The Classic '80s Romance Book Dakota Johnson Is A Fan Of (& It Deserves To Be Rediscovered)

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Dakota Johnson is a big fan of the '80s cult classic "Daddy" by Danielle Steel. The novel was published in 1989 and was an unusual storyline for Steel in that it has a male protagonist. The story follows Oliver Watson, a father of three who is left by his wife, Sarah, after 18 years of marriage. Sarah wants to go to graduate school and leaves Oliver with their children, suddenly thrusting him into the role of a single father. With the unexpected new shift, Oliver has to adapt to these unforeseen changes, learning a lot about life, parenting, and love, as he moves forward. 

On social media, images of Johnson holding the novel circulated, sparking a renewed interest and curiosity in the book decades after it was published. Steel's novel may very well have fallen by the wayside if it weren't for Johnson's interest in it, and it's no wonder that she has the power to sway readers. She is an eternal trendsetter — there's a long list of Johnson's most enviable cool-girl outfits and her most iconic cool-girl hair looks. Considering how much sway she has over style, it's no wonder that Johnson's interest in Steel's novel has brought some renewed attention to it. After all, books fall out of readership all the time, unfortunately, and sometimes it takes a little bump of influence to bring them back into public awareness.  

Danielle Steel has Dakota Johnson to thank for the newfound interest in her 1989 novel "Daddy." Part of the reason for this is that Steel just has so many books published. She's written more than 210 books over her career, therefore it's understandable that some of these might have been forgotten along the way. So it's clearly a boon for Steel that Johnson recognized the magic of "Daddy."

Funny enough, Steel's novel "Daddy" isn't considered her best work by her fans. On GoodReads, the novel has a rating of 3.89, which is good but not as high as some of her other books. Readers complained about the exorbitant amount of sympathy for Oliver Watson but not enough for his former wife, Sarah. In spite of these (legitimate) complaints, Johnson loves "Daddy" and others should, too. It just goes to show that sometimes the "best" isn't always what fans are going to love. People gravitate towards different books for all kinds of reasons, and Steel's "Daddy" is living proof of this. Nevertheless, the '80s were a great time for publishing. You can also take a look at the Pulitzer Prize winning novels from the '80s, as ranked by reviews. Steel's '80s novel is more of a pop piece of fiction than high literature, but that doesn't make it less worthy as a read. Bibliophiles like what they like.