Big Girl: A Novel [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Danielle Steel (Author), Kathleen McInerney (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 23, 2010

Victoria Dawson has always felt out of place in her family, especially in body-conscious L.A. Her father, Jim, is tall and slender, and her mother, Christina, is a fine-boned, dark-haired beauty. Both are self-centered, outspoken, and disappointed by their daughter’s looks. While her parents and sister can eat anything and not gain an ounce, Victoria must watch everything she eats, as well as endure her father’s belittling comments about her body and see her academic achievements go unacknowledged. Ice cream and oversized helpings of all the wrong foods give her comfort, but only briefly. The one thing she knows is that she has to get away from home, and after college in Chicago, she moves to New York City. Behind Victoria is a lifetime of hurt and neglect she has tried to forget, and even ice cream can no longer dull the pain. Ahead is a challenge and a risk: to accept herself as she is, celebrate it, and claim the victories she has fought so hard for and deserves. Big girl or not, she is terrific and discovers that herself.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Household name Steel (Going Home) falls short of her best in her latest. Victoria Dawson has always felt like an outcast. When her little sister Grace is born, father Jim tells Victoria she was the tester cake, and they finally got it right with the beautiful Gracie. Victoria grows up in her sister's shadow, and though she loves Gracie dearly, she's anxious to leave home. The pain doesn't stop there, though. Her father calls her first job at a prestigious private school in Manhattan pathetic, and Victoria begins a battle with her weight and her belief that she is unlovable (even though men pursue her). The premise of the story is sound, but it doesn't ring true: the parents are two-dimensional, cruel monsters and Victoria seems to have everything: fantastic job, amazing apartment, perfect best friends. It's hard to believe that her parents would still wield such power. Steel barely grazes the surface of an important topic, but it's not reality that has positioned her at the top of bestseller lists. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Danielle Steel has been hailed as one of the world’s most popular authors, with over 590 million copies of her novels sold. Her many international bestsellers include Happy Birthday, 44 Charles Street, Legacy, Family Ties, Big Girl, Southern Lights, and other highly acclaimed novels. She is also the author of the story of her son Nick Traina’s life and death.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged; Unabridged edition (February 23, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423388240
• ISBN-13: 978-1423388241
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 5.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (157 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,633,459 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Danielle Steel has been hailed as one of the world's most popular authors, with over 590 million copies of her novels sold. Her many international bestsellers include 44 Charles Street, Legacy, Family Ties, Big Girl, Southern Lights, Matters of the Heart, One Day at a Time, and other highly acclaimed novels. She is also the author of His Bright Light, the story of her son Nick Traina's life and death.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Huge Disappointment, February 28, 2010

By 

Patricia G. Cottrell "VoraciousReader" (Mira Loma, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Big Girl: A Novel (Kindle Edition)

Don't get me wrong; Ms. Steele is still writing books you want to read, just because it's DS -- the problem is that the storyline of this book was something that I can't imagine Ms. Steel even venturing into in 2010. To see women so subservient to their narcissitic mates, to allow cheating, to be verbally and emotionally abusive to your own child, isn't something I would have thought she'd write. I thought she was about the strong women while having problems that they overcome because of their strength and relationships. This one made me angry, not only because of the content (big people), but because she wasn't more of an advocate for the way these women are treated. It made me very sad to see that she wrote in this vein.

Again, because it's Danielle Steel, I read it, but was hugely disappointed in what I thought her viewpoint of this might be. She could have really had a voice in how parents treat their heavier children, or those that aren't perfection. Instead she continued to feed the disparity between the children, and allowed a mother, a woman (her primary audience) to be so manipulated and subservient to her husband. All she cared about was playing bridge and doing her husband's bidding, then treating her first born as though she were a non-person. The impact she could have made on the issues she covered would have been enormous, but instead the story continued along without her seeing what impact it had on what she and her narcissistic husband referred to as the "tester."

Our society looks at heavier (big) people in disgust, and she continued to feed into it, instead of making it better for the girl, I think the storyline made it worse. Big girl spent years in therapy and right up to the last page, DS didn't do anything to make the parents see and realize what they'd done to a daughter that didn't deserve it. The story could have been written with empathy, feeling and resolution, but instead, it continued on with the abusive parents being none the wiser.

The perfect child was given a lavish wedding that was probably in excess of $200,000 in cost, and was cheated on prior to the nuptials, and instead of being strong and standing up on her own, or having her parents stand beside her and with her with a different decision, it was swept under the rug and the wedding continued. What does that say? That it's all right to be cheated on, it's all right for you to accept it, because you're marrying money? Her parents knew and it was kind of like a "oh well...these things happen." Hell yeah they do, but any self respecting woman, regardless of what Mom and Dad said or thought, would have stood up for herself and said "this doesn't happen to me," and a good swift kick in the bridegrooms priviledged butt would have gone a very long way in sending the correct and moral message to all readers.

Because it was a Danielle Steel book, and because I read every book she writes, I read it, but my disappointment goes beyond the words I can convey. She could have made a difference, a real difference, but instead, for artistic reasons, chose to set us all back 50 years. Shame on her; I can only hope future books bring back the strong, independent and self-reliant women I've come to know through her stories. Thank you for reading my review.

69 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Steel & Publisher Should Be Embarrassed!, March 15, 2010

By 

LuvsLabs09 "Nunya" (Ca.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Big Girl: A Novel (Hardcover)

I have heard that "popular" authors like Steel often have others help write their books. This must be the case with Steel. It is the only explanation for the constant and consistent repitition in her books over the last 7-10 years. There is no way an author could write 160 pages and say the same thing over and over, at least in my mind.

I find it interesteing the Steel has labeled this character "big", "fat", etc at a size 12-14. She describes Victoria as having "killer legs" yet is huge at a mere 20 pounds or so overweight. What planet is Steel from? She clearly has no concept of weight, size and clothing size.

The story is a waste of time, paper and ink. Nothing of interest is said or happens. Why I waste my time reading her books anymore is unknown. At least I am smart enough to get them from the library for FREE. I would NEVER buy a Steel book unless its her early work (back when quality writing and story telling were important to her).

SKIP THIS!!!!!!!

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars painfully repetitive, one-dimensional characters, and outdated too, March 20, 2010

By 

Madar (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Big Girl: A Novel (Hardcover)

Let me preface this by saying this is the first Danielle Steel book I've read, and I'm only about 100 pages into it. I don't know if I can finish it, but I am trying my hardest as it's a book club read.

I have no idea if she always writes like this, but this reads as I would imagine an "Idiot's Guide" does. There is no such thing as nuance, and if you didn't get it the first 10x she told you, don't worry; she'll tell you 10 more times...and that's just on the next page. It actually makes me angry to read it because I keep thinking, "How dumb does she think I am?"

As for the characters, they are incredibly one-dimensional (really, I'm a third through the book, and no one has learned anything new?) and outdated. It's 2010, and the mother in this book went to college and got a degree but could care less since she only wanted to snare a husband. Seriously? And she keeps telling her intelligent daughter that she shouldn't do things that look smart because boys don't like that. Again...seriously???

It's truly a painful read. I honestly think this is the worst book I've ever read, and there have been many books I haven't liked. Usually, I dislike them because I find them boring, slow, or just not my style. I've never happened upon something quite like this.

At the very least, wait on a library list for it. Do NOT waste you money.

ETA (1 month later): While it never got better for me, this book did inspire great book club discussion. Topics were sensitive touch points....It's too bad she didn't give the book the depth and intelligence it deserved.