I love reading. So when I come across a really good book, I want to share it with others who might be interested.
I just finished reading Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende.
Allende is renowned as a writer of cultural fiction, and I have to say that from what I've read of her (this, plus her trilogy starting with City of the Beasts), she deserves all the praise she gets. She's not only a master storyteller, but she manages to look into multiple perspectives in order to make you think.
So what's the story here? A girl (Eliza Sommers) born and raised in Valparaíso, Chile, who was adopted by English aristocracy but is obviously of Chilean heritage, falls in love or at least lust with a youth that works for her family. When the Gold Rush hits, the young man (Joaquin Andiéta) heads out to try his fortune in California. Left behind, Eliza can't bear to be without Joaquin, and so she teams up with a family friend, Tao Chi'en--an immigrant from China--to sneak aboard a ship to California. Stowing away and taking on multiple aliases to cover her tracks, Eliza makes it to California without her adoptive parents noticing she's gone. Tao has his own struggles--in the wake of the loss of his beloved wife and nearly all his money, he's trying to make a living as a healer and become a better person in general. Eliza ends up having to disguise herself as a male when she gets to California, and thus begins her astounding adventure of experiencing the Gold Rush in disguise, all the while seeking Joaquin and figuring out where she stands with Tao. There's a host of other fascinating characters as well, including Eliza's adoptive mother Rose (who fell victim to first love/lust herself in a damaging way and plays both parallel and foil to Eliza), the salesman Jacob Todd/Freeman (an atheist who takes on a bet that he can sell Bibles anywhere), and the bawdy house madam Joe Bonecrusher (who chose her own identity and looks out for the prostitutes she employs like her own children).
I've often heard it said that novels are either escapist or didactic, and I think this is a nice balance of both. It's "escapist" in that it takes you right along on Eliza's amazing adventure--which is a feat I still can barely comprehend. Can you imagine leaving behind everything you'd ever known to follow someone to a land you know nothing about, where you have nothing to claim to your name, and where you don't even know if you can even find that someone, all while keeping a fake identity for your own protection? Its "didactic" side comes from the themes of false love, true love, and independence. There is a teetering balance of the three--whether Eliza's love for Joaquin is more superficial than she'd like to admit, whether she harbors true love for Joaquin or someone else in her life, and who she can be when she isn't planning her life around a man. Tao's side of the story also offers up some great things to think about, such as what tragedies in life can be seen as learning experiences and how cultures succeed and fail at mixing.
It's got a lot of mature subject material to be sure--sex, violence, racial tension, the "underbelly" of the Gold Rush. And while it ends on a high note, parts are incredibly tragic, such as Tao's background or the story of Rose's first love, Karl Bretzner. So be prepared for that if you go in.
But I would definitely recommend this to those who are looking for adventure and things to ponder. I don't think I have anything really negative to say about it. If you've ever passed it in a bookstore or library and wondered, definitely pick it up.
I just finished reading Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende.
Allende is renowned as a writer of cultural fiction, and I have to say that from what I've read of her (this, plus her trilogy starting with City of the Beasts), she deserves all the praise she gets. She's not only a master storyteller, but she manages to look into multiple perspectives in order to make you think.
So what's the story here? A girl (Eliza Sommers) born and raised in Valparaíso, Chile, who was adopted by English aristocracy but is obviously of Chilean heritage, falls in love or at least lust with a youth that works for her family. When the Gold Rush hits, the young man (Joaquin Andiéta) heads out to try his fortune in California. Left behind, Eliza can't bear to be without Joaquin, and so she teams up with a family friend, Tao Chi'en--an immigrant from China--to sneak aboard a ship to California. Stowing away and taking on multiple aliases to cover her tracks, Eliza makes it to California without her adoptive parents noticing she's gone. Tao has his own struggles--in the wake of the loss of his beloved wife and nearly all his money, he's trying to make a living as a healer and become a better person in general. Eliza ends up having to disguise herself as a male when she gets to California, and thus begins her astounding adventure of experiencing the Gold Rush in disguise, all the while seeking Joaquin and figuring out where she stands with Tao. There's a host of other fascinating characters as well, including Eliza's adoptive mother Rose (who fell victim to first love/lust herself in a damaging way and plays both parallel and foil to Eliza), the salesman Jacob Todd/Freeman (an atheist who takes on a bet that he can sell Bibles anywhere), and the bawdy house madam Joe Bonecrusher (who chose her own identity and looks out for the prostitutes she employs like her own children).
I've often heard it said that novels are either escapist or didactic, and I think this is a nice balance of both. It's "escapist" in that it takes you right along on Eliza's amazing adventure--which is a feat I still can barely comprehend. Can you imagine leaving behind everything you'd ever known to follow someone to a land you know nothing about, where you have nothing to claim to your name, and where you don't even know if you can even find that someone, all while keeping a fake identity for your own protection? Its "didactic" side comes from the themes of false love, true love, and independence. There is a teetering balance of the three--whether Eliza's love for Joaquin is more superficial than she'd like to admit, whether she harbors true love for Joaquin or someone else in her life, and who she can be when she isn't planning her life around a man. Tao's side of the story also offers up some great things to think about, such as what tragedies in life can be seen as learning experiences and how cultures succeed and fail at mixing.
It's got a lot of mature subject material to be sure--sex, violence, racial tension, the "underbelly" of the Gold Rush. And while it ends on a high note, parts are incredibly tragic, such as Tao's background or the story of Rose's first love, Karl Bretzner. So be prepared for that if you go in.
But I would definitely recommend this to those who are looking for adventure and things to ponder. I don't think I have anything really negative to say about it. If you've ever passed it in a bookstore or library and wondered, definitely pick it up.
Thanks for the suggestion :)
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