Princess Daisy

This was the first of this type of book that I'd ever read. I was still a teenager. I didn't even know books like this existed. Until then, everything I'd read had been of pretty high quality. I had no idea people wrote books for pure sensationalism and shock value, which is what this is. So much of it was so offensive! Pedophilia, incest, rape... I can't remember what else. I kept thinking it would go somewhere. But you know, stories like this don't have anywhere to go. They have no point other than to titillate. That said, I have to admit the story has stuck with me all these years. I remember more from this book than most, even ones I've loved. At the same time, I've never read anything else by Krantz.

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 show more 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. show less

Most of this book reads like a flash back, and it's quite disconcerting. In the first chapter, we meet 23-year-old Daisy setting up a shoot for a commercial. A few paragraph's later, her parents are posing with Infant Daisy for Life magazine. The second chapter begins to describe how Daisy's parents met, then rather abruptly skips back again in time to explain both of their childhoods. The book proceeds loosely chronologically from there, but even in 495 pages, that's a lot of time to cover. Therefore, most of the information is presented in a rather dry narrative, pausing here and there to include a scene or two of action or dialogue. The reader just barely gets interested in the current cast of characters and what's going on in with show more Daisy before skipping ahead to the next important event in her life. Finally, by Chapter 14, we're back to the scene from Chapter 1, where Daisy's producing a commercial. Finally, the reader thinks, all will be action. Instead, this pattern continues, introducing each new character with tons of backstory, and staging very little of the "action" in front of the reader.
It was really very exhausting to read and took quite a long time, which was surprising, because I very recently read another book by this author that was almost a hundred pages longer, but took me almost a week less to read.
The plot of the book, which mostly just the life of the main character, with a lot of interpersonal (and intrapersonal) conflict, was decent enough. Daisy herself was quite compelling. I'd just have liked less background information on everyone around her and more about her. Her dynamism doesn't really show until the very end of the book, and seems almost abrupt, like the climax was rushed. One of her main adversaries is neutralized in a very confusing way, that really did not seem true to the character, and her stunning realization about herself took place just pages before the end of the book. I would have liked to know more about how Daisy continues, more of an epilogue. This is the only way in which this book fails to give enough explanation. It's almost as if some editor decided the thing was getting to long and cut off the author before she was finished. show less

A long read to be sure, but it was a captivating one despite the often long winded arcs into the lives of others.
Krantz, is the author who I turn to when I'm in the mood to play the voyeur into the scandalous lives of the rich and intriguing folks who live in a world I can only imagine, and she doesn't dissapoint.
Princess Daisy is a book that focuses on two generations of very interesting and flawed people. The story is as much about them as it is about Daisy.
My one true complaint would be that the ending leaves the reader wanting to know if she enjoys a lasting happiness. An epilogue would have been nice. She and her love interest are briefly mentioned in another book (The Jewels of Tess Kent--I think) so one gets the idea there that show more all goes well with her in her future. show less

Rob the book of its letters? Well, that's too much to say, but I read it so many times that I came close.
I bought it many years ago and I liked it. What the story is about, you can find in the synopsis, I won't repeat that. But the story itself was new, a romantic story from a different angle. How twin sisters can be so very different, how one pays the price for keeping a secret that there's two sisters and not one. How the one that's visible struggles and how finally the thruth comes out.
When I wirte it down now, it seems like nothing new at all, like more of the same. But, like I said, when I read it first, it made a great impression on me.

I do recommend it for people who like romantic stories that have a bit more to it than just show more romance. ;-) show less

this book is trashy rapey terrible nonsense but I loved it when I was fifteen and I still love it now, sorry not sorry

I laughed several times while reading this; I'm pretty sure it is not supposed to be a funny book.