Two By Steel

The Good Mother

Danielle Steel’s books—which she brings out at an alarming rate—are somewhat like mainstream movies; you know just what to expect, the may have some mild surprises along the way, and then, to please the fan, they end exactly as on would expect them to.  She is a bestselling author because she knows her readers, who are not looking for literary writing, but for charaters (strong women, mostly) they can relate too.  

Against All Odds is about Kate Madison and her four children. Kate was widowed young and raised her kids by setting up a vintage clothing store that made her famous in fashion circles. Her mother, Louise, an outspoken and adventurous woman has been a constant source of support. She is around for Kate, but also spends her free time travelling to different places and collecting experiences.  Compared to her, Kate comes across as a boring drudge.

The children grew up and moved away and now each has a problem of their own. Eldest daughter Izzie, a career-oriented lawyer falls in love with a spoilt, rich, junkie Zach; her gay son Justin and his partner Richard want to have a baby through surrogacy when they aren’t financially or emotionally secure to start a family. Justin’s twin Julie, falls In love with a nice guy, Peter, who turns out to be a nightmare. The youngest son William, has never settled down and dates a succession of women, till he decides that a much older woman  is the one for him.

Dutiful Kate never married again and devoted all her time to her children; she also supported their choices, even if she disapproved.  She realizes with wisdom that her own mother passed on to her, that they have to solve their own problems; all she can offer is a patient ear and a home always open for them.  Apart from her mother, the one who stands by Kate is an old friend, Liam, whose wife does not stand in the way of their platonic friendship.

As can be expected from Steel’s books, the problems arise rapidly and are solved easily to the extent that people die obligingly at the right time.  She doesn’t waste too much time over exposition or character development, but expends the words she saves for the sake of pace in repetition. Of the characters she creates in this book, Loiuse is the most fascinating—when authors start writing more books about people in thee autumn of their lives, and refrain from making them whiny, then maybe a woman like Loiuse would get a book about her life and her travels.

Against All Odds

By Danielle Steel
Published by Pan Macmillan
Pages: 336

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Fighting Spirit

In her latest book titled The Duchess, Danielle Steel, creates a young woman who jumps over the hurdles placed in her path and experiences a lifetime of sorrow and joys before she is even out of her twenties.

In her foreword, Steel explains the archaic British law by which the eldest son (or nearest male relative in the line of succession) of a nobleman inherits the property, title and the family home. He can, if he so wishes, throw his sisters (and even mother in many cases) out of their home. At a time (in the nineteenth century), when no careers were open to unmarried women of noble birth, except as governess to wealthy children, the fate of girls was in the hands of their brothers or male relatives. (Primogeniture was abolished as late as 1925.)

Angelique is one such unfortunate woman. The daughter of the second wife of the Duke of Westerfield, who died in childbirth, she was brought up in luxury at Belgrave Castle and pampered by her father. Her two brothers, Tristan and Edward, hate her with an intensity she has done nothing to deserve.

She is barely eighteen, when her father dies, and she is evicted from her home by Tristan, his harsh wife and two nasty daughters. Worse, her brother sends her to work as a nanny in the home of a rich couple with four children. Overnight, from being the lady of a castle, she is dumped below stairs as a servant. Anticipating just this, her father, surreptitiously gave her a large sum of money, to tide her over any crisis, before he died.

Even with no experience with kids, she manages her duties with diligence, never letting her poise and aristocratic manner falter. When she turns down the advances of a friend of her employer, she is summarily sacked without a character reference, so she cannot get a job anywhere in England.  She goes to Paris, hoping to find employment, but the lack of that crucial bit of paper shuts all doors there too.

A chance meeting with a hooker Fabienne, whom she picks up from the street in wounded state and treats with kindness, gives her the idea of getting into what is called the world’s oldest profession. She sets up the finest bordello in all of Paris, patronized by the rich and powerful, but does not “go upstairs” with any one the men who are bewitched by the beautiful, intelligent and stylish woman. Steel’s portrayal of prostitution is rather strange and morally ambiguous. She writes about the girls with sympathy and a bit of admiration, but makes sure her heroine remains untouched. However, she does expose the hypocrisy of a society, in which men could do as they pleased, as long as they kept away from public scandal.

There are political upheavals going on in England and France, that Steel hints at, only to the extent that they affect Angelique and her girls. Though there is needless death, how the story ends is predictable—if it weren’t Steel’s fans would be disappointed.

The Duchess

By Danielle Steel

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Pages: 400