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4 solid stars for book of historical fiction, set in Chile, from 1920 until 2020. It is a series of letters by a grandmother to her grown grandson. Violeta was born during the Spanish flu epidemic in 1920. She lives to be 100 and dies of old age during the coronavirus epidemic.
She recounts her life story for her grandson, who is now a Jesuit priest. She has seen much turbulence in her life--WWII, a military coup, dictatorship, murder of friends and family, divorce, being abused for decades by her lover and rebellious children.
I enjoyed this book and recommend it to fans of the author, literary fiction and historical fiction. The descriptions of life in Chile are vivid. This is the first book that I have read by Isabel Allende.
Two quotes:
Home birth in 1920 Chile: "Under my Aunt Pilar's direction, Torito, the boy we employed for a wide range of chores, climbed a ladder to hang a labor sling from two steel hooks that he himself had installed in the ceiling. My mother, kneeling in her nightdress, each hand pulling on a strap, pushed for what felt like an eternity, cursing like a pirate, using words she'd never utter under normal circumstances. My Aunt Pia, crouched between her legs, waited to receive the newborn baby before he could fall to the floor."
English governess: "She had straw-like blond hair, and that skin as transparent as rice paper, that girls from cold countries sometimes have, which over time become spotted and mercilessly wrinkled."
Thank You Isabel Allende and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books, for sending me this ebook through NetGalley.
Pub. date Jan. 25, 2022