"Mirror Image" takes place over
a period of about 3 years, 1913-1915, and tells a remarkable
story of mirror twins, 20 year old
Olivia and Victoria Henderson. I was
moved as Steel mainly uses Victoria as a vehicle to take me
through what it must have been like to live in that time, of
being of the upper class, moving in the same circle as the Astor's
and Vanderbilt's, traveling by luxury liner, surviving the sinking
of the "Lusitania", to brave a world war on the front
lines in Europe and watching those around you fight for life
or die in the effort, "time traveling" between Europe
at war and the United State who hadn't gotten involved yet and
remained virtually unaffected, and the remarkable bond that
exists between twins and how that bond can effect each of their
lives even worlds apart.
I found Olivia's relationship with her father
almost too intimate. She has given up any hopes of finding
a husband and making a family of her own because of her father's
dependance on her. Edward's selfishness has given Olivia a
sense of guilt at wanting a life away from him. He takes advantage
of her love of him and puts her into the role of his late
wife in the running of the home and caring for his needs.
Victoria is a devout suffragette, a 'modern
woman' as she calls herself, and is always looking for a cause
to defend. She doesn't want to just be known as the daughter
of power magnet Edward Henderson, nor does she want the life
that her sister has resigned herself to live with him. She
wants to make a difference in the world. And it's this belief
that is the driving force of the whole story, and how her
actions effect everyone around her.
Victoria's wild lifestyle leads her into the
arms of a notorious womanizer whose promises cause Victoria
to fall under his control, a direct contradiction to her suffragette
beliefs. But she's only his toy. In the end she's left brokenhearted.
She secretly miscarries his child but it's her indiscretions
that eventually force her into an unwanted marriage to save
the reputation of her whole family. Only the man that she's
forced to marry, Charles Dawson, is secretly loved by Olivia!
Dawson's wife had been killed a year earlier on the "Titanic"
and he needs a mother for his son. The marriage seemed the
right thing to do. But Victoria and Charles clash and a gap
filled with hatred and resentment rage between them.
Victoria continues to attend women's rights
protests and conferences. And as war breaks out in Europe,
Victoria's desire to make a difference in the world is strengthened.
She conspires with Olivia to switch places, as was their habit
as children to fool friends and family, so that Victoria can
spend the summer in France working on the front lines as a
nurse. Olivia knows that Victoria will leave whether she agrees
or not. Olivia's secret love of Charles, and his son, doesn't
want to see him hurt again. Nor does she want his son to lose
yet another mother. Resigned to care for her father for the
rest of his life Olivia sees this as her only chance to experience
marriage and family, and to love Charles openly...even if
pretending to be her sister and even if only for the summer.
So she steps into her sisters shoes. Her 'disappearance' is
explained in a letter to her father as a trip to California
so that she can 'find herself'. She manages to fill the gap
that Victoria and Charles had created with passion and love.
It's the marriage and family she's always dreamed of.
Masquerading as Olivia, it's the "Lusitania"
that will take Victoria across the Atlantic. As land is sighted
the ship is hit by a torpedo and sinks, taking Victoria with
it. Thought dead, even by a sister 3000 miles away who wakes
from a nightmare of drowning, she 'comes to' as she's being
lifted into a coffin. Inside 48 hours she's in France, holding
the hands of dying men, and overwhelmed at what she's been
through. But she's found a strength in her lifelong desire
to make a difference and decides to stay.
However, as summer comes and goes Victoria
doesn't return. But remarkably Olivia manages to maintain
the charade for over a year until she receives a telegram
from one of her sisters coworkers urging her to come to France.
I approached this book reluctantly as I'd never
read Danielle Steel before. I'd always thought her books were
geared towards an older generation than myself. But I always
admit when I'm wrong and have to say that I was exceptionally
pleased with this story.
