Play Book Tag discussion

Portrait in Sepia - Isabel Allende
Audiobook narrated by Blair Brown
4****

This is the third book Allende has written about the Del Valle family. Though it was the last published, in chronological order it falls between Daughter of Fortune and The House of the Spirits , but can easily be read as a standalone novel. The sweeping scope of this book takes us from mid 19th-century San Francisco to early 20th century Chile, and is narrated by Aurora Del Valle, a fiercely independent woman who followed her own destiny regardless of convention.

I love Allende’s writing. There is a decidedly Latin beat to the flow of her sentences. And her descriptions are full of sensory highlights – the reader smells the sea air, feels the quality of fine fabrics, suffers in the tropical heat, hears the cacophony of a busy marketplace, and tastes the herbs and spices of Chinese or Chilean cuisine.

The characters are larger than life and run the gamut from a wealthy Chilean grand dame to a Chinese herbalist to an English butler and a Serbian physician. I greatly appreciated the family tree printed in the text version, and wished that I also had a map handy to help with the geography.

While she is known for magical realism, there is little of that in this book, aside from a reference to the ghost of Aurora’s grandfather being ever present. I think I need to go back to House of the Spirits and read it again….

Blair Brown does a fine job performing the audio version. She has good pacing and enough skill as a voice artist to clearly distinguish the many characters.

I didn't know there were any other books with the same family as The House of the Spirits! I read The House of the Spirits in high school and barely remember it, but I recall having trouble with the magical realism- this sounds like it might be better for me to give Allende another try.

Do the other novels have ties to Chile as well? And how strong is the magical realism in the other two?

Regina wrote: "Do the other novels have ties to Chile as well? And how strong is the magical realism in the other two?"

Magical realism VERY prominent in The House of the Spirits - entire book takes place in Chile (if memory serves ...)

Daughter of Fortune is more a historical novel - starts in Chile and then moves to California

Portrait in Sepia, again more historical fiction - starts in Califonia (granddaughter of Eliza, who is heroine of DoF), and moves to Chile

Do these need to be read in order? I own this one and didn't realize they were a series.

Hmmmmm.....I thought I was going to Chile this year but it looks like it will be another year. I'm trying to add books set there to my TBR. You know my reading tastes. Would you recommend any of these for me?

Sara wrote: "Do these need to be read in order? I own this one and didn't realize they were a series."

Nope. They aren't even really considered a series. Each is a standalone novel, though they deal with the same extended family.

They were written/published in this order:
House of the Spirits (1982)
Daughter of Fortune (1998)
Portrait in Sepia (2000)

In timeline, they are in this order
Daughter of Fortune
Portrait in Sepia
House of the Spirits

I was contemplating reading a book by Allende for this months tag, since she's an author I feel like I should read and haven't --- although I think I might have pretended to read The House of the Spirits in school.

Probably won't get to it this month though.