The Devil’s Daughter by American author Danielle Steel is a gripping blend of family drama, psychological suspense, and emotional healing.
Billie and Mickie Banks grew up on a small farm in the American Midwest. After their mother’s death, their father struggled with alcoholism, affecting his physical and mental health. Despite Billie’s attempts to look after Mickie, her sister consistently treated her with cruelty, and their lives went in dramatically different directions.
Billie is kind, loving, and academically gifted. Having graduated magna cum laude from MIT with a background in science, she yearns for a happy life. Mickie, who lives for glamour, attention, and personal gratification, moves to LA to become a star. With her good looks, she becomes a model.
After years of distance, Mickie invites her older sister to move to Los Angeles, offering what appears to be a chance at reconciliation and a fresh start. When Billie joins Mickie, she grows increasingly concerned about her sister’s new lifestyle and her boyfriend, Alex Addison, a surgeon who has something to hide. Tension escalates when a scandal threatens to destroy Mickie’s glamorous world, forcing both sisters to confront difficult truths.
The narrative moves forward in time, which makes the story easy to follow and allows the emotional consequences of events to unfold naturally. Moral clarity plays a big role in how harmful choices have consequences, reinforcing themes of accountability, compassion, and personal integrity. I enjoyed the contrast between the two sisters. Steel’s strength lies in her ability to craft characters who feel vividly human, even when flawed.
Billie’s earnestness and perseverance make her easy to root for. She is intelligent, disciplined, and deeply compassionate, but her greatest weakness is her loyalty. Billie repeatedly gives Mickie the benefit of the doubt, even when it costs her peace, security, and self-worth. This makes her painfully human and easy to empathise with.
In sharp contrast, Mickie is darker and disturbing. She is manipulative, lacks empathy, and is relentlessly self-interested, thriving on attention and control. Using people as tools rather than forming genuine connections, her cruelty is wrapped in charm and entitlement.
The supporting cast of characters adds depth and conflict, enriching the story’s emotional landscape. From the father representing unresolved loss and emotional neglect to Alex as a clear antagonist embodying manipulation and abuse of power. Other secondary figures are not deeply complex but are essential in advancing the plot.
I have been a fan of Danielle Steel for decades, well known for her romance and drama. This novel marks a new chapter with a darker, more contemplative edge. While the narrative may be a bit familiar to those who have read Steel’s past works, the complexity of its themes and the depth of its characters will keep readers engaged from start to finish.
The Devil’s Daughter is a compelling read that delivers a thoughtful exploration of trauma, resilience, and the courage it takes to rewrite your own story. It is a reminder that walking away can be an act of strength, not failure, and that peace is sometimes found not in reconciliation, but in choosing yourself.
If you enjoy character-driven novels with a strong emotional core, I highly recommend.
A selection of our Beauty and Lace Club members are reading The Devil’s Daughter by Danielle Steel. You can read their comments below, or add your own review.
My love of books started at a very young age. My mum has always been a reader and encouraged me to read, buying me endless book from classic fairy tales advancing to the world of Enid Blyton, CS Lewis, Louisa May Alcott, Kathryn Kenny, Carolyn Keene, Francine Pascal. In my adult years the list of authors is endless and every room in my house is filled with books.
One of my favourite novels is Narnia which has always has a special place in my heart. I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 1978 and when I was given this book to read it let me escape to another world where I felt like I was in the book with all the characters, it wasfun and exciting to escape from reality and eased the ups and downs of the disease at such a young age.
In books nothing is impossible and there is endless potential and hundreds of places to explore or being taken to places that are only made up from the authors’ great minds, the past and future to navigate, characters lives you step into taking you on an emotional rollercoaster ride or being scared out of your wits. I can experience things that I can’t in real life because they’re not possible or real. It challenges my perspective and mindset expanding my worldview.
I find joy, comfort and peace with books, many people may not get it, but I know bookworms like me truly understand. Reading makes my heart happy.