About Danielle Steel

Steel was born Danielle Fernandes Dominique Schuelein-Steel in New York City to a German father and a Portuguese mother. Her father, John Schulein-Steel, was a German-Jewish immigrant and a descendant of owners of Löwenbräu beer. Her mother, Norma da Camara Stone dos Reis, was the daughter of a Portuguese diplomat. She spent much of her childhood in France,where from an early age she was included in her parents' dinner parties, giving her an opportunity to observe the habits and lives of the wealthy and famous. Her parents divorced when she was eight, and she was raised primarily by her father, rarely seeing her mother.

Steel started writing stories as a child, and by her late teens had begun writing poetry. Raised Catholic, she thought of becoming a nun during her early years. A 1965 graduate of the Lycée Français de New York, she studied literature design and fashion design, first at Parsons School of Design and then at New York University.

Steel married French-American banker Claude-Eric Lazard in 1965 at age 18. While a young wife, and still attending New York University, Steel began writing, completing her first manuscript at the age of 19.After the birth of their daughter Beatrix,[16] Steel worked for a public-relations agency in New York called Supergirls. A client, Ladies' Home Journal editor John Mack Carter, encouraged her to focus on writing,having been impressed with her freelance articles. He suggested she write a book, which she did. She later moved to San Francisco, and worked as a copywriter for Grey Advertising.

Her first novel, Going Home, was published in 1972. The novel contained many of the themes that her writing would become well known for, including a focus on family issues and human relationships. The heroine of Going Home was a divorced single mother. Steel and Lazard divorced in 1974.

While still married to Lazard, Steel met Danny Zugelder while interviewing an inmate in a prison near Lompoc, California, where Zugelder was also incarcerated. He moved in with Steel when he was paroled in June 1973, but returned to prison in early 1974 on robbery and rape charges. After receiving her divorce from Lazard in 1975, she married Zugelder in the prison canteen. She divorced him in 1978, but the relationship spawned Passion's Promise and Now and Forever, the two novels that launched her career.

Steel married her third husband, William George Toth, the day after her divorce from Zugelder was finalized. She was already eight months pregnant with his child. With the success of her fourth book, The Promise, she became a participant in San Francisco high society while Toth, a former drug addict, was left out. They divorced in March 1981.


Steel married for the fourth time in 1981, to vintner John Traina.Traina subsequently adopted Steel's son Nick and gave him his family name. Together they had additional five children, Samantha (April 14, 1982), Victoria (September 5, 1983), Vanessa (December 18, 1984), a fashion stylist, Maxx (February 10, 1986) and Zara (September 26, 1987).

Coincidentally, beginning with her marriage to Traina in 1981, Steel has been a near-permanent fixture on The New York Times hardcover and paperback bestsellers lists. In 1989, she was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for having a book on the New York Times Bestseller List for the most consecutive weeks of any author—381 consecutive weeks at that time.[18] Since her first book was published, every one of her novels has hit bestseller lists in paperback, and each one released in hardback has also been a hardback bestseller.[10] During this time Steel also contributed to her first non-fiction work. Having a Baby was published in 1984 and featured a chapter by Steel about suffering through miscarriage.The same year she also published a book of poetry, Love: Poems.

Steel also ventured into children's fiction, penning a series of 10 illustrated books for young readers. These books, known as the "Max and Martha" series, aim to help children face real life problems: new baby, new school, loss of loved one, etc. In addition, Steel has authored the "Freddie" series. These four books address other real life situations: first night away from home, trip to the doctor, etc.

Determined to spend as much time as possible with her own children, Steel often wrote at night, making do with only four hours of sleep. Steel is a prolific author, often releasing several books per year.Each book takes 2½ years to complete,so Steel has developed an ability to juggle up to five projects at once, researching one book while outlining another, then writing and editing additional books.

Her fear of flying created so many challenges in the early 1980s that she went through an eight-week course based out of the San Francisco airport to overcome her fear.

In 1993, Steel sued a writer who intended to disclose in her book that her son Nick was adopted by her then-current husband John Traina, despite the fact that adoption records are sealed in California.A San Francisco judge made a highly unusual ruling allowing the seal on Nick's adoption to be overturned, although he was still a minor. This order was confirmed by a California Appellate Judge, who ruled that because Steel was famous, her son's adoption did not have the same privacy right,[10] and the book was allowed to be published.

The son at the center of the lawsuits, Nicholas Traina, committed suicide in 1997. Traina was the lead singer of San Francisco punk bands Link 80 and Knowledge. To honor his memory, Steel wrote the nonfiction book His Bright Light, about Nick's life and death. Proceeds of the book, which reached The New York Times Non-Fiction Bestseller List were used to found the Nick Traina Foundation, which Steel runs, to fund organizations dedicated to treating mental illness. To gain more recognition for children's mental illnesses, Steel has lobbied for legislation in Washington, and previously held a fundraiser every two years (known as The Star Ball) in San Francisco.


Steel married for a fifth time, to Silicon Valley financier Thomas James Perkins, but the marriage ended after four years in 2002.Steel has said that her novel The Klone and I was inspired by a private joke between herself and Perkins.In 2006, Perkins dedicated his novel Sex and the Single Zillionaire to Steel.

After years of near-constant writing, in 2003 Steel opened an art gallery in San Francisco, Steel Gallery, which showed contemporary work and exhibited the paintings and sculptures of emerging artists. The gallery closed in 2007. She continues to curate shows a few times a year for the Andrea Schwartz Gallery in San Francisco.

In 2002, Steel was decorated by the French government as an Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, for her contributions to world culture.

She has additionally received:

Induction into the California Hall of Fame, December 2009.
"Distinguished Service in Mental Health Award" (first time awarded to a non-physician) from New York Presbyterian Hospital, Department of Psychiatry and Columbia University Medical School and Cornell Medical College, May 2009.
"Outstanding Achievement Award" for work with adolescents from Larkin Street Youth Services in San Francisco, May 2003.
"Service to Youth Award" for improving the lives of mentally ill adolescents and children from the University of San Francisco Catholic Youth Organization and St. Mary's Medical Center, November 1999.
"Outstanding Achievement Award" in Mental Health from the California Psychiatric Association
"Distinguished Service Award" from the American Psychiatric Association
In 2006 Steel reached an agreement with Elizabeth Arden to launch a new perfume, Danielle by Danielle Steel.
Danielle Steel's longtime residence in San Francisco, Spreckels Mansion (San Francisco) was built in c.1913 as the mansion of sugar tycoon Adolph B. Spreckels and his wife Alma Spreckels.

Steel's longtime residence was in San Francisco, but she now spends most of her time at a second home in Paris.[28] Despite her public image and varied pursuits, Steel is known to be shy and because of that and her desire to protect her children from the tabloids,she rarely grants interviews or makes public appearances. Her 55-room San Francisco home, Spreckels Mansion, was built in c.1913 as the mansion of sugar tycoon Adolph B. Spreckels.

Books by Danielle Steel

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Life was good for Liz and Jack Sutherland. In eighteen years of marriage they had built a family, a successful law practice, and a warm happy home near San Francisco, in a house on Hope Street. But one Christmas morning, in the midst of joy and child

25,000 TZS

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Marie-Ange Hawkins has the kind of childhood that most people dream of - freedom, love and security in a beautiful old French chateau. But when she is just eleven, a tragic accident marks the end of her idyllic life. Orphaned and alone, she is sent t

25,000 TZS

Publisher: Corgi Books

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As Diana Morrison laid the table for six at her elegant Central Park apartment, she had no warning of what was to come. Spending New Year's Eve together was a tradition for Diana, her husband Eric, and their best friends Pascale and John Donnally and

25,000 TZS

Publisher: Corgi Books

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They were the best of friends and the most daunting of bachelors . . . . Charlie Harrington, a charming, handsome philanthropist, has such high expectations for his perfect bride that no mortal need apply . . . Adam Weiss, a forty-something celebrity

25,000 TZS

Publisher: Corgi Books

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As she checked into the lush Beverly Hills Hotel, Tanya Harris dreaded being away from her husband, Peter, and three teenaged children. Dressed as pure Marin County mom among supermodels and movie stars, Tanya was here to do a major screenplay after

25,000 TZS

Publisher: Corgi Books

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When Swiss-born Hugues Martin sees a small, run-down hotel in New York for the rough diamond it is, he transforms it into a beautiful boutique hotel of impeccable elegance, run with the precision and attention to detail he learned through his hotelie

25,000 TZS

Publisher: Corgi Books

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Assistant D.A. Alexa Hamilton has just been handed the kind of case that makes careers: the trial of accused serial killer Luke Quentin. Sifting through mountains of forensic evidence, Alexa relentlessly builds her case and prepares for a high-stakes

25,000 TZS

Publisher: Corgi Books

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THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER

In her powerful memoir His Bright Light, Danielle Steel opened her heart to share the devastating story of the loss of her beloved son. In A Gift of Hope, she shows us how she transformed that pain into a campai

25,000 TZS

Publisher: Wiley India Pvt

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One life-changing war. A love story that would echo across the decades...

On the cusp of the Second World War in Europe, Nicolas and Alex are two widowed men raising their children alone. They lead contented, peaceful lives, until a long-buried se

25,000 TZS

Publisher: Corgi Books

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Faith Madison is the very picture of a sophisticated New Yorker. Slim, blonde, stylish, married to a successful merchant banker and having raised two daughters, Faith has a life many would envy. But Faith has overcome a childhood marred by tragedy, a

22,000 TZS

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Paris Armstrong never saw it coming. With two grown children and a lovely home in Connecticut, Paris was happy with her marriage, her family, her life. So when her husband of twenty-four years said they needed to talk, Paris couldn't imagine what he

22,000 TZS

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Tallie Jones is a Hollywood legend. An ambitious and passionate film director, her award-winning productions achieve the rare combination of critical and commercial success. But she has little interest in the glitz and glamour of Los Angeles, instead

25,000 TZS

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Mary, Tanya and Zoe had been inseparable in college. But in the twenty years or more that followed, the three had moved on with their lives, settled in different cities, and found successful careers and new roles as mothers and wives. At a sprawling

25,000 TZS

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A novel of courage, hope and love...

From her secret perch at the top of the stairs, seven-year-old Gabriella watches the guests arrive at her parents' lavish Manhattan home. The click, click click of her mother's high heels strikes terror into he

25,000 TZS

Publisher: Bounty Books

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Love, tragedy and hope conspire in Paris, when a kiss between two strangers changes everything.
Isabelle Forrester is the wife of a Parisian banker who has long since shut her out of his heart. She has one secret pleasure: a long-distance friendship

26,000 TZS

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Johnny Peterson could light up a room with a word or a smile. He had a future filled with promise - until he stepped into a car on prom night and, in an instant, it was all taken away. In the months that followed, Johnny's family and his high school

25,000 TZS

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Extraordinary acts of faith and courage unite a family after a tragedy threatened to tear them apart.
At eleven, Pip Mackenzie's young life has already been touched by tragedy; nine months before, a terrible accident plunged her mother Ophelie into

25,000 TZS

Publisher: Bounty Books

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It is New Year's Eve when the storm of the century hits northern California. For Quinn Thompson, what happens in the storm's wake will bring down a barrier he has built around himself since his wife's death. For neighbor Maggie Dartman, it will spark

25,000 TZS

Publisher: Corgi Books

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A young woman's dream, an old man's gift, and the surprises that await us behind every closed door. . .


The house on the hill outside San Francisco was magnificent, built in 1923 by a wealthy man for the woman he adored. When Sarah, a perfectly

25,000 TZS

Publisher: Corgi Books

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Could one calamitous evening ruin the perfect life?

No challenge was too great, or so she thought........

All round high-flier Olympia Crawford Rubinstein has it all, a busy legal career, a solid marriage and a perfect family. She manages her l

25,000 TZS

Publisher: Corgi Books

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On a warm May night in San Francisco, a glittering, celebrity-studded crowd gathers for a charity event. Just minutes before midnight, the room begins to sway. Glass shatters, the lights go out, and people start to scream....

In the earthquake's a

25,000 TZS

Publisher: Bounty Books

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Carole Barber has come to Paris, with its rain-slick slate roofs and winding streets, to work on her novel - and to find herself after a lifetime in the spotlight. A legend of film and stage, Carole has set a standard of beauty and grace, devoting he

25,000 TZS

Publisher: Corgi Books

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Annie Ferguson was one of Manhattan's brightest young architects. But overnight she became mother to her sister's three orphaned children. It wasn't the life she'd planned, but one that rewarded her tenfold for every sacrifice she'd had to make.

N

25,000 TZS

Publisher: Random House

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Everything is falling to pieces for Francesca Thayer. Her beautiful, old house is full of leaks and in need of total restoration. Then her relationship with lawyer Todd collapses and he moves out. As the owner of a struggling art gallery she can't po

20,000 TZS

Publisher: Arrow Books

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'Watch out, world. Here I come!'

For Victoria Dawson, growing up isn't a happy experience. Born to picture-perfect parents, she never feels pretty enough to meet their expectations. But when her parents have a second child, Victoria is thrilled -

35,000 TZS

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After building an empire that has made her a legend in business, Olivia spends months each year planning a lavish holiday for everyone in her family to enjoy. This summer she has arranged a dream trip on a luxurious yacht in the Mediterranean, which

22,000 TZS

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Bill is a dedicated young lawyer working in New York. He leaves everything he trained for to follow his dream to become a minister in rural Wyoming. Jenny, his fashion stylist wife, leaves the milieu and life she loves to join him. The certainty they

22,000 TZS

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Her success has brought her everything - except what she fears most

New York. London. Milan. Paris.
Fashion week in all four cities. A month of endless interviews, parties, unflagging work and attention to detail. At the centre of the storm is Ti

33,000 TZS

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Five children meet on their first day of school, one bright September morning. Drawn by that magical spark of connection that happens to the young, Gabby, Billy, Izzie, Andy and Sean - each bursting with their own personality, all with strikingly dif

25,000 TZS

Publisher: Random House

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Coco Barrington is the black sheep of her unusual Hollywood family. Having dropped out of law school, she works as a dog walker in North California. Her widowed mother, mega-bestselling author Florence Flowers, has just begun a secret romance with a

22,000 TZS

Publisher: Corgi Books