A new novel from Isabel Allende is always a cause of celebration
for her many fans. Portrait in Sepia continues the story of
characters from her previous novel, Daughter of Fortune. Eliza
Sommers and the Chinese healer, Tao Chi'en are now living together
with their two children in the Chinese quarter of late 19th-century
San Francisco. This novel spans nearly 50 eventful years of history
(from 1862 to 1910) and shifts location from San Francisco to Chile
via spells in London and Europe. It is packed with ideas and
history, taking in such diverse events as the bloody civil wars of
Chile and advances in the development of photography and surgery.
The story centres on Aurora del Valle who at the age of five, after
the brutal death of her grandfather, Tao-Chi'en, is left with her
Chilean paternal grandmother, the formidable entrepreneur, Paulina
del Valle. Over the years, after an unorthodox upbringing in Chile,
Aurora manages to piece together the mystery of her ancestry and to
understand the source of her recurring nightmares. The novel is
peppered with a host of fascinating characters, but most
significantly it re-introduces Severo and Nivea del Valle,
characters from her much-loved first novel, The House of Spirits.
Although none of Allende's subsequent books have ever quite
recaptured the special magic and originality of that first novel,
she remains a consummate storyteller, her characters always
engaging and her powers of description vivid. While it is not
necessary to have read Daughter of Fortune to appreciate Portrait
in Sepia, the latter certainly whets the appetite for a return to
The House of Spirits. (Kirkus UK)
Best selling international author, Isabel Allende tackles her
homeland head-on in this staggering, epic romance. 'Portrait in
Sepia' is both a magnificent historical novel set at the end of the
nineteenth century in Chile and a marvellous family saga peopled by
characters from 'Daughter of Fortune' and 'The House of the
Spirits', two of Allende's most celebrated novels. As a young girl,
Aurora del Valle suffered a brutal trauma that has shaped her
character and erased from her mind all recollection of the first
five years of her life. Raised by her ambitious grandmother, the
regal and commanding Paulina del Valle, she grows up in a
privileged environment, free of the limitations that circumscribe
the lives of women at that time, but tormented by terrible
nightmares. When she finds herself alone at the end of an unhappy
love affair, she decides to explore the mystery of her past, to
discover what it was, exactly, all those years ago, that had such a
devastating effect on her young life. Richly detailed, epic in
scope, this engrossing story of the dark power of hidden secrets is
intimate in its probing of human character, and thrilling in the
way it illuminates the complexity of family ties.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
