My most recent adventure into Allende’s world was when I read “A Long Petal of the Sea”. This poignant novel flips you between generations and families. The story is set up through the eyes of a family and how they become so in Spain right before, and during the Spanish civil war. While at the same time it introduces you to a prominent Chilean family.
The way that Allende weaves these two families together is intricate and yet so simple. The way they cross paths and become inextricably linked is intense, incredible, and yet it is life. It is what happens, how chance plays such a strong role in our lives. How we can never tell exactly what star is shining over us, why those of us that survive, survive. Why we love who we love, the motions, and consequences of everyone around us.
I think what draws me to her writing so much is her constant flip between past and “present” (present in the story). How she provides these obvious flashbacks to give you a more firm account of the protagonists. You learn history, yet learn it while following the ordinary lives that create it. Sometimes a friend of the famous name in history, yet always someone standing by commenting on it.
I feel like I cannot say too much on this novel without giving a lot of the story away and while Allende’s novels are generally rather long, I would recommend everyone read every novel of hers you can get your hands on. She is an incredible novelist.
My first foray into Allende’s work was “The House of The Spirits”, my sister sent me the novel and told me it was too intense for her. I can understand why, the novel is incredibly intense, there is some very sensitive content there, trigger warning for some. But honestly I love the novel, her writing instantly drew me in. I was transported back in time. The emotions she evokes are so powerful.
While I loved “The House of the Spirits” and mostly anything I have read by her my all time favorite is “The Japanese Lover” a novel I listened to without even realizing it was hers. Only when I did a specific library search for her work a couple years later did I realize that it was her novel. One of my all time favorite books, it is again a beautiful tale, contrasted between present characters and past. I feel like most of her novels I can’t say a lot about without giving away the magic of the stories…
Just read her work okay? I love her writing. You will learn something, about life, about love, politics, history and yourself.
“A Long Petal of the Sea” by Isabel Allende
https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Long_Petal_of_the_Sea/poiVDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover
“The House of the Spirits” by Isabel Allende
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_House_of_the_Spirits/EbypCgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover
“The Japanese Lover” by Isabel Allende
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Japanese_Lover/mT9fBwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0
“In the midst of Winter” by Isabel Allende
https://www.google.com/books/edition/In_the_Midst_of_Winter/VYCuDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0
“Maya’s Notebook” by Isabel Allende
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Maya_s_Notebook/Kho0aEjAB9sC?hl=en&gbpv=0
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