No Greater Love: A Novel

It was the maiden voyage of the Titanic, the greatest ship ever built, and in one fatal, unforgettable night, the sea shattered the lives and future of an extraordinary family, the Winfields. Edwina Winfield, retuming from her engagement trip to England with her fiancé and her family, instantly becomes a woman mourning the death of her parents and the man she loved. She retums to San Francisco with her five younger siblings and takes responsibilities at the family newspaper and at home that are overwhelming and unexpected. Edwina is intent on keeping the family together and Phillip, the oldest boy, tries to help before going on the Harvard and the Great War. But madcap George, the source of laughter in the family, is drawn to Hollywood, and his sister Alexis eventually follows him, courting both excitement and disaster in the film world. For twelve years Edwina carefully avoids any romantic involvements, but as each child sets off on his or her own—to Hollywood, to Europe, and elsewhere—Edwina frees herself from the ghosts of those se loved and lost on the Titanic. Her life is far different than it would have been, but in some ways far more exciting than she expected.

Publishers Weekly

Steel ( Heartbeat ) shamelessly plucks her readers' heartstrings in this predictably sentimental novel. In 1912, during a harrowing Atlantic crossing, 20-year-old Edwina Winfield loses her parents and fiance in the sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic . She bravely shoulders full responsibility for her younger siblings--sensible Philip, wiseacre George, angelic Alexis and toddlers Fannie and Teddy--and resigns herself to spinsterhood, certain she will never wish to marry. Financially if not emotionally secure in San Francisco, she ponders the fate of their father's newspaper business, capably mothers her brood and politely declines the amorous advances of a family friend. Additional tragedy awaits in the form of WW I and, again, tears are shed, but the indomitable Winfields prevail, eventually gaining access to glamourous 1920s Hollywood. As George develops a career in the movie industry and stunning blonde Alexis dreams of stardom, readers will begin to suspect that long-suffering, virtuous Edwina might have another chance at happiness (read: true love). Steel can never be accused of subtlety, but fans of her brand of romance won't be disappointed. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selections; author tour. (Nov.)