Anna Colosimo

The main storyline was ok. Americans, after all, do love their happy ending stories with the main character showing perseverance in the face of several hardships. But I was pretty disappointed in The Duchess by Danielle Steel. This was only the second book I have read of hers and could barely make it through. The constant repetition of explaining Angelique’s situation and how she was thrown into it, was about fifty percent of the book. It was almost as if you were watching a TV series and there needed to be the recap of the previous episode at the beginning of each and every episode (just in case a viewer was coming into the middle of the story) was frustrating to me. If it had not been for all that filler, this book would have been about 100 pages. And for a novelist who has been around for some time, it shocked me with how often she used “had had” and the constant use of “and” more than necessary. The grammar used in this book seemed as if it came from an early college writer or advanced high schooler. Without reading more of her books, and only going off of other people’s reviews, I am almost inclined to assume she had someone else write this for her. Additionally, I think some of the historical references in the book was also a little off. My suggestion is that this may be ok for a high schooler or a young adult to read, but an adult who has a college education may want to choose something else as they may find themselves as frustrated as I. And if you are an educated individual who does want to read this, just go into it with lower expectations.