Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende

Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
paperback 399 pages
published by Harper Perennial in 2006 (first published 1999)
ISBN-13: 9780061120251

Type: {Weekend Read: a book to curl up on the couch with.}
Rating: {I’m Lovin’ It: Very entertaining!}

Why You’re Reading It:

• You are a fan of Isabel Allende
• You enjoy rich characters
• You enjoy Historical Fiction
• You like stories that incorporate different cultures
• Stories involving places as characters (in this case Chile and California) add to the story in your opinion

What I Thought:

In Isabel Allende’s novel about Eliza Sommers, she brings together a cast of characters so well developed that you forget they aren’t real. The story begins in Chile, where Eliza is taken in by Rose Sommers and her brother Jeremy, and follows her through growing up and leaving for the gold country of northern California.

Not only is this a story involving the adventure of Eliza, it explores the unrational way that our first loves can conquer us, what we learn through them, and how powerful they can be in setting the course for our lives. Weaving in the beauty of both Chilean and Chinese culture and incorporating a myraid of characters that make this story engaging, Allende takes the reader for a well-paced ride through the 19th century beginnings of San Francisco as we know it. Attention to the details of class, culture, prejudice, and customs of the time make for an incredibly interesting reading; as does the glimpse into the world of the very few women, most of whom were “soiled doves”, and how they were able to survive (and sometimes flourish) in a mostly male dominated area.

This is a fantastic book to read while on vacation.  I kept wondering why it was taking me so long to read since it was such an interesting story, and decided that though roughly four hundred pages, the type is quite small and the book could easily be much longer if it were written in a larger font. Though the beginning was a tad slow going, the speed picked up significantly as soon as the author introduces Tao Chi’en and never slowed down from there. This is the only reason that this work does not garner the Unputdownable ranking. I highly recommend it for summer reading, as you will be thoroughly entertained and have the benefit of looking to the author’s large published, well-liked collection for follow ups after you are finished with this title.

About Isabel Allende 

Born in Peru and raised in Chile, Isabel Allende is the author of many bestselling novels, including Ines of My Soul, Zorro, Portrait in Sepia, and Daughter of Fortune.She has also written a collection of stories; three memoirs, The Sum of Our Days, My Invented Country, andPaula; and a trilogy of young adult novels. Her books have been translated into more than 27 languages and have become bestsellers across four continents. In 2004 she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Allende lives in California.

Find out more about Isabel, her books, and her foundation at www.isabelallende.com.

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for allowing me to be part of this, and to the publisher for sending me a copy of the book. See links to more reviews of this book here.