Written as an autobiographical "letter" from a 100-year-old woman recounting the many events of her life, this should be an epic spanning the years 1920 to 2020.
Allende's character is born into a wealthy family, they lose their fortune and retreat to the country where she ultimately enters into a loveless marriage, walks away from it, and bears two children to her abusive lover. She raises a grandchild, lives through political upheaval, takes numerous lovers, makes a lot of money, and eventually ends her days as a philanthropist funding women's rights organizations. But the tone of the novel is uniformly bland and the reader is held so firmly at arm's length that it's impossible to develop any emotional investment in the characters or the events described.
Allende's character is born into a wealthy family, they lose their fortune and retreat to the country where she ultimately enters into a loveless marriage, walks away from it, and bears two children to her abusive lover. She raises a grandchild, lives through political upheaval, takes numerous lovers, makes a lot of money, and eventually ends her days as a philanthropist funding women's rights organizations. But the tone of the novel is uniformly bland and the reader is held so firmly at arm's length that it's impossible to develop any emotional investment in the characters or the events described.
On a personal scale, Violeta by Isabel Allende is about love, betrayal, loss, joy, and every emotion that encompasses a woman's life. One a broader scale, Violeta is about a hundred years of Chilean history. What makes this book work is the main character. The first person narration, even in letters looking back, places me as the reader in the heart of the story with all the emotion that entails.
Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2023/12/violeta.html
Reviewed for NetGalley.
Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2023/12/violeta.html
Reviewed for NetGalley.
