Rating: 
Summary: I really wish for a -0- star rating!
Review: Judith Krantz has turned into a formula writer with only one story to tell: that of a beautiful, yet somehow tragic heroine, who must overcome some kind of adversity to reach the top; marry one of the world's richest, most powerful men; go through another tragedy; and end her life surrounded by friends and family (and most usually, a second husband). This is just too much of a good thing over and over and over again. I know Krantz is no Faulkner, but I've grown a bit tired of the same ole' story, no matter how the scenery changes. Either quit or find a new framework for your stories! I won't be purchashing any Krantz books for a while, not even in paperback!
Rating: 
Summary: Judith Krantz Lite!
Review: A quick lite read. Less filling AND half the calories. Ultimately forced to skim quite a few tedious pages but I got through it. The entire segment dedicated to her daughter...the attempted reconciliation, the auction and most especially her daughter's romance are all written as after thoughts...simply a lot of underdeveloped fluff to beef up the page count. Were the books of my teenage years (Princess Daisy, I'll Take Manhatten) really so much better...or have I simply outgrown Judith Krantz all together? My verdict....a libary pick!
Rating: 
Summary: Magic
Review: At the beginning of this novel, Tessa Kent is but a 14-year-old extraordinarily beautiful girl whose mother lives only for the day when Tessa will become a movie star. However due to a one-night indiscretion Tessa becomes pregnant and the family moves to another city. There, in secrecy, Tessa gives birth to a little girl (Maggie) whom her parents decide to raise as their own. Tessa is still under twenty when she wins an Oscar for the best supporting actress and from then on her star continues to rise spectaculously. Soon after she gets married her parents die in a car accident. Tessa's husband doesn't know her secret and so Maggie is brought up by a cold, unsympathetic couple (relatives of Tessa's husband). Tessa becomes a widow in the meantime and, when Maggie is 18, she decides to tell her everything but Maggie finds out from another source and decides never to speak to her mother again. A few years pass and special circumstances make Tessa desperately try to make peace with her daughter... if it's not already too late. I must admit I am a big fan of Judith Krantz and I read all her novels. Every one of them is magic, glamorous and has some inner joy that willy-nilly rubs out on you. The old magic is still here in this book, but not nearly as much as in the other novels. Also there are far less people and secondary story lines, something I regret. All in all, a book not to be missed!
Rating:
Summary: A enjoyable novel about mother-daughter relationships.
Review: For years, I have maintained the belief that novels written purely for entertainment value only are worthwhile - they serve, if you will, as an intermezzo to our reading of more literate, thought-provoking works. From nobel prize-winning Toni Morrison to the prolific intellegience of Joyce Carol Oates or our classic writers of yester-year such as Dickens and Thackery. Yet we have the likes of Steel, Susann and Krantz - all of whom display the ability to entertain and some, yes, with an aptitude for writing. Then why do I feel somewhat embarrassed when I take a Steel or Krantz novel up to the register for purchase? One doesn't want to admit to reading such books but here we are, we read. And as much as we do not want to like them we keep turning the pages to find out what happens. Judith Krantz's "The Jewels of Tessa Kent" is such a novel. I kept wanting to know what happens from the world of Ms. Krantz who I believe is a competent,decent writer - better then most in her literary genre. Ms. Krantz's novel focuses on Tessa Kent who at 14 gives birth to a daughter, Maggie. A disgrace to her religious parents and too young to be a mother, Tess's parents raise the child as their own leading others to believe that Maggie is Tessa's sister. The secret is maintained as Tessa enters the film industry becoming a major star. Tessa marries, never claiming Maggie as her daughter and, as events unforld, Tessa realizes that her lie must be turned into a truth. "The Jewels of Tessa Kent" is clearly a novel dealing with mothers and daughters and of reconciliation. Reconciliation of past, present and of family relationships. The novel fails only when Ms. Krantz decides to detail sexual encounters her characters have. I may sound prudish but I'm not. This novel has too much of a serious tone to cheeze it up by putting in sex, which is poorly written in an otherwise well-written novel, to please a mass marketed audience. Nevertheless, I recommend this novel and hope that Ms.Krantz in her next novel eliminates the overt scenes of sex if she is tackling a serious subject matter. "The Jewels of Tessa Kent" is entertaining, emotional and a nice after dinner treat.
Rating:
Summary: Somewhat heartwarming mother-daughter story
Review: I did enjoy reading the story for a while. The characters, I found compelling and the story seemed readable. Yet at the ending it began to fall apart. I had grown to not care about what happened at the end to both Tessa and Maggie.
Rating:
Summary: Somewhat heartwarming mother-daughter story
Review: I did enjoy reading the story for a while. The characters, I found compelling and the story seemed readable. Yet at the ending it began to fall apart. I had grown to not care about what happened at the end to both Tessa and Maggie.
Rating:
Summary: great summertie reading
Review: I enjoyed the book,in fact I read it in 2 days but I was bothered that Tessa was so cruel to her daughter after the way she was treated growing up.Tessa only thought of her own needs all thru the book then when she had cancer she thought she would look up Maggie,I think it would have been better if Maggie made her more responsible for her actions and also if we could have had more details into Maggie's life after she was working at the auction place.
Rating:
Summary: I thought this book was a quick read.
Review: I have been a judith krantz fan since the beginning, this book is great. I admit that it is not heavy reading but who doesnt enjoy a book that doesnt always make you have to think? The characters are great and I loved Tessa! The descriptions of the jewels she buys made me drool. A little bit of comedy, drama and of course heartache made me never want to put this book down.
Rating: 
Summary: Krantz's bestwork to date!
Review: I loved this book. I couldn't put it down. I was crushed at the ending especially when Maggie and Tessa finally find each other, yet their time is limited. I would love to e-mail Mrs. Krantz about this novel. There was something that caught me and wouldn't let go. I think it would make a great movie.
Rating:
Summary: Krantz's bestwork to date!
Review: I loved this book. I couldn't put it down. I was crushed at the ending especially when Maggie and Tessa finally find each other, yet their time is limited. I would love to e-mail Mrs. Krantz about this novel. There was something that caught me and wouldn't let go. I think it would make a great movie.
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