I love this book! I don't care how many times I read it, and the fact that it was published in the 80's and takes place in the 70's, or that it isn't intellectual. It's a great story. I recommend it to any woman who is looking for a book to break her slump without thinking too hard. Judith Krantz is a great author for books that read easily and require little to no really depth of thinking. Sounds kind of mean to say that, but it's true. Kind of like the Sydney Sheldon of Chick Lit.

Anyhow, I have always read this in paperback form. I would get the book from the local used bookshop. However, this time I read the Kindle version from Amazon. I have to say that I was really disappointed in the editing of it. There were many typos that I suspect were made because the person translating the book from print to e-book misread the words. I know that the paperback font can sometimes cause words like "club" to look like "dub" so this might account for some of the weird words that made no sense. Also, there were many times where a page break should have been made but wasn't. A major cut-scene wasn't made and I found myself wondering what was going on for a second. Also, some words were italicized for emphasis (not that the word was foreign) that made no sense. A sentence would have some random word in italics. If you can get past those editing problems which were littered throughout the book, the story outshines the book.

Now, a bit of a warning. This book was written in the very early 80's and its main story takes place in the mid to late 70's. So, if you aren't familiar with the times you will find yourself not quite understanding why the characters act the way they do. Why they allow certain events to happen.
The ideas of workplace harassment, sexual harassment, PC language and ethnic stereotypes being unacceptable haven’t made their appearance in American culture yet. So, be prepared for Asians to be labeled as Orientals, and workplace harassment, mansplaining, the treatment of women in general to be kind of behind the times. Hell, even I was kind of shocked to read about a 28 year old woman seducing a 14 year old boy. It wasn't at all considered wrong or shocking. She was just being the young cougar teaching a the son of a friend how to please a woman. This woman who knew the son and conversed with him since he was a young boy. Whom she watched grow into the adolescent knowing all the time she planned to have him.

Also, the pop culture of the time heavily plays into the story. It is full of refereces to celebrities of the day, famous events and places. Advertising and marketing of the times is a major part of the story. If you are under 30 and haven't watched any commercials or tv shows from that time (70s') you might not quite get the overall tone of the book.

Also, keep an app to calculate the dollars from the time period into the current dollars or else you won't understand the money. Many times monetary amounts are given in relation to living expenses, salary, or prices and since it's low you might not understand how a woman could live on $175 a week in New York while also supporting someone else.

I am not going to get into the plot of the story except to say that it is about Daisy Valensky who is the daughter of Stash and Veronica Valensky. Stash Valenski is the direct descendant to some Russian royalty and Veronica is a major movie star of the 50's when they meet.

About the story, it follows the standard Judith Krantz pattern of a quick bite of "current" and then delves into the character's past. In this case it delves into the main character Daisy's parents and grandparents past and brings the story up to the "present". It sounds like it would be overly long and boring, but it isn't. That's the secret about Judith Krantz books, they take a long time to get to the present, but the story getting there speeds by and is totally engrossing. This book shows us the best of love, loyalty, family, and life-long friendships with other women who only need to grab a shovel to help you hide a body.

The story goes into Stash's past from childhood. It might seem like that is kind of overkill, but it is important to understand current events in the book. Anyhow, Stash and Veronica have Daisy who is the heroine and main protagonist of the book. We follow her life. She is a great heroine, not TSTL, manages to have a brain and behaves in the way most women would.

Along with Daisy, there are other characters who are both major and minor in the book. They all have a place in her life and some, more than others are given time. Daisy basically pulls herself up by her bootstraps and manages to make a life for herself when she is forced to take on burdens that she never had in the past. The book isn't a romance, but it has a few romances in it. We don't have a "hero" per se until later, and the sex scenes are pretty tame, but don't let that keep you from reading it. It's one of those books that really don't need explicit sex to be enjoyable.

This book was hot garbage. I’m only giving it one stars because I read the whole wretched mess. This story was so discombobulated and centered around incest. I wish there was a warning on the book to give me a heads up. Everything felt really messy and all over the place. Multiple things in this book were unnecessary and felt contrived just to add shock value. It was a waste of my time to read this trash.

Cmon, seriously, what girl now in their 30's didn't read this back in the 80's. I remember thinking it was so risque. If I only knew then what I know now. Too funny.

Bij haar geboorte krijgt zij de namen Marguerite Alexandrovna Valensky, maar iedereen noemt haar Daisy. Daisy met het zilvergouden haar en de koolzwarte ogen, dochter van prins Stash Valensky en de romantische Amerikaanse filmster Francesca Vernond. Er is echter een geheim dat haar gelukkige wereld overschaduwt... Wannaar haar halfbroer Ram misbruik maakt van haar onschuld, stort haar droomwereld in en vlucht zij naar New York. Daisy vecht voor haar onafhankelijkheid in een wereld waarin North, haar roekeloze baas, onmogelijke eisen aan haar stelt; waarin Patrick Shannon, een keiharde zakenman, zijn eigen plannen met Daisy heft en gelooft dat zelfs zíj te koop is. Maar dan, op het toppunt van haar eigen roem, laat Daisy de liefde toe in haar hart.

Waardering:
Ik ben niet een roman liefhebber vooral niet als de haat-liefde verhoudingen er vanaf springen. Echter dit boek was een apart verhaal dat wel lekker weg las, maar dat 200 pagina's minder had gemogen. Vaak heb ik hele stukken overgeslagen, omdat ze voor mij gevoel geen waarde of diepgang gaven aan het verhaal. Al met al een auteur die ik niet zo snel opnieuw zou kiezen. Ondanks dat het boek lekker weg te lezen is, heeft het verhaal me niet echt kunnen bekoren. Daarom twee sterren. Het is gewoon niet mijn genre.

Uitgeverij: Elsevier
ISBN: 90.10.03333.9
526 pagina's; Hardcover

Het boek is verfilmd

My second or third go round with this one.

Princess Daisy should by all means lead a charmed life - with a Russian prince and a movie star for parents, born into the wealthiest echelons of society. But her secrets weigh her down.

I'm not going to call it trashy or silly because it seems like everyone has done that, as though they need to excuse themselves for enjoying non-highbrow literature.

It's a good book. The characters are compelling and the plot sweeps you along in the very best soap opera style. The plot does take a while to get going and the action feels unevenly paced, though. Still, I devoured this book in a day. Also, I thought the matter of sexual assault and misplaced shame was handled quite sensitively for the time.

Loved this book as a teenager. Anything that was written in the 80s and was an epic saga pretty much gets a thumbs up from me!