2024 Book Review Series: My First Introduction to Danielle Steel

I put reading on the back burner for a few years during university, but no longer! I am graduated and ready to fill my free time with as many words as I can handle. My goal for 2024 is to read 36 books. I have at least 12 on my TBR list and - to stop myself from adding to the tally - I've told myself I can't buy anything new until I finish them all. Also, since I've acquired several books on my reading list in random ways, some are not stories I would have chosen to read on my own. For the first book I read in 2024, this is certainly the case.

Prodigal Son by Danielle Steel is the first work I've read by this renowned author. She has amassed over 200 publications in various genres but is best known for her romance novels. Prodigal Son - a New York Times bestseller published in 2017 - leans more toward adult fiction with aspects of mystery and crime.

The book begins in October of 2008 when the protagonist, Peter McDowell, loses his money, job, and family to the stock market crash. However, the story actually begins in the small town of Ware, Massachusetts, when a rivalry buds between Peter and his twin brother, Michael, as children. This fued lasts until they are both well into their forties, when Peter is forced to live in his only remaining asset: his late parents' cottage just outside of Ware. Peter and Michael rekindle their relationship in the months that he lives in the cottage. He comes to appreciate their new bond so much that, when Michael's son warns Peter that his father is dangerous, Peter hardly believes him despite their decades-long conflict. The following months reveal a story of deceit, manipulation, and secrecy that tests the limits of family ties.

As an avid literary fiction and mystery reader, this subject matter was right up my alley. I was hooked by the promise of complicated family relationships and a small-town mystery, all made more dire by the devastating economic backdrop. However, while I found the plot intriguing and full of potential, I regret to say that I struggled to enjoy this book.

Structurally, the timeline was paced awkwardly. Revealing hints were given to the reader far too early which took away from the suspense. In a 318 page novel, I had figured out the ending within the first 75 pages and, in the last 100, I patiently awaited a twist that did not come. The prose also recycles the same information to fill in the space between lines of dialogue. I found myself skimming through larger paragraphs to avoid the repetition.

Although Prodigal Son was not the novel for me, Steel has many devout readers who praise her and this book. Since it is not her typical genre and was published toward the end of a five-decade writing career, perhaps this book was not the right place to begin with Steel's work. She builds an easy, conversational tone in her prose that I find more suited to romance pieces; I might have appreciated it more had I first encountered it in that genre.

There isn't any more Danielle Steel on my current reading list but there is no saying what the future holds. Some day, if I find myself binging romance novels, I'd like to give her work another chance. Her fans have followed her for over 200 books and counting and I'm sure there's a reason why.