Danielle Steel is a renowned American author best known for her romantic novels, uplifting her status to one of the most commercially successful romantic novelists ever. She is one of the bestselling living authors of today’s time and is credited with being the bestselling fictional author. We have come up with the best books by Danielle Steel to satisfy the inner reader in you. But before that, let’s understand Danielle Steel in depth.
Danielle Fernandes Dominique Schuelein Steel was born in New York on 14th August 1947 to a wealthy family. Her father, John Schulein Steel, was one of the founders and makers of Lowenbrau beer and her mother, Norma da Camara Stone dos Reis, was the daughter of a Portuguese diplomat. Most of Steel’s childhood was spent in France, where she got the opportunity to attend high-end dinner parties with her parents. From there, she started observing affluent families’ reckless lifestyles and habits, which later became an inspiration for her novels. When Steel reached the age of seven, her parents divorced, and her father won her custody. After that, she spent most of her time in New York and Europe and had little contact with her mother.
Danielle Steel was a born writer who started writing novels very young. By the time she reached 14, she had already begun writing poems, something unimaginable to girls of her generation. She did her graduation from the Lycee Francais de New York in 1963, where she took up both literature and fashion design as her core subjects. After her studies, she landed a PR job, where she used to host campaigns and parties for her clients and customers.
Danielle Steel published her first novel in 1973 and a couple of poems in a women’s magazine. The Promise was her first commercial bestseller, which was published in 1978. From then, there was no turning back for her, and she went on to write and publish more novels, of which 57 were bestsellers. The romance was her genre, so women worldwide enjoyed reading her books. Many movies were also born out of her famous novels. Steel also laid her foot in poetry, and her first collection of poems, Love: Poems by Danielle Steel, was published in 1984. She also has, in her credit, children’s and non-fictional books and has written many articles for different magazines. Steel has also bagged several awards, including induction into the California Hall of Fame.
Now that we have a basic idea about Danielle Steel let’s move on to some of the best books by Danielle Steel which have imprinted on our hearts forever.
This magical saga by Danielle Steel portrays the story of a tragic little girl named Pip, who believes that she will never be happy again. It was because nine months ago, young Pip met an immense tragedy in her life, which broke her heart, leaving her mother in deep grief from which there was no return. Pip was left alone from that day as her mother was too distracted to watch her grow up. But her sad days start to change when Pip meets with an artist named Matt. He was also in the same boat, suffering from loneliness and grief of losing his only daughter. Pip appeared before him as a ray of hope as he started seeing his daughter in her. But other than that, he seemed more attracted to her beautiful mother, Ophelia. Ophelia appears to be confused by the sudden entry of Matt into their life. But she couldn’t deny that Matt had brought happiness to Pip’s life by giving her art lessons.
Matt is still struggling to escape the pain from his messy divorce, and Ophelia is also trying hard to come to terms with her tragedies, leading her to the verge of depression. But later, they both learn it is much easier to handle the pain when shared with your loved ones. Some readers may find it a little slow, but one cannot deny that it is a simple, beautiful love story that deals with loss and love among family members.
Zoya
Zoya was a cousin to a Russian emperor and hence lived a simple and extravagant life in her childhood. Her life suddenly turns upside down after the arrival of the First World War and the Russian revolution. Her cousin loses the throne and is held in imprisonment. All her family members are running for safety; some quietly escape to nearby countries. Unlucky ones are taken as prisoners and cold-bloodedly murdered.
With no choice left, Zoya runs for her life, escapes to St. Petersburg, and lands in Paris. She hides her origin from the others and starts a new life by joining the Ballet Russe. Zoya moves to New York along with the Ballet troupe and leads a peaceful life until Great Depression hits her. She becomes the victim of fate again and loses everything she had gained in that short period. Zoya regains from the Great Depression with her career and lover’s support. She starts from scratch again and rebuilds her life so that no one or nothing can destroy it again. Her family stood with her like a rock on her journey. Through this book, Danielle Steel conveys that with hard work and resilience, we can achieve anything in life.
In this book, the author takes us to a picturesque town in America in the 1950s, where everything seems perfect. This mid-west town aligned with movie theatres and tree-lined streets is a dream come true for everyone. However, we soon learn that nothing is constant in this world as a tragedy happens in this town with a child’s sudden and senseless death.
From that moment, everything seems to change in this place, and lots of tragedies happen one after the other. People have started believing that their life will be like this until a young woman comes to stay in this place. When she got off the bus in a sundress, no one ever believed she was about to change their destiny within that short period. She falls in love with a young man from the town, and the two get married. When she was about to leave, she gave an unexpected gift to a family which washed off all their grieves. Through this book, Steel is trying to tell us that everyone comes into our life for some reason. In the beginning, you may not know the reason behind it or the impact that person will create in your life, but in the end, you will remain indebted to them forever.
Kaleidoscope
Kaleidoscope is one of the outstanding works of Danielle Steel, which will fill both your eyes and heart at the same time. It is the story of a young French woman who falls in love with an American actor, and their love is so strong that they end up starting a family together. However, their sweet love life met with a tragedy as they two left the world, leaving behind their three daughters. Daughters were devastated as they were suddenly left without parents and deprived of the lavish life they had been living till now. To continue living her luxurious life, the middle daughter married a rich and powerful man, and a doctor from rural America adopted the youngest daughter. The eldest daughter, Hilary, tries in vain to reunite with their sisters but fails miserably every time. She ultimately gives up and emerges fully in her career. She keeps herself so busy that no memories of her lost family haunt her. Their only family friend, John, did nothing to reunite the daughters after their parent’s death. Now, he regrets his doings and decides to reunite them. But he has no idea what is happening in their minds and how they feel about each other.
Sisters
Danielle Steel makes an impact in our hearts again with the book Sisters, where she emphasises more on family bonding. All the siblings out there can understand that you don’t need to have similar characteristics and traits just because you are a sibling. This novel is about four sisters poles apart in looks and features. Candy is a high-end supermodel travelling across the globe for her fashion shows. Tammy is a Hollywood producer and has a great house in the hills. Sabrina is a lawyer determined to climb the ladder of supremacy in her fancy New York partnership, whereas Annie is an artist trying to meet ends in Florence and earn herself a name in the art world. They all meet once a year on the 4th of July. But this year, a tragedy happened, and they all had to return to their house in New York. They are left alone in this house with their ageing father, which is unexpected. Luckily, they regain consciousness and come together to work on this situation. They learn the most precious lesson that every life crisis can be solved with love.
Blue
In the book Blue, the author introduces Ginny, who lives the American dream. She has everything in her life, a great job, a fabulous husband, a loving son and a happy life ahead. However, since everything is not constant in life, tragedy strikes her and snatches all her lovely things from her within a fraction of a second. She was left alone, surrounded by the memories of her dear ones, which led her to depression and grief. She even decided to end her life and get back to her loved ones. Then she started working in human rights and met a small boy named Blue. He is a 13-year-old boy who has lived on the streets for quite a long time. His family had abandoned him, and he had no one to love or care about. When Ginny takes the first step in growing their relationship, he runs away as he doesn’t trust adults. And that is true because that is what he saw in his short life. But the two soon start bonding, and in Blue, Ginny finds someone who can fill the void that has been eating her for quite some time. Blue also finds love and respect in Ginny’s eyes, which he has long longed for since birth. But during an unavoidable situation, Blue crosses the line giving a deep wound in Ginny’s heart. Will Ginny be able to forgive him, or has the damage already been done?
The Ring
This book talks about a love affair in Nazi Germany. Kassandra is a German socialite who has been in an unhappy marriage and believes that her children are his. But actually, they are the children of her lover, who is a Jewish writer. At a time when Hitler started ethnic cleansing in Germany, her relationship came to light, putting the lives of her children in danger. Her lover disappears with her son, but the Reich arrests her daughter Ariana.
In prison, Ariana faces continuous rape threats from the guards and begs the authorities to let her work outside the prison. And they allow her to work as a cook at a Nazi officer’s home. However, she falls for the kind officer, which puts her life in danger again, and she flees from there. She is finally rescued by a relief organisation that brings her to New York City. There, she realises that she is both sick and pregnant at that time. Ariana delivers a baby boy and meets another kind man who falls for her. She finally finds relief in the arms of this man and her son.
The Promise
If you believe in true love and destiny, you will be blown away by the simplicity of this book. It is about two lovers, Michael and Nancy. Michael is a leading architect, whereas Nancy is a struggling artist. They both fall in love and decide to start a family. But Michael’s mother is not in favour of this marriage. According to her, Michael, a successful architect, will have to support Nancy throughout their life. But she couldn’t do much to persuade Michael from Nancy and finally had to give in. However, luck was in her favour as their marriage was called off just before the ceremony because of a tragic accident and deception. Michael and Nancy part ways and set up their lives in separate countries.
Nancy continued to pursue her dream of becoming a well-known artist, and Michael joined a fancy architect firm in New York. His mother was happy with the marriage being called off. But destiny had something else stored for them. Before ending their marriage, they had promised each other that they would never leave each other’s hands, no matter what happened in future. Even the strong will of his mother could not break this promise. This book will restore your faith in true love.
Fine Things
Fine Things is one of the best-ranked books of Danielle Steel which gives away the message that one should never lose hope even in the most challenging time. Bernie was living everyone’s dream with handsome features and a steady job. The company assigned him to oversee their new office in San Fransico, which was too much for him. Everything seemed perfect for him until the eyes of a five-old-year started following him. But more than the girl, Bernie gets attracted to her enchanting mother, Liz. Before he could know, the two were in love and had already tied the knot. Within one year, Bernie became the father of his first child and was on top of the world. Jane was also happy to become a big sister. Everything seemed perfect in their life. But their life fell apart when Liz was diagnosed with cancer, and she soon left the world, leaving behind two small children in the care of Bernie. The single father didn’t know how to handle two small children, something he hadn’t imagined even in his wildest dreams. But slowly, the three sink into the situation and stand for each other.
Accident
Page is living her life with a happy family and a fabulous marriage. Her husband goes out frequently on business trips. During one such night, her life turns upside down. That night, her teenage daughter lies to her and goes to a boy’s house with her friends. But their car is met with an accident in between, and Page is left alone to face the longest night of her life. She could also not contact her husband, making her situation even worse. Without any choice left, she had to confide her life’s tragedy to a family friend and spend the rest of the night fearing losing her daughter. Page is devastated to learn that her daughter may not make it or end up in a vegetable state. Page finds herself on the verge of the road with no hope. This beautiful story conveys a powerful message of how a mere accident can change your entire life.
Conclusion
Well, those were our list of best books by Danielle Steel. Since she is a well-known name in the literature, we cannot include all her collections in one article. She has published around 190 books throughout her career, and each of them has its charm and charisma. You can go through romantic novels if you are a fan of them. Her other famous novels are Big Girl, Neighbors, Finding Ashley and The Challenge. They are a must-have in your library.