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This is an interesting historical fiction about a Chilean woman, Eliza Sommers, who comes to San Francisco during the California Gold Rush. She is hunting for her lover, Joaquin Andiata, who left Chile for the gold fields of California.

The book is well written and researched. Allende states she spent seven years researching this book. So many books have people coming from Europe to the California Gold Rush. It was great to read a story where the key people come from South America. Allende is a great storyteller, and I felt I was with Eliza in Chile, on the ship and in California. I could almost hear, smell and see the scenes she described. The ending left me feeling as if the book was not over. Is this book part of a series or trilogy? I noted the book was published in 1998 in Spanish by Plaza & Janes and translated to English in 1999. It was featured as in Oprah’s Book Club in February 2000. I recommend this book.

I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is thirteen hours and nineteen minutes. Blair Brown does a good job narrating the book. Brown is a Tony Award winning actress. Brown also won the Ace Award and was nominated for five Emmy Awards. I wondered if the narration would have been even better if done by a person with a native Chilean/Spanish accent.