Daughter of Fortune, Isabel Allende :: Book Review

Grade: B+
Buy it on amazon: Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende

This is one of those books that I had trouble getting into. I almost put it down. I tried really hard not to give up and thank-freaking-god, I didn't. Overall, a pretty wicked book, worth picking up.

It's not the characters on this one. It's the story line with the history lesson base. You never actually feel emotionally close to the characters. It's just so cool to read about Valparaîso, Chile and California during the Gold Rush of 1849. Life was tough back then. It's a nice piece that explores a barbaric time in history.

The main heroine (Eliza) is brave, headstrong yet moral and just. She lives her life looking ahead with no what if's? We follow her emotional journey from a bi-standers view from Chile to California in search of her sweetheart. We also follow the life of a secondary character Tao Chi'en from China to California and can observe the contrast and colliding of cultures of that time. The story ending is pretty formulaic but.. whatever, still a good read.

Sometimes you want to take the two characters by the shoulders and just shake and shake them - yelling all the time, why can't you guys just freaking hook up already??? But hey, it never goes the way it should.

Amazon's Book Description:
An orphan raised in Valparaíso, Chile, by a Victorian spinster and her rigid brother, young, vivacious Eliza Sommers follows her lover to California during the Gold Rush of 1849. She enters a rough-and-tumble world whose newly arrived inhabitants are driven mad by gold fever. With the help of her good friend and savior, the Chinese doctor Tao Chi'en, Eliza moves freely in a society of single men and prostitutes, creating an unconventional but independent life for herself. The young Chilean's search for her elusive lover gradually turns into another kind of journey, and by the time she finally hears news of him, Eliza must decide who her true love really is.

Buy it on amazon: Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende

Books that are similar:
Water for Elephants, By Sara Gruen
Memoirs of a Geisha, By Arthur Golden
The Joy Luck Club, By Amy Tan