Search - Daughter of Fortune

I have read this several times.. the only reason i am giving one up is because i received one as a gift. All of Allende's books are great.

This one started out really very slow for me. The first 75 pages or so really drag out the set up to this novel. The middle section is really good, the parts once they reach SFO are fascinating. Then it ends. Really abruptly. I'm left feeling that the author didn't finish the story. Where's the rest of it? Did she reach some pre-determined page count and then had to stop? A pretty good book, would be better with less at the beginning and more at the end.

A terrific, well researched, tale of life during the Gold Rush of 1849. You can read it as the search of a woman for her lost love, or you can read it for details of life at that time and in that place. After I finished it, I followed with a history of the Gold Rush.

I really liked it until the end where it kind of fizzled out. I see there is a sequel so maybe that is why the book just whimpered at the end. Loved her style and found the characters interesting enough to read more of her work though.

Isabel Allende never disappoints. I loved this story of love and adventure that follows her hero and heroine through different countries and cultures.

Long on character development, short on plot. I thought it was a rush to finish at the end. Having said that, it was an excellent read as to a story of the gold rush from a previously unexplored direction. Instead of a story of the gold rush itself we have a small cast of characters from South America and China caught up in an all too brief and intense period of real american history. Oprah was right, it's an excellent read.