Family Ties

Steel's latest bestseller-to-be follows Annie Ferguson, who inherits her sister's three children when she dies in a plane crash. Annie does her best to raise them and manages to build a career for herself as a promising architect, even if it means putting much of the rest of her life on hold. Once the children are grown, Annie realizes that there are a slew of other problems facing them--abusive relationships, culture clashes, and the painful process of finding one's way in life--and as Annie gently leads her inherited brood through the gauntlet of growing up, she finds her own happiness.