Why author Danielle Steel's new page-turner The Duchess is your hot holiday read

Promotional feature with Pan Macmillan

The Duchess is the novel you must slip into your holiday suitcase…

Wherever you're planning to vacay this summer, we've found the hot holiday read you have to pack. All hail The Duchess…

Glam, bold and perfect with a poolside piña colada, The Duchess breaks new ground for billion-selling author Danielle Steel. Although it’s set in 19th century England, The Duchess is fiercely contemporary, with a feisty heroine to boot. It’s the very antithesis of a fluffy romance. Angélique Latham's tale is an inspiring journey of survival, natural justice and sisterhood.

Basically, you’re going to love it.

Angélique starts as a total daddy’s girl, doted on by her father, the Duke of Westerfield. Her French aristocratic mother died when she was young. She’s 18, beautiful, bright and very capably manages the family estate of Belgrave Castle.

But it all starts to go a bit King-Lear-meets-Cinderella when her father dies. Her evil half-brothers, Tristan and Edward, start throwing their weight around.

What Steel explores brilliantly are the murky waters of inheritance. Yes, despite being related to two kings and born the daughter of a Duke, our heroine is banished from the castle. She's even forced into working as a nanny for a repulsive family.

Eventually though, thanks to the secret stash of cash her father managed to bequeath her without her brothers' knowledge, she finds her way to Paris. There, a chance encounter finds Angélique rescuing a young woman from an abusive madam.

Seeing a kindred spirit in her new friend, the two open up a high class brothel that will respect and care for the beautiful women who work there. Like a very unconventional boarding school, Le Boudoir nurtures friendships between its women. It attracts the most powerful men in France. Soon its owner becomes the talk of the town.

As heroines go, Angélique is fearless and refreshingly unpredictable. From the English countryside, to the heart of Paris, and on to New York (spoiler alert!) you'll be high-fiving the Duchess at every twist and turn along the way!