Mirror Image (Mass Market Paperback)

by Danielle Steel (Author) "The sound of the birds outside was muffled by the heavy brocade curtains of Henderson Manor, as Olivia Henderson pushed aside a lock of long..." (more)
Key Phrases: New York, Charles Dawson, Edward Henderson (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Steel's 46th heartbreaker delves into the seemingly inexhaustible dramatic depths of Titanic lore, idyllic love, and delectable stars. Olivia and Victoria Henderson are beautiful, young, wealthy twins who live in upper-crust Croton-on-Hudson in upstate New York at the turn of the century. Despite their life of ease (playing tennis with the Astors, being courted by a Rockefeller), they do face the daily grind of caring for their beloved Pa, who has never recovered from Mrs. Henderson's death. Then along comes another forlorn widower, sexy Charles Dawson, whose wife perished at sea. "Damn shame she came back on the Titanic," says Mr. Henderson--who doesn't know what the Lusitania has in store for his family. As the plot thickens with the onset of World War I and the suffrage movement, Victoria--the demon seed of the dynamic duo--gets into a spot of trouble. Big enough that dutiful yet daring Olivia must bail her out in a way that it would spoil everything to reveal. If A Farewell to Arms was adapted to an ABC Monday night movie, it might bear a resemblance to Mirror Image. But in Hemingway, or on TV, there were never such devoted sisters. As the narrator puts it, reflecting on the feelings of one sister for the other, "She was her partner, her confidante, her friend, her cohort in all mischief ... the other side of her life, her heart ... the other side of the mirror." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
The raven-haired twins in Steel's (The Klone and I) latest romance wend their way through the social dilemmas and crises of conscience that abound in the lives of two motherless heiresses. Flitting around Edith Wharton's New York and its fashionable countryside (the family home, Henderson Manor, is in Croton-on-Hudson), Olivia and Victoria Henderson come of age in high style and predictable prose. Their physical resemblance (even their father is unable to distinguish between them) exaggerates their temperamental differences. The rebel Victoria?smoker, drinker and suffragette?recklessly gives herself to a married womanizer, Tobias Whitticomb. Olivia dutifully keeps her father's houses and acts as the anxious guardian to her "baby" sister. She also befriends nine-year-old Geoff Dawson, whose mother has died on the Titanic. When Henderson pere decides to marry the disgraced Victoria to Geoff's father, Charles, Olivia's heart quietly breaks and the plot thickens. The convenience of the sisters' carbon-copy looks allows Victoria to run off to help the Allied cause in France and Olivia secretly to take her sister's place. Although Steel stretches credibility as the marriage heats up (Charles didn't notice that his wife was virginal again?), the reader is too busy being moved by the powerful events to quibble. Steel doesn't flinch from the realities of childbirth and war and reliably produces yet another suspenseful tearjerker.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Dell (November 2, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440224772
• ISBN-13: 978-0440224778
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #875,485 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This was another great book I read., November 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mirror Image (Hardcover)

Danielle Steele has outdid herself with another great book. I enjoyed the family closeness of the characters in the book. The romance was great. I liked the bonding between the twin sisters.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A reflection of the soul, December 9, 1998

By	[e-mail] (Chicago, Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mirror Image (Hardcover)

I have written several comments for Amazon.Com. regarding novels by Ms.Steel which I have read. Each time I have admitted that her books are enjoyable to me as they offer a nice diversion from the many serious, well-written novels by other novelists. I think of Danielle Steel as a novelist I like to read in-between tackling more challenging ones - like when one wants to watch a TV movie. In "Mirror Image" I have to admit I was pleased with the ending for it wasn't wrapped up in a nicely neat fairy-tale ending. I hope Ms. Steel continues to write more realistic conclusions. However, much of "Mirror Image" was disappointing. The story of Olivia and Victoria, two identical, mirror image twins, with two very different personalities takes a long time to progress. Victoria scandalizes the family by having an affair with a married man and her father, in order to rectify the family name, forces her to marry a man she does not love, but whom her twin sister loves. Much of what follows is predictable and it is not until Victoria goes to Europe to help with the war that "Mirror Image" becomes interesting. Ms. Steel is not a great writer; therefore, it is her story-telling capabilities which sets her apart from other romance writers and which always keeps this reader enthralled. Unfortunately, "Mirror Image" did not move - it just coasts along. Not one of Ms. Steel's best efforts but, as I said before, I hope she continues writing endings like this one.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Open this novel & let your emotions flow!, January 19, 2000

By	kimber84 (Canton, PA United States) - See all my reviews

So many people on Amazon gave this book a bad rating, so when I picked this book up I was almost afraid to read it. But I am so glad I did. This book starts out only one year after the Titanic tragically sinks. We meet Olivia and Victoria Henderson, two strikenly beautiful mirror image twins. One could not tell one from the other. Olivia is the calm and surreen one where as Victoria is the wild feminist. After a visit to New York, Victoria disgraces her good name. Her father becomes so horribly enraged and forces her to marry a man she didn't love. A man meant for her sister Olivia. His wife had died on the Titanis and he was left taking care of his little boy. This book will take you to New York all the way to war ravaged France. You will laugh and cry and look at life in a whole new beautiful day. This novel will make you love yourself and love the simple blessings you are granted. Don't let yourself pass this book up. Embrace it and love it like a beautiful child. Let the words speak to your heart and soul. And along the way LEARN! You will love this book.