"It's not how fast you get there. It's about the journey." So reads one of the closing lines describing the focus of Danielle Steel's 50th book, JOURNEY. Prime time news anchor Madeleine "Maddy" Hunter, wife of Jack Hunter, TV mogul, has a secret that blows the roof off her marriage --- and a long journey to assert her independence.

Maddy was married before, a fact known to Jack. The secret is that there is a child, born to a 15 year old Maddy in the rural south. When Lizzie, Maddy's now grown daughter, arrives at the TV station, Jack talks with her but keeps any knowledge of her existence from Maddy. From that point forward, Jack becomes an intolerant, abusive and destructive personality, intent on keeping Maddy under his thumb.

When a well known Senator and his wife visit Jack and Maddy at their weekend retreat, the Senator's wife confides in Maddy that her husband abuses her. Jack's answer to Maddy's revelation is, "She must have deserved it," a typically heartless and neanderthal response. Ironically, when Jack tells the First Lady that Maddy will serve on her committee on battered and abused women, Maddy finally starts her own walk towards independence.

Danielle Steel has given us glamorous, strong willed characters, exotic backdrops, timely subject matter, and political intrigue. As always, enjoy!