On Sarah Whitfield's seventy-fifth birthday, memories take her back to New York**in the 1930s. To a marriage that ends after a year, leaving Sarah**shattered. A trip to Europe with her parents does little to**raise her spirits, until she meets William, Duke of Whitfield.**In time, despite her qualms, William insists on giving up his distant right to the British**throne to make Sarah his dutchess and his wife.
On their honeymoon, the newlyweds buy an old French chateau, but not long after,**the war begins. William joins the allied forces, leaving Sarah,**their first child, an infant, and their second child on the way,**in France. After the Nazi forces take over the chateau, Sarah**continues to survive the terror and deprivation of the Occupation,**unwavering in her belief that her missing-in-action husband is still**alive.
After the war, as a gesture of goodwill, the Whitfields start buying**jewels offered for sale by impoverished war survivors. With Sarah's style and**keen eye, the collection becomes the prestigious Whitfield's**jewelry store in Paris. Eventually, their jewelry business expands**to London and Rome, as their family grows. Phillip, their firstborn,**is stubborn and proud; Julian, their second son, is charming and**generous and warm; Isabelle is rebellious and willful; and Xavier,**unusual and untamed, is the final unexpected gift of their love. They**each find their own way, but will be drawn to the great house of gems their**parents built. In Jewels, Danielle Steel takes the reader through**five eventful decades that include war, passion, international intrigue,**and the strength of family through it all.
