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What book did you just start?
By Stephanie · 3501 posts · 467 views
By Stephanie · 3501 posts · 467 views
last updated Feb 27, 2024 08:11PM
What Members Thought
Readers and critics often revere the Chilean-born Allende for her grand, sweeping, magical realism novels, but many reviewers expressed some disappointment with this latest offering. The Miami Herald critic noted: "The prose is too often the mating of a celeb magazine and a master's thesis," and several agreed the book felt overwritten. Others were unimpressed by the characters' lack of complexity and believability. On a positive note, many critics enjoyed the storytelling, with women at the for
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Jun 14, 2011
Katrina
rated it
it was amazing
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review of another edition
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Wow! This was wonderful book. I learned alot about the history of Saint Domingue and Toussaint L'ouverture. I just love stories that educate me!
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Set in the late 18th century, this is an epic historical novel about a slave Zarite (Tete). The characters were compelling and the history fascinating. This takes place in Haiti and New Orleans and captures life of the and treatment of the slaves and masters. Very well written.
The saga of Tété is beautifully written and tells of growing up in bondage during the Haitian Revolution. Tété survives a slave voyage as a young girl and is sold to a white land owner who uses her for sexual pleasures when his wife suffers mental illness. She becomes pregnant and is sent away to hide her master's indiscretion. Her child is taken at birth and given to her master's former mulatto mistress. It is amazing to read about the Haitian Revolution and how colonial French played a part. T
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While I enjoyed the book, I felt the characters were not fully developed. I almost felt like I was reading a text book or history lesson at times. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, because I was interested in learning about the time period. I think if Allende had done a better job blending the characters into the history, then the story would have been fantastic. I rated this 3.5 stars.
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I'm not sure what to rate this book. Allende has such great writing in her books, but sometimes gets a little wordy. Her historical fiction is always from a different angel and keeps the reader wanting to learn more. I wasn't thrilled with the end. I felt that I wanted to know more about some characters and didn't like what happened to others.
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Excellent story about a slave in the late 1700's in Haiti & New Orleans.
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I guess I it was my Catholic sensibilites that prevented me from giving it 4 star rating.
May 20, 2010
Charisse
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Nov 27, 2010
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Aug 12, 2011
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