Daughters of Eve [Paperback]

Los Duncan (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Del Publishing,1980; Reprint Edition edition (1980)
• ASIN: B001UBYBP8
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (89 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Lois Duncan was born in Philadelphia, PA, and grew up in Sarasota, FL.
She knew from early childhood that she wanted to be a writer. She submitted her first story to a magazine at age 10 and became published at 13. Throughout her high school years she wrote regularly for young people's publications, particularly Seventeen.

As an adult, Lois moved to Albuquerque, NM, where she taught magazine writing for the Journalism Department at the University of New Mexico and continued to write for magazines. Over 300 of her articles and stories appeared in such publications as Ladies Home Journal, Redbook, McCall's, Good Housekeeping, and Reader's Digest, and for many years she was a contributing editor for Woman's Day.

Lois is the author of over 50 books, ranging from children's picture books to poetry to adult non-fiction, but is best known for her young adult suspense novels, which have received Young Readers Awards in 16 states and three foreign countries. In 1992, Lois was awarded the Margaret A. Edwards Award, presented by the School Library Journal and the ALA Young Adult Library Services Association for "a distinguished body of adolescent literature." In 2009, she received the Katharine Drexel Award, awarded by the Catholic Library Association "to recognize an outstanding contribution by an individual to the growth of high school and young adult librarianship and literature."

Six of her novels -- SUMMER OF FEAR, KILLING MR. GRIFFIN, GALLOWS HILL, RANSOM, DON'T LOOK BEHIND YOU and STRANGER WITH MY FACE -- were made-for-TV movies. I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER and HOTEL FOR DOGS were box office hits.

Although young people are most familiar with Lois Duncan's fictional suspense novels, adults may know her best as the author of WHO KILLED MY DAUGHTER?, the true story of the murder of Kaitlyn Arquette, the youngest of Lois's five children. Kait's heartbreaking story has been featured on such TV shows as Unsolved Mysteries, Good Morning America, Larry King Live, Sally Jessy Raphael and Inside Edition. A full account of the family's on-going personal investigation of this still unsolved homicide can be found on the Internet at http://kaitarquette.arquettes.com.

Lois Duncan's personal web page is at http://loisduncan.arquettes.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Daughters of Eve was a great book, September 24, 2000

By 

"pepsikittyluvr" (Florida United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Daughters of Eve (Paperback)

This was a great book! How could anyone say it wasn't! I guess a lot of young mystery readers just can't understand it. It is not just about feminism-the whole feminism issue is just an example. What Lois Duncan is trying to get across is that this Daughters of Eve club, is like a cult. It explains what a cult can do to you-how it can suck you in. It also shows how taking things too far, like feminism in this case, can be really screwed up. I loved the way it ended, I didn't expect it to end at that moment! But it did! It was so shocking. Some people say that they hated the book, but that just goes to show that some people can't read anything with a little depth....just read the book; it's awesome.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars intriguing, June 26, 2007

By 

E. M. Bristol "bibliophile" (boston, mass) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Daughters of Eve (Paperback)

I've been reading some of the reviews, and I feel I should point out in the book's defense that it was published in 1979. That explains the odd character names and much of the sexism that occurs. By today's standards, perhaps, what a lot of the male characters do seems unrealistic, but it wasn't so long ago that women were expected to stay home and raise the kiddies and put their families' needs first. It just seems like it happened way back in the Dark Ages.

I do agree, however, that the author tried to develop way too many (10) characters, so that each became more of a stereotype than they might otherwise have. I would have preferred if she'd focused on three or four, rather than dropping a character for several chapters to the point where you'd forgotten who she was. There were also a ton of typos in my copy.

The plot involves a group of girls who join a sorority/school spirit club, led by a charismatic, and ultimately dangerous teacher with a private axe to grind against men. Like the book "Foxfire," and the movie "The Craft," the girls form a sisterhood and vow to come to each other's aid if necessary. However, one act of violent revenge seems to unleash a vindictive streak in most of the members, and eventually the revenge gets out of control.

I don't think the author wanted the "moral" of the book to be cut and dried. The male characters aren't as well developed, but not all of them are sexist pigs. Nor are the girls who fall under the teacher's "spell" all blind followers; some are able to think for themselves. Some of the "revenge" will seem more justified than others. I think the book was written to raise questions and cause debate, rather than giving the reader a tidy message.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars this was an awesome book!!!!!, April 1, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Daughters of Eve (Paperback)

I loved this book, it was very interesting and a very realistic book. It had so many real life parts to it, like how one of the girls boyfriend is a little jerk, how one of the girls (laura) worries about her weight, how another girl is mad about her parents divorce, and how another girl wants her parents to get divorced because of an abusive father. I liked this book because one of the girls could see things others couldn't. I love that especially in Lois Duncan books. The only bad part in this book i think is that it was a bit confusing in the beginning because it kept switching from one girl to the other, but thats it. I recomend this book to anyone who has ever read Lois Duncan books and ever anyone else.