On Sarah Whitfield's seventy-fifth birthday, memories take her back to New Yorkย ย in the 1930s. To a marriage that ends after a year, leaving Sarahย ย shattered. A trip to Europe with her parents does little toย ย raise her spirits, until she meets William, Duke of Whitfield.ย ย In time, despite her qualms, William insists on giving up his distant right to the Britishย ย throne to make Sarah his dutchess and his wife.
On their honeymoon, the newlyweds buy an old French chateau, but not long after,ย ย the war begins. William joins the allied forces, leaving Sarah,ย ย their first child, an infant, and their second child on the way,ย ย in France. After the Nazi forces take over the chateau, Sarahย ย continues to survive the terror and deprivation of the Occupation,ย ย unwavering in her belief that her missing-in-action husband is stillย ย alive.
After the war, as a gesture of goodwill, the Whitfields start buyingย ย jewels offered for sale by impoverished war survivors. With Sarah's style andย ย keen eye, the collection becomes the prestigious Whitfield'sย ย jewelry store in Paris. Eventually, their jewelry business expandsย ย to London and Rome, as their family grows. Phillip, their firstborn,ย ย is stubborn and proud; Julian, their second son, is charming andย ย generous and warm; Isabelle is rebellious and willful; and Xavier,ย ย unusual and untamed, is the final unexpected gift of their love. Theyย ย each find their own way, but will be drawn to the great house of gems theirย ย parents built. In Jewels, Danielle Steel takes the reader throughย ย five eventful decades that include war, passion, international intrigue,ย ย and the strength of family through it all.