comedy, Marie and her family moved to Southern California, where she still resides today.
After an interminable seven weeks apart, Charles decided he couldn't live without her and came out to California to marry his childhood sweetheart. Ever practical, Marie was married in a wash-and-wear wedding dress that she sewed herself, appliqués and all. "'Be prepared' has always been my motto,"the author jokes. This motto has been stretched considerably by her two children, Nikky and Jessi, "but basically, it still applies," she says.
In November of 1981, she sold her first novel for Harlequin. Marie, who now has written over 150 novels, has one goal: to entertain, to make people laugh and feel good. "That's what makes me happy," she confesses. "That, and a really good romantic evening with my husband." She's keeping her fingers crossed that her reader's enjoy reading her books as much as she enjoyed writing them.
aka Marie Charles, Marie Michael, Marie Nicole, Marie Ferrarella
Marie Rydzynski was born on March 28 in West Germany to Polish parents. She moved to America at the age of four. For an entire year, Marie and her family explored the eastern half of the country before finally settling in New York.
Marie swears she was born writing, "which must have made the delivery especially hard for my mother." From an early age, Marie's parents would find her watching television or tucked away in some private place, writing at a furious pace. "Initially, I began writing myself into my favourite shows. I was a detective on '77 Sunset Strip,' the missing Cartwright sibling they never talked about on 'Bonanza' and the 'Girl from U.N.C.L.E.' before there was a 'Girl from U.N.C.L.E.,' not to mention an active participant in the serialized stories of 'The Mickey Mouse Club.'" Marie began to write her first romance novel when she was 11 years old, although she claims that, at the time, she didn't even realize it was a romance! She scribbled off and on, while dreaming of a career as an actress.
Marie was only 14 when she first laid eyes on the man she would marry, truly her first love, Charles Ferrarella. During her days at Queens College, New York, acting started to lose its glamour as Marie spent more and more time writing. After receiving her English degree, specialising in Shakespearean comedy, Marie and her family moved to Southern California, where she still resides today.
After an interminable seven weeks apart, Charles decided he couldn't live without her and came out to California to marry his childhood sweetheart. Ever practical, Marie was married in a wash-and-wear wedding dress that she sewed herself, appliqués and all. "'Be prepared' has always been my motto,"the author jokes. This motto has been stretched considerably by her two children, Nikky and Jessi, "but basically, it still applies," she says.
In November of 1981, she sold her first novel for Harlequin. Marie, who now has written over 150 novels, has one goal: to entertain, to make people laugh and feel good. "That's what makes me happy," she confesses. "That, and a really good romantic evening with my husband." She's keeping her fingers crossed that her reader's enjoy reading her books as much as she enjoyed writing them.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 8, 2014
Okay. A fairly standard 'chick-lit with money' story. you know the sort of thing so there isn't really much point in going through the plot again. I thought the characters were pretty 2D and shallow,
But, my real niggle with this story is that there are some pretty basic facts that are simply wrong.
e.g:
She handed the doorman the spare keys to the car. They were enveloped in a pound note.
We do not have pound notes in England. We have not had pound notes since 1984. A simple thing to research. Sloppy writing?
Then: The daughter is taken to Westminster Children's Hospital. (with a police escort??? - why not an ambulance - we DO have those you know?) I have never been in an A and E ward where the beds are all in the same room with nothing separating them except curtains. Neither have I been in ANY children's hospital where parents are not able to stay overnight, even in the smallest ones. Again. good research would have picked this up. There is even a video on the Westminster Children's hospital website.
But, my real niggle with this story is that there are some pretty basic facts that are simply wrong.
e.g:
She handed the doorman the spare keys to the car. They were enveloped in a pound note.
We do not have pound notes in England. We have not had pound notes since 1984. A simple thing to research. Sloppy writing?
Then: The daughter is taken to Westminster Children's Hospital. (with a police escort??? - why not an ambulance - we DO have those you know?) I have never been in an A and E ward where the beds are all in the same room with nothing separating them except curtains. Neither have I been in ANY children's hospital where parents are not able to stay overnight, even in the smallest ones. Again. good research would have picked this up. There is even a video on the Westminster Children's hospital website.
August 18, 2014
Sapphire and Shadow
Sapphire and Shadow
I have read many books and stories by Marie Farrarella. This book is as wonderful as any of the others I've read. She incorporates laughter, sadness, and just about any other emotion in between. A fine author and I think if I knew her in person, we would be great friends.
Sapphire and Shadow
I have read many books and stories by Marie Farrarella. This book is as wonderful as any of the others I've read. She incorporates laughter, sadness, and just about any other emotion in between. A fine author and I think if I knew her in person, we would be great friends.
August 8, 2014
Great read
This is a fast moving story full of believable characters another great book by Marie Ferrarella.
I love her novels.
This is a fast moving story full of believable characters another great book by Marie Ferrarella.
I love her novels.
November 13, 2015
Wonderful
A wonderful story of a woman's love, trust, and hurt for a weak man and finding her way back to her true love. If you can believe that!!!!
A wonderful story of a woman's love, trust, and hurt for a weak man and finding her way back to her true love. If you can believe that!!!!
September 3, 2017
In Marie Ferrarella's Sapphire and Shadow, the first installment in the A Woman's Life contempory romance series, you'll be swept away and need a Kleenex for this emotional contemporary romance novel. For Johanna Whitney, she had lived in a sophisticated lifestyle and a sheltered life. As a mother of a twelve-year-old, she also was married to Harold Whitney, a famous Hollywood director, when their marriage was dead in the water. She had lived through his adultery and his coke-infused jealousy for way too long. After when her best friend died in a plane crash, her life came tumbling down. Her daughter Jocelyn was a bit definant and followed her nanny's footsteps. When Harry hit her in a rage, that's when she put her foot down and planned to escape. That's when she met Tommy Reed, a former prop carpenter in Harry's production company who became a friend to her. When Harry went to Italy for the movie, things had changed. After feeling so dead and broken inside, Tommy made her come alive and feel wanted again in a fling, though he was a couple year younger than her. Though she knew it wouldn't last long, she made plans to break free in a big move. After when she was reunited with her high school sweetheart Joshua Mackenzie, a prominent art gallery owner, she could sense things change inside her. And after Harry was arrested in Italy for drug possession, she filed divorce papers and moved to New York City. From there, she started a new life for her and Jocelyn and took things slow with Joshua, when she began to heal and feel whole again with a happy ending.
January 20, 2019
Good book
You people should just read this book yourselves and write your own review on this novel yourself and I really enjoyed reading this book very much so. Shelley MA
You people should just read this book yourselves and write your own review on this novel yourself and I really enjoyed reading this book very much so. Shelley MA
March 13, 2021
This story started off good and then....fell flat. The protagonist started to annoy me. I liked all of the characters but felt like the storyline didn’t hold momentum.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 28, 2016
Tame
I had stayed away from books by Marie Ferrarella for many years. I thought her writing to be too mellow for my wildness. The heroine is boring and predictable. The hero is a wimp. The story took forever and was so unrealistic that I gritted my teeth through a good percentage of the book.
I had stayed away from books by Marie Ferrarella for many years. I thought her writing to be too mellow for my wildness. The heroine is boring and predictable. The hero is a wimp. The story took forever and was so unrealistic that I gritted my teeth through a good percentage of the book.
February 1, 2017
Oh my, I loved it
I wasn't sure at the beginning because I wanted to shake some sense into heroine Joanna. I soon saw that there was promise on the horizon and kept reading as Marie built her tale. I loved the book and Marie's masterful writing. Recommend this book!
I wasn't sure at the beginning because I wanted to shake some sense into heroine Joanna. I soon saw that there was promise on the horizon and kept reading as Marie built her tale. I loved the book and Marie's masterful writing. Recommend this book!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews