Star

From Publishers Weekly Though Steel's ( Zoya ) novels showcase glamorous settings and turbulent romances, she writes convincingly about universal human emotions. Her latest book begins in California just after World War II. At age 14, Crystal Wyatt's radiant beauty and singing talent have already aroused hostility in her narrow-minded rural community. When Spencer Hill meets Crystal at her sister's wedding, an unlikely yet magnetic attraction binds them. Spencer, 13 years Crystal's senior, comes from a distinguished Eastern family that is forcing him to shoulder his deceased older brother's political aspirations. Though he yearns for Crystal, Spencer enters into a loveless but socially and professionally advantageous marriage with Elizabeth Barclay, daughter of a Supreme Court justice. Soon he implores her for a divorce, but Elizabeth vehemently insists on maintaining appearances. Meanwhile, Crystal has achieved stardom in Hollywood, but her brutally possessive manager threatens violent reprisal if she ever tries to see Spencer. In her portrayal of the reunion of this star-crossed couple, Steel displays the dramatic flourishes her fans savor. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club dual main selection. Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. "Ms. Steel's fans won't be disappointed." -- The New York Times Book Review . From the Paperback edition. From the Inside Flap Young, innocent and strikingly beautiful Crystal Wyatt was an outcast, envied and resented by all but her devoted father, with whom she shared a dep love for their remote California ranch. When her father dies, Crystal is alone and unprotected. Devastating events shake the once peaceful valley. With nothing but her dreams, her beauty, and her awe-inspiring voice, Crystal escapes to embark on the career that will ultimately make her a star. But stardom itself is shadowed by danger and violence and haunted by a memory that must be resolved before Crystal can find happiness and peace. From the Paperback edition. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Chapter One The birds were already calling to each other in the early morning stillness of the Alexander Valley as the sun rose slowly over the hills, stretching golden fingers into a sky that within moments was almost purple.xa0xa0The leaves on the trees rustled gently in the barest breeze as Crystal stood silent in the damp grass, watching the brilliant sky explode in shimmering colors.xa0xa0For brief moments, the birds stopped singing, almost as though they, too, were in awe of the valley's beauty.xa0xa0There were lush fields, rimmed by rugged hills where their cattle wandered, grazing.xa0xa0Her father's ranch covered two hundred acres, its fertile earth yielding corn, walnuts, and grapes, with the cattle they bred bringing in their greatest profit.xa0xa0The Wyatt Ranch had been profitable for a hundred years, but Crystal loved it not for what it brought them but for what it was.xa0xa0She seemed to commune silently with spirits only she knew were there as she watched the tall grass rustle softly in the breeze, and felt the warmth of the sun shine down on her wheat-colored hair, as she began to sing softly. Her eyes were the color of the summer sky, her limbs long and graceful as she suddenly began to run, pressing the damp grass beneath her feet as she headed toward the river.xa0xa0She sat on a smooth gray rock, feeling the icy water dance over her feet as she watched the sunlight reach the rocks.xa0xa0She loved watching the sun come up, loved running in the fields, she loved just being there, alive and young and free, at one with her roots, and with nature.xa0xa0She loved to sit and sing in the quiet mornings, her full voice billowing around her, magical even without music.xa0xa0It was as though there was something special about singing then, with only God to hear her. There were ranch hands who herded her cattle, and Mexicans who tended the corn and the vineyards, her father overseeing all of it.xa0xa0But there was no one who loved the land as dearly as she, or her father, Tad Wyatt.xa0xa0Her brother, Jared, helped him after school, but at sixteen he was more interested in borrowing her father's pickup and going to Napa with his friends.xa0xa0It was a fifty-minute drive from Jim Town.xa0xa0He was a good-looking boy with his father's dark hair, and a knack for taming wild horses.xa0xa0But neither he nor her sister, Becky, had Crystal's lyrical beauty.xa0xa0Today was Becky's wedding day, and Crystal knew that her mother and grandmother were already busy in the kitchen.xa0xa0She had heard them as she slipped away to watch the sun come up over the mountains.xa0xa0Crystal waded out into the stream, the water rushing to her thighs as she felt her feet go numb and her knees tingle, and she laughed aloud in the summer morning, pulling her thin cotton nightgown over her head and tossing it onto the bank. She knew there was no one to watch her asxa0xa0she stood gracefully in the stream, totally unaware of how startlingly beautiful she was, a young Venus springing forth from the stream in the Alexander Valley.xa0xa0From the distance she looked every bit a woman, as she stood holding her long pale blond hair on top of her head with one hand, as the curves of her exquisite body were swallowed slowly by the icy water.xa0xa0Only those who knew her well realized how young she was.xa0xa0To a stranger she looked full-grown, eighteen or twenty, her body ripe, her eyes huge and blue as she looked up at the early morning sun and squinted happily at the sunshine, her shimmering nakedness seemingly carved out of the palest pink marble.xa0xa0But she was not a woman, she was a girl, not yet fifteen, although she would be fifteen that summer.xa0xa0She laughed to herself as she thought of them looking for her, coming to her room to wake her so she could help them in the kitchen, her sister's fury to find her gone, her grandmother clucking in toothless irritation.xa0xa0As usual, she had escaped them.xa0xa0It was what she liked best, fleeing from tedious obligations and running loose on the ranch, wandering through the tall grass, or into the woods in the winter rains, or riding bareback singing to herself as she rode clear over the hills to the secret places she had discovered on long rides with her father.xa0xa0She had been born here, and one day, when she was very old, as old as Grandma Minerva and even older than that, she would die here.xa0xa0Every inch of her soul loved the ranch, and this valley.xa0xa0She had inherited her father's passion for the land, for the rich brown earth, and the lush green thatxa0xa0carpeted the hills in the springtime.xa0xa0She saw a deer standing nearby, and she smiled.xa0xa0There were no enemies in Crystal's world, no dangers, no secret terrors.xa0xa0She belonged here, and never doubted for a moment that she was safe here. She watched the sun rising in the sky, and walked slowly back to the riverbank, stepping over the rocks easily with her long legs, until she reached her nightgown and pulled it over her head and let it cling wetly to her body as her mane of pale blond hair fell far past her shoulders.xa0xa0She knew it was time to go back, they would be furious by now.xa0xa0Her mother would already have complained to her father.xa0xa0She had helped make twenty-four apple pies the day before, she had baked bread, dressed chickens, helped to cook seven hams, she had stuffed fat ripe tomatoes with basil and walnuts.xa0xa0She had done her share, and she knew there was nothing left to do except fret and get in the way, and listen to Becky shout at her brother.xa0xa0She had plenty of time to shower and dress and get to the church by eleven.xa0xa0They didn't need her, they only thought they did.xa0xa0She was happier roaming the fields and wading in the stream in the morning daylight.xa0xa0The air had already grown warmer and the breeze was dying down.xa0xa0It was going to be a beautiful day for Becky's wedding. She could see their house in the distance as she heard her grandmother's voice calling shrilly for her from the porch outside the kitchen.xa0xa0"Crysstalll! .xa0xa0. ." The word seemed to reverberate everywhere as she laughed and ranxa0xa0toward the house, looking like a long-legged child, with her hair flying out behind her. "Crystal!" Her grandmother was standing on the porch as she approached. Grandma Minerva was wearing the black dress she wore when she had serious work to do in the kitchen.xa0xa0She had a clean white apron over it, and she pursed her lips angrily as she saw Crystal gamboling toward her, her white cotton nightgown glued damply to her naked body.xa0xa0There was no artifice to the girl, there were no wiles, there was only that staggering natural beauty she was still unaware of.xa0xa0In her own mind, she was still a child, and aeons away from the burdens of being a woman.xa0xa0"Crystal! Look at you! You can see right through that nightgown! You're not a child anymore! What if one of the men sees you?" "It's Saturday, Grandma. . . no one's here." She smiled openly into the weathered old face with a broad grin that evidenced neither embarrassment nor contrition. "You should be ashamed of yourself, and you should be inside getting ready for your sister's wedding." She muttered disapprovingly as she wiped her hands on her apron.xa0xa0"Running around like a wild thing at sunrise.xa0xa0There's work to do here, Crystal Wyatt.xa0xa0Now get inside and see what you can do to help your mama." Crystal smiled, and ran around the wide porch to climb easily into her bedroom window, as her grandmother slammed the screen door and went back to helping her daughter in the kitchen. Crystal stood alone in her room for a moment, hummingxa0xa0to herself as she peeled off her nightgown, and tossed it easily into a damp heap in the corner, as she glanced up at the dress she would be wearing to Becky's wedding.xa0xa0It was a simple white cotton dress with puffed sleeves and a little lace collar.xa0xa0Her mother had made it for her, as simply as she could, with no frills, no added adornments to enhance her already striking beauty.xa0xa0It looked like a dress for a child, but Crystal didn't mind.xa0xa0She could wear it to church socials afterward.xa0xa0They had bought plain white pumps in Napa, and her father had bought her a pair of nylon stockings in San Francisco.xa0xa0Her grandmother had grumbled disapprovingly over those as well, and her mother had said she was too young to wear them. "She's only a child, Tad." It always annoyed Olivia when he spoiled their youngest daughter.xa0xa0He was always bringing her treats, or something foolish to wear from Napa or San Francisco. "It'll make her feel special." Crystal was the child he had adored since she was born, there was a place in him that ached each time he saw her.xa0xa0As a baby she had had a halo of platinum hair and eyes that looked right into his as though she had something special to say to him and no one else.xa0xa0She was a baby born with dreams in her eyes, and a magical quality about her that made people stop and stare.xa0xa0They had always stared at Crystal.xa0xa0People were drawn to her, to some quality deep within as well as to her beauty.xa0xa0She looked like no one else in the family, she was unique, and she was the music in her father's heart.xa0xa0Itxa0xa0was he who had chosen her name the first time he had seen her nestled in Olivia's arms only moments after she was born.xa0xa0Luminous and perfect.xa0xa0Crystal.xa0xa0The name suited her to perfection, with her bright clear eyes and the soft platinum hair.xa0xa0Even the children she had played with as a child had known she was special, di... Read more