Daughter of Fortune Author:Isabel Allende Editorial Review from Amazon.com — Oprah Book Club? Selection, February 2000: 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 comprising such heavy hitters as Gabriel Garc?a M?rquez, Jorge Luis Borges, and Mario Vargas Llosa. But the Chilea... more »n Allende shouldered her way in with her magical realist multi-generational tale of the Trueba family, followed it up with four more novels and a spate of nonfiction, and has remained in a place of honor ever since.
Her sixth work of fiction, Daughter of Fortune, shares some characteristics with her earlier works: the canvas is wide, the characters are multi-generational and multi-ethnic, 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 gold rush. 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 colorful 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 fetch up.
Readers with a taste for the epic, the picturesque, and romance that is satisfyingly complex will find them all in Daughter of Fortune. -- Margaret Prior
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This is one of those rare books that I can appreciate both on a literary level at the same time as I wallow in the romance and suspense. [Warning: cliche coming] I couldn't put it down! Seriously, you have to read this one - and ignore all her others, Allende appears to be a one book author.
Amazing book! I have read and reread it. Of particular interest to me were the descriptions of Gold Rush era towns from Sacramento to the Foothills. From a historical viewpoint of those towns the descriptions are amazingly accurate. I would and have recommended this book to others.
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.
Engrossing story begins in Chile and ends in California, touches on every-day life in Chile, shipping, prostitutes, the Gold Rush and Chinese herbal medicine. And, it's well written.
It took me a long time to get into this book. It was very slow moving and not as captivating as I had hoped. Although it received rave reviews, I found it lacking in substance.
This may be a novel, but when reading the story, it sounds so real. The descriptions of the land as well as the characters are perfect. It is so readable and believable. Highly recommend this book. She has written a sequel to this story "Portrait in Sepia" that is just as good. Enjoy them both.
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.
The reader Blair Brown makes this story come alive. Isabel Allende is a talented author and her books hold attention to the end. I couldn't put it down.
This book seems like it would like to be the Chilean "Gone with the Wind," but it doesn't make it. Still, it's an interesting story with insights into the lives of 19th century women, much determined by class and status, and the spirit of one young woman that takes her from claustrophobic comfort in Chile to the freedom and danger of the California Gold Rush.
I had never read Isabel Allende and I just adored this book. The story just carries u along. Her description of the California Gold Rush was very interesting. The reader was excellent and the translation was very good. I am now listening to the next book in this series and it's also very good. So many reasons to love this book!
I have read almost all of Allende's book and I love them. This one did not dissapoint. I like her style b/c along with the fiction you can always get a glimpse of the political & cultural reality of that time. Magical Realism.
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 comprising 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 multi-generational tale of the Trueba family, followed it up with four more novels and a spate of nonfiction, and has remained in a place of honor ever since. Her sixth work of fiction, Daughter of Fortune, shares some characteristics with her earlier works: the canvas is wide, the characters are multi-generational and multi-ethnic, 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.