The portrayal of the modern world is not easy if someone is trying to paint it in the exact possible way. Danielle Steel happens to be a keen observer of life and a very good writer so this has given the author potential to bring perfection to the work.
There are four main characters in the novel instead of one and this is the first difference between The Duchess and The Whittiers. All four major characters are women and they are successful apparently. From the inside, they are holding deep secrets which they must not allow to slip out of their hands. Jane Addison is perhaps the youngest and she is new to the field. She always wanted to get a good job and her new job at Fletcher and Benson is the exact thing that she desired so much in life.
The company is actually a talent agency that is being run by women. Jane wants quick progress so she starts working as an assistant to Hailey who is an agent at the literary department. Hailey lost her husband a short while ago and since then she has been taking care of her three children on her own.
Then there is another woman named Francine whose husband betrayed her but she has not taken this thing to her heart rather she is living a carefree life. Lastly, there is Merriwether Jones whose character Dan John Miller narrates, she is supposed to be the most successful woman but she too has some secrets to hide. Together these four women try to achieve their dreams in life still there is always a lot that is happening behind closed doors in this novel.