Misfortune's Daughters

By Joan Collins

Book Overview

In this utterly compelling novel, two sisters born into privilege find themselves forced to make wrenching life decisions as they struggle with a troubled family legacy and the immense weight of wealth, fame, ambition, and betrayal.Misfortune's Daughters chronicles the gripping, multigenerational saga of the wealthy Stephanopolis family. Beginning in the Golden Era of Hollywood, the beautiful and talented actress Laura Marlowe meets the young, dashing, and rich shipping magnate Nicholas Stephanopolis. After a whirlwind courtship, the two marry and move to the private Stephanopolis Island in the south of Greece. Yet heartache and tragedy soon find them and extend into the lives of their two very different but willful and ambitious daughters, Venetia and Atlanta. One is a beautiful and favored daughter who's bent on self-destruction; the other is a wallflower who buries herself in books and shies away from her privileged world. But both must confront the legacy and tragedy of the lives of their parents. Sweeping across almost 60 years and jetting from New York to Paris, Los Angeles, and Greece, Misfortune's Daughters is an irresistible, page-turning tale that reveals the glittering life of show business and the grittiness of the journalistic profession. Drawing on her own knowledge and experience, Collins takes the reader deep inside the exclusive gates of wealth and luxury, exposing dark secrets and forbidden desires as two young women vie to break free from their family's shadow and become independent women in their own right.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1401300685
• ISBN13: 9781401300685
• Release Date: March 2005
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.5" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

I couldn't put it down!

I was very pleasantly surprised! A great story of two sisters who are very different. It's fun to get engrossed in the "good life" - wealth, travel, fame...Try it. If you like Jackie and Joan's books, you'll love this one!

A great read

I just finished reading this book. I loved it the character outlines were great and Joan Collins writing was incredible. I can't see anyone not enjoying this book. Well worth reading this summer!

A Great Beach or Airport Novel!!

This is hands down the best novel by Joan Collins to date. The sisters, Venetia and Atlanta, have anything and everything they could ever want in the material world. But they lack the love of their father who emotionally abandons them at an early age leading one sister to accidently star in a scandalous film while another becomes a drug addict. Coupled with an interesting sub-plot concerning an immigrant fashion designer thirsty for revenge and an Italian movie diva who hungers for pleasure, from anyone, "Misfortune's Daughters" is a delightfully fast paced novel that I couldn't put down! Obviously, Joan is taking snipets of her own life and career, along with facets from other celebrities to craft her characters and storyline. But she succeeds very well, quite simply this is the best Jackie Collins novel that Jackie Collins didn't write! Joan is at the top of her game, weaving decadent settings with delicious characters to craft a story that is neither groundbreaking or wildly original. Rather, it is an enthusiastic, fast paced novel that can be described in one word: FUN!

Surprisingly Great!

Joan Collins has been lambasted for her literary strength. However, it seems she has vindicated herself nicely with "Misfortune's Daughters." It follows the lives of the two Stehanopolis sisters, who reflect a sort of Paris Hilton/Princess Stephanie of Monaco vibe that Collins nails perfectly. With enough love, lust, greed, hate, money, power and blind ambition, the book kept me hooked and is by far Collins' best work of fiction to date.

Entertaining!!!

When one thinks of Hollywood "gossip" books, one thinks of Jackie Collins. But surprisingly, Joan Collins has made her mark in the fiction genre with ease. Misfortune's daughter is an interesting pool-side read. It has got all the elements to make the story a gripping one - romance, betrayal, insecurities, all put together with a pinch of glamour. The two central characters of the book, the Stephanopolis sisters - Atlanta and Venetia are as different as night and day. Where Atlanta is the older sibling with a plethora of insecurities, Venetia is the wild-child, drugs addicted, jet setting younger sister. Both vie for their father, Nicholas Stephenopolis's affection. Hollywood and the life-styles of the rich and famous are used as the backdrop to this interesting read. People who love gossip and reading tabloids would love this book. Thumbs up!