This book is well written, but there are flaws about it that make it seem too extreme. Although some might find that attractive, I found it too farfetched. Despite its strong sense of feminism and anti-discrimination, which I support, I thought it took that message too far. When violence erupts, and the end is almost the beginning, (Irene wins -- She's still the head of the Daughters of Eve) it seemed like Lois Duncan was supporting all the horrible things that happened. Also, the character's, although their problems are problems of today, their situation seemed to the EXTREME. The decisions that follow were very irrational. However, I suppose that is why the book keeps its fast-pace.

However, if Lois Duncan truly wished to convey the sense of "environment and situations can greatly influence a person" she should have changed some of the events' outcomes to reflect a positive lesson learned. This might have more of an impact upon the reader, rather than having them complain about the book's flaws in an Amazon review.


Overall, I think that one should read it due to its interesting plotline, but should remember the book's decisions are somewhat illogical and extreme.

Lois Duncan is an amazing author and she really out did herself with Daughters of Eve. It kept me wondering what was going to happen next and I keep rereading it!

I've been reading some of the reviews, and I feel I should point out in the book's defense that it was published in 1979. That explains the odd character names and much of the sexism that occurs. By today's standards, perhaps, what a lot of the male characters do seems unrealistic, but it wasn't so long ago that women were expected to stay home and raise the kiddies and put their families' needs first. It just seems like it happened way back in the Dark Ages.

I do agree, however, that the author tried to develop way too many (10) characters, so that each became more of a stereotype than they might otherwise have. I would have preferred if she'd focused on three or four, rather than dropping a character for several chapters to the point where you'd forgotten who she was. There were also a ton of typos in my copy.

The plot involves a group of girls who join a sorority/school spirit club, led by a charismatic, and ultimately dangerous teacher with a private axe to grind against men. Like the book "Foxfire," and the movie "The Craft," the girls form a sisterhood and vow to come to each other's aid if necessary. However, one act of violent revenge seems to unleash a vindictive streak in most of the members, and eventually the revenge gets out of control.

I don't think the author wanted the "moral" of the book to be cut and dried. The male characters aren't as well developed, but not all of them are sexist pigs. Nor are the girls who fall under the teacher's "spell" all blind followers; some are able to think for themselves. Some of the "revenge" will seem more justified than others. I think the book was written to raise questions and cause debate, rather than giving the reader a tidy message.

Daughters of Eve
The book Daughters of Eve by Lois Duncan is one of my favorite books to read. It's filled with suspense, romance, and tragedies. The story takes place at a high school and at the girls' homes. A high school teacher uses her feminist strategies to control the lives of a group of girls with her hatred. The teacher despises all men for what they did to her in the past. Now, she wants to take revenge through the help of the girls which they have no idea what's going on. The girls believe that their teacher (Irene Stark) is one of their own as an older sister and understands what they feel. Irene's real intentions are to make the girls break-up any relationship with men.
What I mostly love about this story is that it talks about romance most of the time. Romance to me is a really big turn on when I read books. I really hated the part where this popular girl dumps a good looking guy. I had a friend who also dumped this smooth looking guy. If I was this popular girl, I wouldn't break-up with him (unless, if he hurt me in some way).
People should read this book from the viewpoints of females and learn one or two things about how women feel about men. There are some things in this book that sound so real and teach you how families act in real life (not in a dream world). It's the most realistic, detailed, and melancholy story I ever read. I can relate and visualize most of the events that have occurred in these girls' lives.

I feel as though Lois Duncan may have been in a deadline rush when writing this book, because it's surprisingly not that good. Lois Duncan is maybe my all-time favorite writer, but something about this book just wasn't up to par in comparsion to her other work. And as I read some of the other reviews left here, I see that I'm not the only one left feeling a little lost. Maybe it's because I've read almost every suspense book she's written before this one that I felt let down.

Personally, I felt there were far too many characters to keep up with. I had to flip back after finishing the book to remember what point "Holly" held in the book without finding her name very much. I'm still confused at whose parents were whose but for "Jane" and "Tammy"'s parents. And then Ruth's family, just because of the brothers. The brothers was also a disappointment, for two characters that seemed to hold a memorable part in the beginning and middle of the book -- they were never really mentioned again as we reached the end. You could guess what came about afterward, but it was funny they were just dropped. It's almost as though Lois Duncan had planned to go one way in writing this book and picked up on the writing months later and went off in an entire different direction.

I don't believe the moral has much to do with actual feminist ways, I think that's the example used to make the real moral. The moral that we're easily guided people when we're young. And sometimes when we're old. It seemed that almost everyone in the book was fooled in some way by the face value of others.

Examples: Jane's mother was fooled into believing the relationship she had with her husband wasn't a problem. Laura was fooled into thinking Peter loved her. Bambi was also fooled into thinking Peter loved her. Peter's younger brother was fooled into thinking Peter was all he always said he was. Every parent seemed to be fooled by their children's lies. And, of course, all the members of the Daughters of Eve was fooled into believing (at some point) that men stood in the way of women by their scorned adult teacher, Irene. And Irene had been fooled by her boyfriend out of something she'd really wanted. Which started a lot of this cycle.

There are probably more examples, but this is my belief. Lois Duncan was trying to show that we, as people, can be easily fooled. Some of us get out of it, some of us believe it, and some of us are forever effected by it -- as you can see in the follow-ups. Jane went too far when she snapped and either killed or wounded her father. Ruth and Tammy recognized the insanity and got away from it. Some of the others continued their lives believing it and didn't end up being in the dreaded housewife lives that they were told were wrong. Violence stopped or violence continued, those who kept believing it will still be effected. That's assumed by their careers and lack of marriages.

All of this could be brilliant, but I don't think it was written out as well as it could have been. The overall idea was lost in having too many characters and not enough of a followable path. The violence, and the brain-washing, they're all part of being fooled and lead easily. I just believe that was the moral. We're fools at times, and we have to watch ourselves so we won't be.

It just could have been better, but it was still a decent read. I'd give it a shot, but I wouldn't expect to love it as much as her other work.