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The Long Road Home

by Danielle Steel

Young Gabriella Harrison knows nothing but pain at the hands of her monstrously abusive mother until her father abandons the family, and Gabbie is sent to be raised in a convent. There Gabbie learns about love from the sisters, and even decides to join the order herself--but her plans are short-lived. Gabbie falls in love with a priest who commits suicide rather than live in the secular world, and Gabbie is expelled into the streets of New York. As Gabbie attempts to create a place for herself in the outside world, she learns a great deal about life, herself, and the past that haunts her.

Available editions of The Long Road Home

	9780440224839, Paperback, Dell Pub Co, 1999 $1.00 (Grade: C) Other copies of 9780440224839

	9780385324106, Hardcover, Delacorte Pr, 1998 $2.95 (Very Good ) Other copies of 9780385324106

	9780385319560, Hardcover, Delacorte Pr, 1998 $1.00 (Very Good) Other copies of 9780385319560

	9780385332859, Hardcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group, 1998 $2.49 (Very Good) Other copies of 9780385332859

	9780553455700, Compact Disc, Random House, 1998 None currently available

	9780553502114, Audio Cassette, Random House, 1998 $2.99 (Used - Very Good) Other copies of 9780553502114

	9780385319928, Hardcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group, 1998 $4.26 (Used - Acceptable) Other copies of 9780385319928

Publisher Notes

From her secret perch at the top of the stairs, Gabriella Harriman watches the guests arrive at her parents lavish Manhattan townhouse. At seven, she knows she is an intruder in her parents party, in her parents life. But she cant resist the magic. Later, she waits for the click, click, click of her mothers high heels, the angry words, and the pain that will follow. Gabriella already knows to hide her bruises, certain she is to blame for her mothers rage--and her fathers failure to protect her. Gabriellas only escape is through her stories. Only writing can dull the pain of her lonely world. And when her parents marriage collapses, Gabriella is given her first reprieve, as her mother abandons her to a convent. There, Gabriellas battered body and soul begin to mend. And there, amid the quiet safety and hushed rituals of the nuns, Gabriella becomes a woman. Then a young priest comes into her life. Joe Connors never questioned his vocation until Gabriella entered the confessional and shared her soul. Confession leads to friendship. And friendship grows dangerously into love. Like Gabriella, Joe is haunted by the pain of his childhood, consumed by guilt over a family heartbreak. With Gabriella, Joe takes the first steps toward healing. But their relationship leads to tragedy as Joe must choose between the priesthood and Gabriella, and life in the real world where he fears he does not belong. Exiled and disgraced, Gabriella struggles to survive on her own in Manhattan. There, her life as a writer begins. But just when she thinks she is beyond hurt, Gabriella is shattered once again, betrayed by someone she trusts. But in the shattering comes an opening. And through that opening a new beginning, as Gabriella realizes that her only hope for healing rests in the past, in facing her fears, her parents, and the terrible questions that have plagued her since childhood. For Gabriella, an extraordinary journey begins--one of courage, revelation and forgiveness--a journey to healing that comes full circle in The Long Road Home. With profound insight, Danielle Steel has created a vivid portrait of a childs broken world and a woman's unbreakable spirit. A work of daring and compassion, The Long Road Home is more than riveting fiction. It is an inspiration to us all.

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