NovelReviewer.com

By Isabel Allende

pgs: 321

A moving tale of the conquest of Chile and the involvement / contribution of Dona Ines in this conquest. This tale is historical fiction. The author did do extensive research into the conquest and Ines role in the process but it is not completely accurate and a lot of it was fabricated to tell the story. The tale explains the struggles the initial settlers had in the area with the Mapuche, their Indian neighbors. Through this tale, one discovers much about the Mapuche culture and also much about the early Spanish culture. This tale was very well written like all of Allende’s work and I truly appreciate how she gave a voice (although fictional) to a woman who was directly involved and played a major role in the settlement of Chile. This story would be interesting to anyone who has read Allende’s works as well as interesting to anyone who likes action, adventure and romance.

By Isabel Allende

-pgs: 394

An excellent story of the life of Eliza Sommers and all the people she encounters just prior to the Gold Rush in California in Chile and during and after the rush in California/ Allende does a great job of explaining multiple cultures their customs, etc. and their ability to interact together. Her story engages all the emotions: sadness, happiness, anger, laughter, etc. She has mastered the art of storytelling that engages the reader and makes them want to continue the story. I would recommend this novel to all. It would be a great entertaining story that was also though provoking.

By Isabel Allende

-pgs: 433

A great novel. Very well written. This story traces a family’s history including the eccentricities of it s member for three generations. It is extremely engaging and it gets you to care about the family members. The pace of the story and the description in it is just the right amount to involve the reader. There is a clear theme of the how a person’s actions can truly affect oneself throughout the story with several examples. I would say that is similar in content to Marquez’s 100 Years of Solitude. The author does a great job of explaining the culture, the political issues and the family in this novel.