Daughter of Fortune: Amazon.co.uk: Isabel Allende, Margaret Sayers Peden: Books

Amazon.co.uk Review

Until Isabel Allende burst onto the scene with her 1985 debut, The House of the Spirits, Latin American fiction was, for the most part, a boys' club comprised of such heavy hitters as Gabriel García Márquez, Jorge Luis Borges, and Mario Vargas Llosa. But the Chilean Allende shouldered her way in with her magical realist multigenerational tale of the Trueba family, followed it up with four more novels and a spate of non-fiction and has remained in a place of honour ever since. Her sixth work of fiction, Daughter of Fortune, shares some characteristics with her earlier works: The canvas is wide, the characters are multigenerational and multiethnic, and the protagonist is an unconventional woman who overcomes enormous obstacles to make her way in the world. Yet one cannot accuse Allende of telling the same story twice; set in the mid-1800s, this novel follows the fortunes of Eliza Sommers, Chilean by birth but adopted by a British spinster, Rose Sommers, and her bachelor brother, Jeremy, after she is abandoned on their doorstep.

"You have English blood, like us", Miss Rose assured Eliza when she was old enough to understand. "Only someone from the British colony would have thought to leave you in a basket on the doorstep of the British Import and Export Company, Limited. I am sure they knew how good-hearted my brother Jeremy is and felt sure he would take you in. In those days I was longing to have a child and you fell into my arms, sent by God to be brought up in the solid principles of the Protestant faith and the English language."

The family servant, Mama Fresia, has a different point of view, however: "You, English? Don't get any ideas, child. You have Indian hair, like mine." And certainly Eliza's almost mystical ability to recall all the events of her life would seem to stem more from the Indian than the Protestant side.

As Eliza grows up, she becomes less tractable and when she falls in love with Joachin Andieta, a clerk in Jeremy's firm, her adoptive family is horrified. They are even more so when a now-pregnant Eliza follows her lover to California where he has gone to make his fortune in the 1849 goldrush. Along the way Eliza meets Tao Chi'en, a Chinese doctor who saves her life and becomes her closest friend. What starts out as a search for a lost love becomes, over time, the discovery of self; and by the time Eliza finally catches up with the elusive Joachin, she is no longer sure she still wants what she once wished for. Allende peoples her novel with a host of colourful secondary characters. She even takes the narrative as far afield as China, providing an intimate portrait of Tao Chi'en's past before returning to 19th-century San Francisco, where he and Eliza eventually end up. Readers with a taste for the epic, the picaresque and romance that is satisfyingly complex will find them all in Daughter of Fortune.--Margaret Prior, Amazon.com

Review

‘As broad ranging and lyrical as “The House of the Spirits.”’ Daily Telegraph

‘A masterpiece of historical fiction.’ New York Times

‘An extravagant tale by a gifted storyteller whose spell brings to life the 19th century world…Entertaining and well paced…compelling.’ Los Angeles Times

‘It is packed with incident, rushing from one highly coloured scene to the next … If you like your passions grand and your views panoramic, then “Daughter of Fortune” will be irresistible…you'll find it hard not to be beguiled by the charm and ingenuity of Allende's storytelling.’ The Times

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

A Gripping Tale 15 Mar 2002

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I love her work. All of it. Every word, every turn of phrase, every character.... you can *smell* her characters, feel the clothes on their back, run your hands through their hair...

Her depictions of life in 18th century Chile and California are so convincing that there could be no other truth than hers in the nature of life and society at that time.

The story draws you in, inviting you readily into the back streets of San Francisco, the dark drawing rooms of the Chilean social "elite", the brothels of frontier California and the deep confines of the ship's hold.

If you like your narrative passionate, if you enjoy romance and tragedy and if you are inspired by novels to free your imagination, then this book is for you.

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An enjoyable and interesting read 28 Aug 2001

The book follows the style of other Allende novels following the lives of Chilean families. On this occasion the narative takes us further afield to the Gold Fever of California. The picture painted of the world at this time was interesting and vivid. The story races along and the readers interest is maintained.

This may not be the finest work of Allende (House of the Spirits or Paula are a better introduction to her work due to their more personal and heartfelt content) but is well worth reading, provides some food for thought and is easy reading.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

Daughter of Fortune proves Fool's Gold 19 Aug 2001

By Mary Rosary Cota

I came to this book aware of the negative criticism it had received, but determined not to allow it to influence my judgement. Unfortunately, I must agree that this novel is extremely disappointing. The comparisons made with House of Spirits are entirely off track, Eliza is not up to the standard of Clara, nor does this plot equal the one of House of Spirits. It lacks the depth and spirituality that make House of Spirits a universal experience. While reading Daughter I couldn't help feeling that this book was written to produce a marketable best-seller, with little concern for literary value. Allende's acute awareness of the PC, as well as her choice of language, often unrealistic for the historical period, (although this peculiarity may be in part the translator's doing) seem to confirm this novel was written for the page-turning masses. I find all this sad: Allende, with an overabundance of telling, falls short of showing in this novel, thus falling short of her own talent as a writer. I hope she can rediscover a rich new vein and stop pawning off fool's gold for the real thing.