Danielle Steel is currently the best-selling living author and one of the best-selling fiction authors of all time. She released her newest book “Joy” on Aug. 13, and although I was eager to read the new novel, many people had checked it out from the Metropolitan Library System. So, my anticipation increased while I had it on hold until someone else returned it. Unfortunately, as a first-time reader of the well-known Steel, I was extremely let down.
The synopsis on the book cover explains how much the main character, Allegra Dixon, desires to be loved due to her absent mother and distant father. When she was 16 years old, she met Shepherd Williams. Unfortunately, after the 9/11 terrorist attack, Williams has orders to be sent to Afghanistan. Later, as he continues to return from Afghanistan, Dixon realizes that the war has extremely affected and changed Williams. With this, Dixon once more experiences the harrowing journey that comes with the search for true love and real joy.
This summary seemed intriguing to me, and based on the synopsis on the book cover, I thought that the story would be about how Dixon seeks to find joy in her life as she watches her husband struggle in the aftermath of war and her desire to rebuild their relationship following his deployments. However, I felt misled immediately.
My main critiques of this article are over the plot, so please be warned that there are spoilers ahead.
Although I originally thought that the novel would be about the couple’s quest to rebuild their relationship, Williams eventually decides that the war has come between them. Dixon then feels alone once more when she had once thought she had finally found the love and joy she deserves. Not only does her relationship with Williams not work out, he files for divorce, and she does nothing but comply. This was annoying to me because I thought that since she had such a strong desire to be loved, she would at least fight for her relationship.
She then moves to Los Angeles and, although she has a degree from Columbia University, becomes a personal assistant to and falls in love with a famous music composer. The shocking part of this love story is that he is 38 years older than her–old enough to easily be her father. They marry and spend several years together before he dies when she is only 33, but the author does not spend much time covering the emotional impact this loss leaves on her. It seems that she quickly becomes entangled with another man: one of her late husband’s partners in the film industry. However this part seemed completely unnecessary as it did not add anything to the story. She even realizes that her short relationship with this man was a mistake, so it did not even contribute to her journey to find love.
Fast forward another few years, and she has published several novels and a biography about her late husband and suddenly becomes attracted to a reporter named Galen. However, the book ends with, “She was looking forward to seeing Galen again,” which does display her hope for a joyful future.
I believe the only thing I liked about the book is that it takes place throughout her life, from age 6 to her mid-to-late 30s. This is unusual and unique, and I do think it added more to the story because Steel spent so much time explaining what formed Dixon into the person she is as an adult.
However, the content was very disappointing. I understand that she felt abandoned by her parents and that left a large emotional impact on her, but it seemed as though she was never willing to stand up for herself or her relationships with either of her husbands, which seemed to defeat the purpose of her longing for love and joy.
Even if her relationship with Williams never worked out, it would have been nice to see her find a relationship with her “soul mate,” even someone her age with whom she could spend the rest of her life. This would have made the message of her being able to find joy again much more clear.
Although the story did not display Dixon experiencing real joy to me, I can see that the story describes Dixon’s quest to find joy. “Joy” did not impress me as a first-time reader of the famous author, for which I had high expectations.
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