Even when her trusted roommates tell Victoria she looks terrific in her new outfit, she never really believes them and only delves deeper into the comfort of ice cream.

Despite being a lovely blue-eyed blonde child with a kind spirit, Victoria was wounded by the unkind and depreciating jokes her father made at her expense, starting from the name she was given to snarky comments on what she ate and what work she wanted to do. Her parents, Jim and Christina Dawson, have the good looks admired by their L.A. counterparts and are obsessed with impression management and presenting the picture perfect image to the world. As Victoria's own gifts and body type differed from the box they tried to squeeze her into, she never received the welcome attention they bestowed on her baby sister whose slender, dark haired features only emphasized how she was the one who belonged in the family portrait.

While Victoria half-heartedly deals with her weight and family issues, she doesn't fully realize how profound their negativity and disinterest had affected her. But, when she sees her sister is about to enter into a similar situation as her mother, Victoria knows she has to act. But, it is too late? Will they only think she is jealous? More importantly, what can she do for her own self?

Danielle Steel is a writer in a league of her own. Her hallmarks are well crafted characters and strong storylines. In BIG GIRL, she carefully interweaves a number of themes affecting family and sibling dynamics, especially around abuse patterns of belittling kids, including alternating between poking fun at their weight while facilitating access to cookies and ice cream and the impacts that continue into adulthood, especially when they think they had a "normal" childhood. Having been born the black sheep with blonde siblings in my own family, I could identify with Victoria on some points. This intriguing telling of Victoria's journey certainly makes one fully aware of the needs to accept the gifts and uniqueness of children and to be careful of some of those family stories told for a laugh. Even the title highlights how the identity is lost behind the euphemism.