DTG: Allende tends to write excellent historical fiction works. The historical fiction genre title is misleading bc stories are often accurately told and written in terms of time, event, place, and space … have authentic and fictive characters imbedded along the storyline to fill in gaps … as such, be labeled fiction. This is surely one such work.
The provisional family caught in the Spanish civil war under the Franco regime, concentration camps and then escaping to France and emigrating to Chile. Only to have to endure it again several years later under the cruel Gen. Augusto Pinochet. A US backed military dictator, who initiated a coup to overthrow a legitimately elected government, and murdered Pres. Salvador Allende. Their love for one another, the unspeakable atrocities, trials, tribulations, and in the face of all odds, accomplishments, family unity and support. This, over the course of a lifetime!
Eerily similar to what is happening all over the world today, including the US, with a dark blanket of RW Fascism veiling the political landscape, misunderstood by so many.
If you don’t know, or understand your history, your doomed to repeat it. This work...
United States on Sep 14, 2023
e-bookworm41: The story is based on true historical events and a number of true characters displaying Allende's deep understanding of big political events and people. Deeply insightful full of warmth and humanity. Her best book ever.
Australia on Sep 08, 2023
alfredo: Ainda está na minha lista de leituras, oportunamente completarei minha avaliação
Muito obrigado
Brazil on Aug 28, 2023
Caz: This long journey of Spanish refugees getting out of a French prison camp and travelling on a rescue ship to Chile is so vibrant with love stories, history and strong characters!! It's such a rich book- I really enjoyed it.
Spain on Aug 27, 2023
Geoffrey Atwater: Isabel Allende certainly has a way with words and many of the ones in this book are a tribute to Neruda. Quotes from his works begin each chapter and he is a character in the story. He is remembered for obtaining and retrofitting a ship to bring 2000 Spaniard refugees from that civil was to Chile. The main story covers the lives of Victor and Roser and their choic to live as man and wife. However there are many, many small stories sprinkled throughout the book. Allende has done a superb job of weaving all these elements into a story of endurance and the importance of family.
United States on Aug 26, 2023
CBS: This is the story of the lives of Victor Dalmau and Roser Brugeura, combatants on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War, two of 2,000 emigres to Chile at the end of that war, and victims of the 1973 coup that overthrew the elected Chilean government of President Salvador Allende. The author's father was first cousin to the president; for her, the story is a somewhat personal one.
This is a very good book indeed, that packs a real emotional punch. We see the lives of Victor and Roser, from their 20s, young, fit and strong, during the Spanish war, up to their frail old age. In 1939, they are exiled from Spain to Chile; in the aftermath of the 1973 coup, from Chile to Venezuela. They end up back in Chile in the late 1980s, as the Pinochet dictatorship weakens. They are good people, trying to live good lives. But history, politics and war keep interfering.
In pre-Civil War Spain, Victor is son to (music) Professor Marcel Lluis Dalmau and brother to Guillem. Guillem is the hothead, physically strong and combative, a natural soldier. Victor is the more cerebral, introverted and sensitive, destined to be a doctor. Roser is a student of the Professor and is attracted...
United Kingdom on Jan 13, 2023
Star: (My opinion on this book kind of went up and down rather drastically as I read it, so at the end, it was 4, but at other times it was a 3.)
This was an epic historical tale that (mostly) follows Victor Dalmau over the span of his eighty years of life and encompasses everything from his early days as a soldier for the Republic of Spain to his exile to Chile (and further tragedies that might be spoilers, but if you don't know about the history of Chile.) The one guiding theme throughout all of these life events is love.
Dalmau is a heart doctor. He has many loves throughout his long life (and not just people, but I'd argue the countries that he takes refuge in too). The most important love of these is for his wife, who he falls in love with multiple times in their later years. (When he was evacuating, he was forced to marry his brother's girlfriend, Roster. It was supposed to be that they would divorce after arriving, but they ended up staying together.) Theirs is a free love and a mature one that evolves many times over the years, and even after she dies, it persists as she tells him to love the neighbor as well in order to not be alone. So he does. Love, in this...
United States on Jan 25, 2021
Jack Hicks: A Long Petal of the Sea, Isabel Allende, 2020
I really like good historical fiction. It gives one the personal experience of participating in historical events through the perspective of fictional characters. And this is good historical fiction as it addresses the subjects of refugees and exile brought about by political instability and turmoil. Allende is not someone without personal experience in this regard as her uncle was Salvador Allende and she had to flee Chile in 1973 when Pinochet staged a rightwing coup. Her first book “House of the Spirits” dealt with this same subject using a fictional country and fictional political leaders. This book is about real countries, real events, real political figures.
The book starts in the year 1939 in the city of Barcelona. Franco’s forces have just defeated the Republican forces in the battle of Madrid and are closing in on the last Catalonian stronghold of Barcelona. There the middleclass family of a music teacher, Marcel Dalmau, is contemplating the impending disaster. Marcel’s two sons are socialists, members of the Republican forces. Victor is a medic and his brother, Guillem, a soldier, just killed in the forces...
United States on Mar 13, 2020
| Isabel Allende's "A Long Petal of the Sea": An Epic Tale of Love and Loss | Fiona Valpy's "The Beekeeper's Promise": A Tale of Nature, Love, and Redemption | Fiona Valpy Talks About Her New Book "The Skylarks Secret" | |
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| B2B Rating |
83
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98
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97
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| Sale off | $4 OFF | $1 OFF | |
| Total Reviews | 527 reviews | 1 reviews | 1 reviews |
| Hispanic American Literature & Fiction | Hispanic American Literature & Fiction | ||
| Best Sellers Rank | #24 in Hispanic American Literature & Fiction#291 in Family Saga Fiction#1,344 in Literary Fiction | #3,533 in Family Life Fiction #4,115 in Women's Domestic Life Fiction#10,869 in Literary Fiction | #3,468 in Family Life Fiction #4,056 in Women's Domestic Life Fiction#10,634 in Literary Fiction |
| Item Weight | 9.1 ounces | 11.7 ounces | 10.4 ounces |
| Family Saga Fiction | Family Saga Fiction | ||
| ISBN-10 | 0593157494 | 154204703X | 1542005159 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0593157497 | 978-1542047036 | 978-1542005159 |
| Paperback | 368 pages | 315 pages | 319 pages |
| Publisher | Ballantine Books | Lake Union Publishing | Lake Union Publishing |
| Dimensions | 5.2 x 0.7 x 8 inches | 5.5 x 1 x 8.25 inches | 5.08 x 1 x 7.8 inches |
| Language | English | English | English |
| Literary Fiction (Books) | Literary Fiction | Literary Fiction | Literary Fiction |
| Customer Reviews | 4.4/5 stars of 24,447 ratings | 4.5/5 stars of 64,480 ratings | 4.4/5 stars of 37,676 ratings |
United Kingdom on Nov 24, 2023