Title: The Duchess
Author: Danielle Steel
Summary
Angelique Latham is the daughter of Duke of Westerfield. She is the youngest child and from a second marriage. Her mother died at childbirth. She has two brothers who are from her father’s first marriage. They hate her.
According to the English law of that time (somewhere in the 1800s), when the father dies, everything would be left to the eldest male heir and no one else was entitled to anything. So, when her father died, she was at the mercy of her eldest brother Tristian and his wife Elisabeth.
A day after her father died, her brother said that she is a burden to them and send her to work at an acquaintance as a nanny. Fortunately, her father gave her some money before he passed away in secret.
Angelique began working as a nanny at the Fergusons in the countryside. They are a wealthy couple that cheats on each other. The man in the open while the woman did it discreetly. They have four children when Angelique arrived. Later they had a twins. Angelique was in charge of six children while the parents were mostly away on parties in London.
One time when they organized a party, one of the guests tried to take advantage of Angelique. She managed to fight him off, but he told the Fergusons that she tried to seduce him. The problem was that Mrs. Fergusons was enchanted by that guest and wanted him, and no one would believe the world of a servant. She was sacked and went to London, but without recommendation she couldn’t find work. Thus, she went to Paris. The same story there. No one would hire her without recommendation. A chance meeting with a prostitute Fabienne made her got the idea to open a house for rich and powerful men. She gathered a few girls and used the money her father left her to make the house very wealthy looking and comfortable. She became the madam of the house and because of her manners people began to call her The Duchess. Her business was thriving. She never slept with the guests which made them want her more. Instead, she chats with them while they wait for the girls. The minister of France got so intrigued with her that he took her in his protection. Their relation stayed platonic because he was married and had a reputation to keep. Then, a wealthy American financier became obsessed with her and proposed for her to become his mistress, which she declined. Then, he proposed for her to be his wife after his first wife had passed away. Angelique still declined because she didn’t love him.
Then, a murder happened in her brothel and her minister friend advised her to go away for a year or so for this to calm down. She decided to go to New York. On the way to New York, she met Andrew on the ship. They fell in love with each other after having been in each other’s company on the ship. They kept in contact in New York and Andrew proposed. As a twisted fate, the American who is obsessed with Angelique happened to be Andrew’s father. He objected their marriage and when they continued with it, he ignored her and only kept a relationship with Andrew. Then, a turn of fate happened and Andrew died in an accident. She decided to go back to England with her son and bought back her father’s castle that was put on sale due to her elder brother’s debts. In the end, she got to drive her brother out of the castle as he did to her. She lived happily ever after with her son in the castle.
Review
It had been more than fifteen years since I last read a book from Danielle Steel. I picked this one up because it is historical (favorite genre) and I wanted to read more this year. I remember liking her books very much. I don’t know if it is this book or that as I am older now that my views have changed. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought. The book was readable and I finished it in a day while skipping some boring pages.
What annoyed me was the logic and how Angelique got out of her problems so fast. The first one, I can understand. Her brother sent her to an acquaintance to work as a servant instead of leaving her on the streets. What I don’t get is everything that had happened after London. She arrived in London and couldn’t find work, so, she decided to try in Paris. Remember, she knows no one in Paris and she is a woman, a very beautiful one at that (everyone who saw her said that she is the most beautiful woman they had ever seen). I don’t understand how she could’ve gotten safely from London to Paris without being raped, kidnapped or at least have something stolen from her. In those times, a woman without a chaperone was basically saying that she has no protection.
Not only did she get safely to Paris, she also opened a brothel without any backing. The strange thing was that even without backing, no thugs, or police or the owners of other brothels came to bother her.
After the murder, I don’t understand why she had to go to New York. I mean, the murder was done by a guest and he confessed. Besides, she also knows no one in New York. She could’ve gone back to England and lay low for a few months. At least, she is familiar with England. If she had gone to New York to start a new life, I might’ve understood her decision, but she just wanted to stay there for a year or so and then come back to open another brothel. Her choices baffle me. Is she not afraid of crossing the ocean alone while being a woman in those times? She didn’t even cross-dress or stay low-key. Instead, she showed her fashion sense every day on the ship for all to admire. Did she really think that everyone is gentleman?
I find her not relatable at all. She supposedly lost everything, but the solution to every one of her struggles seemed to be handed. Because she didn’t go through any suffering, it is difficult to take her problems seriously. I don’t even know if she is considered lucky or unlucky.
If you want to read this book for the romance, the romance happened when only a few chapters was left. This book was more about the struggles of a woman, which Danielle Steel failed to convey.
All in all, I rate this book 2/5.