Women are strong. They can raise families, succeed in business, and have fulfilling lives, as long as they’re willing to work hard. This is the focus of Danielle Steel’s book “The Cast,” published in May of 2018.

Kait Whittier comes from tough stock. Her grandmother was left a single mother of four after her husband committed suicide during the Depression. Not only did she find a way to support her own children, but also to build an empire to pass down to future generations.

Following in her grandmother’s footsteps, Kait manages to raise three independent children by herself while writing for a well-known magazine in New York City. Now that they are grown and live far away, she misses them dearly but tells herself she is perfectly happy with her life as it is.

One night at a party, Kait meets Zack, a television producer from Los Angeles, and tells him about her grandmother and the legacy she left behind. He finds himself captivated by her story and tells her she should write about her, or someone like her, for a new show. She dismisses the idea and tells herself that he was only being polite.

Stuck indoors during a terrible blizzard, Kait sits down at her computer and starts to write. Before she knows it, 15 hours have passed and she finds herself immersed in the lives of three fictional women who are determined to succeed against all odds.

Sending her manuscript off to Zack on a whim, she doesn’t expect much to come from it, but a short time later Kait is in Hollywood living a life she had never dreamed about. All is not perfect though as she wrestles with celebrity egos and deals with the tragedies that befall both her and her new-found friends.

“The Cast” really gets to the heart of family relationships and the new connections that are made as we make our way through life. It explores the unexpected events that occur without warning, both the happy and the sad, and how people can adapt to almost anything. But most of all, it celebrates the strength of women now and in the past, and how their decisions have changed the paths of those who have followed in their wakes.

To find out more about this book and New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel, please visit http://daniellesteel.com/.

Written for The Woodbridge Magazine published in the U.K.