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Daughter of Fortune A Novel PS Isabel Allende 9780061120251 Books

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Daughter of Fortune A Novel PS Isabel Allende 9780061120251 Books

This is an excellent book!! The life of an orphaned baby girl raised by a wealthy merchant family in Chile mid-1800's is filled with all the sights, smells, and sensual feelings of the era as the author takes the story from Chile to the Gold Rush Era of San Fransisco and Sacramento, California. The descriptions of a suffocating life for women and girls of the times are so well done I felt I'd been there whether aboard ship or living the hardened life of the miners.
It's a fascinating story which opened my eyes to the many cultures and races that settled this California area with all its unity and extreme racial prejudice all balled into one very unique society. The customs of various South Americans, Native Americans, Mexicans, Chinese, North Americans, Russians, Australians, English to name some are touched on as they form the army of argonauts who we now call the California Gold Rush population. Amazing story where several lives intertwine love, hate and desparation.
A definite must-read to lovers of historical fiction.


Tags : Daughter of Fortune: A Novel (P.S.) [Isabel Allende] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. An orphan raised in Valparaiso, Chile, by a Victorian spinster and her rigidbrother, vivacious young Eliza Sommers follows her lover to California during the Gold Rush of 1849. Entering a rough-and-tumble world of new arrivals driven mad by gold fever,Isabel Allende,Daughter of Fortune: A Novel (P.S.),Harper Perennial,0061120251,Historical - General,Literary,California - History - 1846-1850,Immigrants - California,Orphans,ALLENDE, ISABEL - PROSE & CRITICISM,FICTION Historical General,FICTION Literary,FICTION Thrillers Suspense,Fiction,Fiction - Historical,Fiction-Literary,FictionLiterary,GENERAL,General Adult,Historical fiction,LATIN AMERICAN NOVEL AND SHORT STORY,United States

Daughter of Fortune A Novel PS Isabel Allende 9780061120251 Books Reviews

This is one of my favorite Isabelle Allende books. I liked both main characters and found the historical detail interesting. I particularly appreciated gaining the perspective of someone coming from China to the California gold rush. My biggest complaint would be that the ending did not feel fully resolved or satisfying, but that is flaw common to a lot of books.
I enjoyed the first 2/3 of this book, however the last third dragged on forever. Some of the historical information about California was interesting. I thought the ending was weak, overall I would not recommend this book.
Allende's prose is poetic, but what really makes her novels great is the characters. She takes you through Eliza's life as well as the history of both Chile and California. She doesn't shy away from difficult subjects, and the pictures she paints can be heart-breakingly beautiful or heart-wrenchingly awful. Either way, they are real and true. I didn't want this one to end, and I'd love to read another about any of these characters.
This is a book well worth a second read, which I did to further appreciate Portrait in Sepia. Doing so I discovered and re-discovered the story telling genius of Isabel Allende. The California gold rush history refresher made it good, but the inspiring story of a woman brave enough to pose as a boy/man under incredibly dangerous circumstances and thereby finding her own strength and independence, makes these books must reads for young women today who don't realize the price orhers have paid for the independence they're throwing away.
This book starts with life in the British community in Chile in the mid 1800s. New to me - I had no idea that there was one. The plot follows the life of Eliza, a teenage woman who lives with a prosperous British family in Valparaiso. Eliza then travels to California and makes her way on the fringes of the gold rush that has caused a huge influx of adventurers. Fascinating descriptions of what life was like for these folks - pretty difficult once the "easy" gold had been found. I found the end of the book disappointing. It ends very abruptly with no closure. Almost as if the author got bored with the story.
Beautifully written saga of a young girl's journey to womanhood. The depth of character development carries the reader through their triumphs and sufferings. This is a story about love, so deep, pure and sensuous, that can uplift and destroy vulnerable hearts for a lifetime. The ending does seem abrupt and leaves us wondering what will happen, and that's because we have become so involved in each character's life quest. I look forward to reading more of Allende soon.
Isabel Allende's novels are always a treat and this one especially so. She has the ability to think about how a girl grows into womanhood, how her ideas change across time, how she can become a better person than the women she was surrounded with as a child. This is the story of a woman from Chile who managed to take a ship to California during the gold rush seeking a man she thought of as her lover. You cannot even imagine how it ends.
This is an excellent book!! The life of an orphaned baby girl raised by a wealthy merchant family in Chile mid-1800's is filled with all the sights, smells, and sensual feelings of the era as the author takes the story from Chile to the Gold Rush Era of San Fransisco and Sacramento, California. The descriptions of a suffocating life for women and girls of the times are so well done I felt I'd been there whether aboard ship or living the hardened life of the miners.
It's a fascinating story which opened my eyes to the many cultures and races that settled this California area with all its unity and extreme racial prejudice all balled into one very unique society. The customs of various South Americans, Native Americans, Mexicans, Chinese, North Americans, Russians, Australians, English to name some are touched on as they form the army of argonauts who we now call the California Gold Rush population. Amazing story where several lives intertwine love, hate and desparation.
A definite must-read to lovers of historical fiction.