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This story takes us back to the mid-19th century, from Chile to the gold rush town of San Francisco. She dives into the cultures of Chile, China, and America through her cast of characters, and I found myself wanting to know more about each. I have read this book twice, and recommend it to any fan of literature. I felt as if I were visiting these places while reading and as a teacher of history and a fan of a great story, I could not put the book down. My only regret was that the book was not longer. When I read any work of Isabel Allende, her writing style and the way she is able to get into the mind of her characters sucks me in from start to finish. Daughter of Fortune is Allende at her best.
They are both enthralling stories told by a weaver of magic. I loved them, but I don't remember those being as playful as parts of these two more recent books are. the way this woman writes--her style, humor, and pace--she could be writing the daily stock market report, and it would be a thoroughly entertaining page-turner. I read House of Spirits and Eva Luna a couple of years ago. Sometimes the tale is magical and compelling, and sometimes it's just a good old-fashioned whopper. I'm reading the English translation, and if it's this good, one can only imagine how it is in Spanish. I read Daughter of Fortune last month, and this month I'm reading Zorro.
The journeys they each take make the reader want to keep going with them. The three, Rose, Eliza, and Tao, with some well made supporters (I'm a fan of the woman Joe Bonecrusher)., develop into an easy to root for and relate to main focus, drawing us into their lives and stories smoothly and with compelling interest. They end up in Gold Rush California, with them together some, but also with Eliza's taking on men's clothing and embarking on a search for her lover from Chile who preceded her to California, and whom she has no idea how to locate. You'll be happy to have traveled with them. As noticed in other Allende's wonderful House of the Spirits, the women are extremely clearly drawn, and as in Zorro, the adventurous men also take on good life. The story begins with a focus on Rose, the young spinster sister of Jeremy, with whom she lives quite comfortably in Valparaiso, Chile, and John, a ship's captain at sea much of the time.
Through an odyssey of adventures, romantic, chilling, and unusual, Eliza's life becomes entwined with Tao Ch'ien, originally from China. Life in Valparaiso, nineteenth century China, and California during the Gold Rush provide settings for the characters to engage in lifetimes to draw the reader in eagerly. After learning Rose's history in England, her present situation and tendencies, the story becomes Eliza's. Tao and his history are fascinating and build him as a pleasurable whole, a Chinese immigrant doctor of sorts who finds a relationship with the white populace. I am and have already purchased the `sequel' of sorts, Portrait in Sepia, knowing that in Allende's hands, I am in for a most enjoyable read. Rose raised Eliza but is not her birth mother and the reports of her coming into Rose's household vary and are inconclusive, but seem to indicate that Eliza was abandoned at Rose's door as an infant.
Eliza's story, her Mother Lode adventures and life take us on a merry and sometimes frightening foray into the world of gold-crazy men and life.
The "Daughter of Fortune" book has inspired me to travel to Chile and regions to explore the regions she speaks about. What a great read, Isabel, absolutely captures the imagination of the reader. Each time I read the book or listen to the tapes, I am transported to another world and time.I would reccommend this book and author to anyone who enjoys a good read. The audio which is read by Blair Brown is superb, with an accent that enhances the story. I have read every one of her books over the past 10 years, I have purchased them in printed format and also in audio format. I travel with my work and I listen to the books when on the plane or in the car.
Anyway, if your interest is piqued over the prostitues and their lifesyles, I would recomend Soiled Doves, it is not a novel, but rather historical non-fiction. that's a sign the writer didn't bring things to a complete enough close. Reading certain passages of Daughter of Fortune causes much too much similarity to the Soiled Doves History. I want to add that it is clear the author did much of her research in one book.
I am currently reading Daughter of Fortune, and I have loved it so far. It is really fascinating (not lewd) reading about the culture of prostitution during America's gold rush. I am not sugegsting plagarism, certainly not, what I am suggesting is that her research source is too apparent. though, I am near the end of the story and I can already see there are not enough pages remaining for the plot to be summed up in a satisfactory way.
Soiled Doves, the History of Prostitution in the Old West. I absolutely hate when I come to the end of a GOOD book and yearn for more. Reviews here on Amazon only reinforce my feeling.
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