#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • At an elite private school in Massachusetts, a wide circle of lives will be forever changed by a devastating series of events in Danielle Steel’s riveting new novel. Saint Ambrose Prep is a place where the wealthy send their children for the best possible education, with teachers and administrators from the Ivy League, and graduates who become future lawyers, … become future lawyers, politicians, filmmakers, and CEOs. Traditionally a boys-only school, Saint Ambrose has just enrolled one hundred and forty female students for the first time. Even though most of the kids on the campus have all the privilege in the world, some are struggling, wounded by their parents’ bitter divorces, dealing with insecurity and loneliness. In such a heightened environment, even the smallest spark can become a raging fire.
One day after the school’s annual Halloween event, a student lies in the hospital, her system poisoned by dangerous levels of alcohol. Everyone in this sheltered community—parents, teachers, students, police, and the media—are left trying to figure out what actually happened. Only the handful of students who were there when she was attacked truly know the answers and they have vowed to keep one another’s secrets. As details from the evening emerge, powerful families are forced to hire attorneys and less powerful families watch helplessly. Parents’ marriages are jeopardized, and students’ futures are impacted. No one at Saint Ambrose can escape the fallout of a life-altering event.
In this compelling novel, Danielle Steel illuminates the dark side of one drunken night, with its tragic consequences, from every possible point of view. As the drama unfolds, the characters will reach a crossroads where they must choose between truth and lies, between what is easy and what is right, and find the moral compass they will need for the rest of their lives.
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Moral Compass by Danielle Steel is different from the authors other novels. It delves into the serious topic of teenage drinking and a female being assaulted. Saint Ambrose Preparatory School is admitting female students for the first time in its history. Taylor Houghton IV, the headmaster, knows that his career is on the line so this venture must be a success. There are no problems until Halloween arrives and some students decide to bring out alcohol they have sneaked onto campus. Campus security receive a late night anonymous call that has them finding a female student unconscious. She must have her stomach pumped from the vast quantities of alcohol consumed and a SAFE exam performed. The book follows the investigation along with the trial and its outcome. We see the consequences of making the decision to overindulge in alcohol and how it affects others. I thought the story was well-written and it proceeded at a steady pace. I like how the author dealt with the such terrible and relevant topic of violence against a young woman. Moral Compass is a timely novel (what people call “ripped from the headlines”) that hopefully will allow people to see that the victim should not be blamed when they are assaulted. The victim is not on trial nor should they be. Moral Compass allows readers to see this sensitive issue dealt with from various points-of-view. Moral Compass is a compelling story whose title truly fits.
Danielle Steel never fails to satisfy a reader’s heart with her powerful storytelling voice that captures every aspect of a character’s mind, heart and soul. With her latest release MORAL COMPASS she takes her reader through a journey of acceptance, denial and consequence. The first chapter wallops quite a punch of characters to keep straight, but once the story line truly begins, it’s easy to follow and delivers an emotional plot. I couldn’t put it down!
Saint Ambrose Preparatory School has an excellent reputation for developing powerful minds who go on to pedigreed educational endeavors and prestigious careers. After more than two centuries of being a male only student body, the first 140 female enrollees are walking through the hallowed doors for the first time.
A Halloween night alcohol fueled adventure leads to one student being in the hospital near death and the lives of those involved being changed forever. The questions of who will step forward to tell what happened and lead to the capture of who assaulted her weaves a powerful story with people and lives being changed forever.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys an in depth story of secrets, lies and corruption. It was obviously light on the romance aspect because of the sensitive nature of the book, but the character nuances and emotional upheaval were spot on.
One of the better DS entries. This one involved a serious crime. St. Ambrose Prep has finally gone co-ed to keep up with the times. Although there were some dissenters that felt this would only bring trouble. Things seemed to be going along smoothly until Halloween, when some of the students flaunted the rule against drinking and got drunk on campus … things got out of control and resulted in a crime. Although only 1 of the 6 actually committed the crime the other 5 were reluctant to tell the whole truth and thought they were protecting the perpetrator as well as themselves. Eventually the 5 proved they did have a moral compass and did the right thing. A tragic story of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and mixing excessive alcohol.
Not one of her usual books. I was very disappointed
Moral Compass by Danielle Steel was a captivating read about issues plaguing teenagers in an elite school. A female student is in the hospital, but what events led to this? Saint Ambrose Prep is finally admitting female students where only the elite of the elite attend. But after one night of drinking, many lives are forever changed. We embark on journey of discovering what happened, who is involved and what it will all lead too. It will have you questioning everything!
Happy reading!
Moral Compass takes a hard look at how one bad decision can lead to another in an almost snowball effect. Of course, there’s a bit more to it than that, and that one bad decision is compounded by someone who acts without a care for who he hurts. The premise for this book drew me in, and I did find the many different viewpoints intriguing. Yes, I completely believe that the victim should be the first and foremost consideration in a situation like this, but realistically, that isn’t always the case, and Danielle Steel gives us the situation from every avenue, including those with varying degrees of guilt and their parents. To be honest, I’d like to think that people who would react as deplorably as a couple of these characters are few and far between, but the fact remains that we see similar actions all too often.
As for this particular story, I will say that I had a fair bit of trouble getting into it. The beginning was rather slow, and the introductions to a considerable number of characters are all crammed into the first several pages. The problem with that is it amounts to information dumps rather than giving us the various details more organically throughout the story. The latter method works much better for me, and I’m more likely to remember the details later on when it’s not all thrown at me at once while I’m waiting for the story to get moving.
The writing style for Moral Compass was a bit on the dry side, and at times it felt more like a documentary than a story playing out before us. There wasn’t nearly as much dialogue as I would’ve expected, and it all amounted to more telling than showing. We also get several little side stories about the various parents, teachers, and even a touch of romance for one character, and to be honest, some of that felt a little like filler to me. Not all of it, by any means. Basically, some of the situations with the parents and others were important to the story and others – well, not so much. Nevertheless, the subject matter did hold my interest, and I did feel compelled to keep reading. I wanted to know how everything would play out for the characters, and what decisions they would ultimately make.
In the end, Moral Compass has a bit of a lesson in its story. A lesson about choosing the right path, and when we don’t make the right choice, accepting the consequences for our actions. It’s a lesson some of the characters had to learn the hard way, and it was an interesting road they traveled to get there.
This was not your typical Danielle Steel Book. It was much darker and did not have the romantic elements that we expect It was because of this that I gave it a lower rating than most of her books.
It is the first year that St. Ambrose prep has gone co-ed. After a horrible incident after a Halloween party lives will be changed forever. It shows what wealth, power, and privilege can do to the student and their parents.
Saint Ambrose Preparatory School is located in Massachusetts and has been there for over 120 years. It has always been a boys only school. However, this year, girls are being admitted for the first time. The school has an excellent curriculum and expects the best from each of its students. The parents are for the most part very wealthy with a lot of influence.
The staff have worked hard to put together a fun Halloween haunted house in the school’s gymnasium and all of the students have a great time. However, later that evening, several senior boys decide to find a secluded place on campus and pass around a bottle of tequila. They quickly became inebriated. When a senior girl walks by, they offer her a drink and wanting to be accepted, she agrees. She quickly becomes very drunk and one of the boys rapes her. Realizing what the one boy had done, they leave her passed out on the ground with alcohol poisoning. She is found and taken to the hospital. When she wakes up, she refuses to say which boy raped her.
The police handle finding the rapist and the other boys who covered for him. When DNA from the girl and fingerprints on the bottle of tequila name the boys, they are charged with the crime.
The author takes the reader through all of the emotions of fear, guilt and regret of the boys charged and on to their sentencing. Their parents’ reactions vary which is another good part of the story.
I enjoyed yet another book by Danielle Steel as she tackled this sensitive subject. My only complaint is that she can be quite repetitive, but I can’t help but feel it’s the way she thinks through her story. Well done.
Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Finally! A book by Danielle Steel that was not rampant with people falling into bed with each other! This book is suitable for young adults as well as adults to read. It has a good lesson to teach, that is, to take responsibility for your actions and that the rich cannot get away with crimes in spite of their names and money. There were multiple sub-plots with the parents of the young people involved in the criminal actions, but none of them was particularly interesting. I’m just glad that DS wrote a book that is almost a totally clean read. Warning: there is some strong and abusive language from at least one of the parents.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I checked this book out from my local library. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own.
Moral Compass is a compelling story about how one night changes the lives of a group of students and their families forever. This author has taken on subjects with sensitivity and brought life to the characters. Although it took a bit to get into the story after the first couple of chapters I couldn’t put it down. This heartbreakingly beautiful, dark and twisted, well written story pulled me in and had me on the edge of my seat wondering how the story would end.
It was a great read!
A riveting story that I had a hard time putting down. How one night that starts out of innocence of fun will change of the lives of seven teenagers. An elite prep school has accepted females for the first time under much controversy and now a night of drinking that ends up with a rape of a fellow student.
I must say I was a little confused in the beginning with so many characters and had to go back to see who was who, but was still engrossed with the story. This is a delicate topic that was well written. I highly recommend this book.
Danielle Steel’s latest novel takes on a dark subject revealing the wide spread consequences of underage drinking and its effects. St Ambrose Preparatory School, an elite boarding school that prepares students to attend Ivy League universities, becomes a coed facility after generations as a male only institution. With the influx of female students, the dynamic among students and staff changes radically.
Seven young people find their lives altered dramatically as a result of one night of illegal drinking and the heartless rape that transpired as a result of their poor choices made under the influence of alcohol. Vivienne Walker’s life will never be the same as she struggles with taking the blame for a situation that was out of her control. As with many victims, the emotional impact of the rape is traumatic and lingering.
As the police gradually expose the truth, six young male students will find their lives and those of everyone around them altered as a result of the wide reaching consequences of their decisions. As some of them struggle with the ability to live with their conscience, they must make difficult choices and accept the role they played that night.
This is an excellent story to help bring public awareness of a very real problem in this country, underage drinking and its consequences. The novel also emphasizes the difficulty people, both adults and young people, have distinguishing right from wrong. The story is relevant and emotionally charged. A good solid read with a realistic ending!
This ARC copy was received from Delacorte Press and Netgalley.com. The above thoughts and opinions are wholly my own.
4/5
#MoralCompass #NetGalley
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
For me, this book was slightly different from DS’s usual books. She tackled a difficult subject of underage drinking and rape at an exclusive private school gingerly from introducing a large cast of characters, to the incident thru the investigation and sentencing. So many kids and parents to remember, in addition to school administration and teachers, detectives and lawyers. Interesting dynamics on how the parents handled the incident, and I thought one in particular could have been explored more, and one completely glossed over.
Of course in typical DS fashion, the ending is tied up nicely and not really in line with the main story, more of the secondary players. This is a fast-paced read that will hold your attention, but might frustrate you also. I felt the sympathies in the book leaned to one side. But, with that said, there is a lot to discuss and more to think about.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Press/Ballantine for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.
Thank you to Netgalley, Danielle Steel and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine
for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I’m a fan of Danielle Steel so I read all of her books.
I really enjoyed this one and found it to be not only timely but it could definitely be a “ripped from the headlines” type of read.
The title “Moral Compass” totally tied in to the book, it’s characters and subject.
Well done Danielle!