She finished her first manuscript as a teenager, published her first novel in 1973 and has written more than 180 novels since, still on a manual typewriter.
A Vanity Fair journalist spending the holidays in Saint Barts clashes with a feared shipping magnate who is estranged from his daughter and grieving his wife; Delacorte Press published it on September 29, 2026.8
Bookshop.org (which supports independent bookstores) and Amazon links are affiliate links: we may earn a small commission on purchases, at no cost to you. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. WorldCat links find the book in a library near you.
Danielle Steel was born in New York City on August 14, 1947, to a German-born father and a mother who was the daughter of a Portuguese diplomat.1 She spent much of her childhood in France; her parents divorced when she was eight, and she was raised mainly by her father.1 She graduated from the Lycée Français de New York in 1965 and studied at Parsons School of Design and New York University.16
She married at 18 and had a daughter, and she finished her first manuscript at 19.61 She worked for a New York public-relations agency, and later as a copywriter for Grey Advertising in San Francisco, after Ladies’ Home Journal editor John Mack Carter encouraged her to write a book.1 Her first novel, Going Home, came out in 1973; Passion’s Promise and Now and Forever followed and established her career.1 By her own account, five of her early books went unpublished, and it took 11 years before she could live off her writing.5
Through the 1980s and 1990s she published several novels a year, many of them reaching number one on the New York Times hardcover fiction list, among them Zoya, Star, Jewels and Five Days in Paris.2 In 1999 Guinness World Records credited her with 456 consecutive weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.1 Twenty-two of her books have been adapted for television, most of them as TV films and miniseries made between 1986 and 1996.1 She also wrote children’s books, including the Max and Martha picture books meant to help young readers with real problems, and nonfiction.1
She has been married five times; her fourth husband, whom she married in 1981, was a shipping executive, and her fifth was the financier Tom Perkins.1 Her official site describes her as the mother of nine children.3 Her son Nick Traina, lead singer of the San Francisco punk bands Link 80 and Knowledge, died in 1997, and she wrote about his life and death in His Bright Light (1998).14 Proceeds from the book founded the Nick Traina Foundation, which funds organizations working on mental illness, child abuse and suicide prevention; she later started a second foundation to help homeless people.13
She writes on manual typewriters, one in San Francisco and one in Paris, and revises by hand until the pages are covered with insertions.5 She has said each book takes two to three years, with up to five in progress at once, and that she builds her characters in notes before outlining.1 Since 2016 she has published six or seven books a year; her official site counts more than 210 books, 182 of them novels, and a billion copies sold.23 France made her an Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2002 and a Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur in 2014.3 She divides her time between Paris and San Francisco.3
In order of first publication. Each series is kept together, in reading order, starting where its first book appeared. Titles, kinds and first-publication years from the Danielle Steel bibliography on Wikipedia (March 2026 snapshot), with 2026 publication details from Penguin Random House and retailer listings; her poetry collection is left out because sources disagree on its year, and books not yet published are in "What's next."2118
Bookshop.org (which supports independent bookstores) and Amazon links are affiliate links: we may earn a small commission on purchases, at no cost to you. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. WorldCat links find the book in a library near you.
Illustrated books meant to help young children face real-life problems; read in any order.1
Delacorte Press published Ruthless, a novel set among the very rich in Saint Barts.8
The True Meaning of Love was published, a novel following a Ukrainian ballet student, his girlfriend and two doctors after Russia's 2022 invasion.10
The Devil's Daughter, about two very different sisters, was published; on The Kelly Clarkson Show Steel said the book is "about sociopaths, really."7
A theatrical film based on her novel.1
A theatrical film based on her novel.1
A direct-to-video film.1
A television miniseries.1
A television film.1
A television film.1
A television film.1
A television film.1
A television film.1
A television film.1
A television miniseries.1
A television film.1
A television film.1
A television film.1
A television film.1
A television film.1
A television miniseries.1
A television film.1
A television film.1
A television film.1
A television film.1
A television film.1
A television film.1
A television film.1
Born in New York City; she spends much of her childhood in France.1
Graduates from the Lycée Français de New York.1
Her first novel, Going Home, is published.1
The Promise becomes the first theatrical film of one of her novels.1
Publishes His Bright Light, about the life and death of her son Nick Traina, who died in 1997.14
Guinness World Records credits her with 456 consecutive weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.1
Made an Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.3
Made a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur.3
Ruthless is published, one of seven new novels listed for 2026.82
Celebration is scheduled for December 2026, and 24 Hours and Strong in the Broken Places are listed for 2027.92