Star

Star is a standalone novel by Danielle Steel, first published in 1989 by Delacorte Press.

Crystal Wyatt is born into a hardscrabble family in the Alexander Valley, tolerated by no one but her father, who sees the beauty and the singing voice that set her apart. When he dies she is left unprotected, and the ranch that was the only home she knew becomes unsafe. Crystal leaves with nothing but her voice and makes her way toward San Francisco and then Hollywood, where the same gifts that saved her make her a star.

Running alongside her rise is Spencer Hill, a man she met once as a girl and never forgot, whose own life — war, an ambitious marriage, a career in law and politics — keeps carrying him away from her. The novel follows both across decades, and stardom brings Crystal danger as well as fame, with a violence from her past that has to be faced before she can be at peace. It was adapted for television in 1993.