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kelly_e's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Title: A Long Petal of the Sea
Author: Isabel Allende
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 4.25
Pub Date: May 21, 2019
T H R E E • W O R D S
Powerful • Beautiful • Profound
📖 S Y N O P S I S
In the late 1930s, civil war grips Spain. When General Franco and his Fascists succeed in overthrowing the government, hundreds of thousands are forced to flee in a treacherous journey over the mountains to the French border. Among them is Roser, a pregnant young widow, who finds her life intertwined with that of Victor Dalmau, an army doctor and the brother of her deceased love. In order to survive, the two must unite in a marriage neither of them desires.
Together with two thousand other refugees, Roser and Victor embark for Chile on the SS Winnipeg, a ship chartered by the poet Pablo Neruda: "the long petal of sea and wine and snow." As unlikely partners, the couple embraces exile as the rest of Europe erupts in world war. Starting over on a new continent, they face trial after trial, but they will also find joy as they patiently await the day when they might go home. Through it all, their hope of returning to Spain keeps them going. Destined to witness the battle between freedom and repression as it plays out across the world, Roser and Victor will find that home might have been closer than they thought all along.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Isabel Allende is an author whose books I've heard wonderful things about, yet have still never read. It made complete sense to include her on my 'Author Taste Test' challenge for 2023, especially since A Long Petal of the Sea already sat unread on my shelf. Allende embarks on the ambitious task of telling such a grand tale, and yet she does so with historical accuracy and poignant prose.
Spanning decades, continents, and the lives of many characters, this novel took me through the history of both Spain and Chile in the 20th century. With beautiful writing and impeccably crafted, Allende has weaved together love, war, family, and the search for belonging. I love historical fiction for many reasons, but mostly for gaining knowledge about past events I may know little about. This one definitely broaden my understanding and has encouraged me to seek out more diverse historical fiction, beyond WWI and WWII.
While there are many characters in this book, it is really Victor and Roser's story. Forced into an unconventional union they face many challenges yet remain hopeful. Their characters are so beautifully developed, where the reader is privy to their story layer upon layer and I was along for the heartbreaking ride.
This may have been my first book by this author, but it definitely won't be my last. I look forward to exploring her backlist, as well as seeing what future projects she writes. And again I must take a moment to acknowledge the stunning cover. The colours, the gold detailing, even the font - all of it is just gorgeous.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• historical fiction lovers
• readers looking for diverse historical fiction
• bookclubs
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Pain is unavoidable, but suffering is optional."
"Our land only rewards those who work hard in it."
"Poetry is what stays in your head and isn’t forgotten."
Author: Isabel Allende
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 4.25
Pub Date: May 21, 2019
T H R E E • W O R D S
Powerful • Beautiful • Profound
📖 S Y N O P S I S
In the late 1930s, civil war grips Spain. When General Franco and his Fascists succeed in overthrowing the government, hundreds of thousands are forced to flee in a treacherous journey over the mountains to the French border. Among them is Roser, a pregnant young widow, who finds her life intertwined with that of Victor Dalmau, an army doctor and the brother of her deceased love. In order to survive, the two must unite in a marriage neither of them desires.
Together with two thousand other refugees, Roser and Victor embark for Chile on the SS Winnipeg, a ship chartered by the poet Pablo Neruda: "the long petal of sea and wine and snow." As unlikely partners, the couple embraces exile as the rest of Europe erupts in world war. Starting over on a new continent, they face trial after trial, but they will also find joy as they patiently await the day when they might go home. Through it all, their hope of returning to Spain keeps them going. Destined to witness the battle between freedom and repression as it plays out across the world, Roser and Victor will find that home might have been closer than they thought all along.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Isabel Allende is an author whose books I've heard wonderful things about, yet have still never read. It made complete sense to include her on my 'Author Taste Test' challenge for 2023, especially since A Long Petal of the Sea already sat unread on my shelf. Allende embarks on the ambitious task of telling such a grand tale, and yet she does so with historical accuracy and poignant prose.
Spanning decades, continents, and the lives of many characters, this novel took me through the history of both Spain and Chile in the 20th century. With beautiful writing and impeccably crafted, Allende has weaved together love, war, family, and the search for belonging. I love historical fiction for many reasons, but mostly for gaining knowledge about past events I may know little about. This one definitely broaden my understanding and has encouraged me to seek out more diverse historical fiction, beyond WWI and WWII.
While there are many characters in this book, it is really Victor and Roser's story. Forced into an unconventional union they face many challenges yet remain hopeful. Their characters are so beautifully developed, where the reader is privy to their story layer upon layer and I was along for the heartbreaking ride.
This may have been my first book by this author, but it definitely won't be my last. I look forward to exploring her backlist, as well as seeing what future projects she writes. And again I must take a moment to acknowledge the stunning cover. The colours, the gold detailing, even the font - all of it is just gorgeous.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• historical fiction lovers
• readers looking for diverse historical fiction
• bookclubs
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Pain is unavoidable, but suffering is optional."
"Our land only rewards those who work hard in it."
"Poetry is what stays in your head and isn’t forgotten."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, and War
Moderate: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual content, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body shaming, Cancer, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Terminal illness
deenmachine's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
An incredibly well-researched historical fiction that follows the characters through their lifetime. I have read other critiques that say the book is too much telling, not enough showing, and I agree that the language can be a bit rote at times, like "this happened. She felt this way." I forgave it because there's so much that happens in this book that it's almost necessary, and the characters are compelling enough to keep you drawn in. The last couple pages had one of the more thoughtful and touching portraits of grief I've read in a while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Torture, Medical content, and Pregnancy
Minor: Child death and Grief
katymat18's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Pregnancy, and War
Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, and Classism
Minor: Child death
chloecc15's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
neptunereign's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
The end was really the most interesting part. A handful of paragraphs were beautifully written but I felt it was mostly just rattling off historical information. It dragged on between that and laying out the life story of a few (indeed likable) characters, mainly because it was in sort of an extremely sterile writing style. There was little emotion conveyed through the writing, what little emotions I felt while reading this book solely came from feeling for the characters as they went through something.
I liked the way the author inserted bits of information that foreshadowed later events but didn't give away too much until the time was right.
All in all it was hard to keep motivated to finish this book, but it's informative when it comes to the history of Chile and Catalonia.
I liked the way the author inserted bits of information that foreshadowed later events but didn't give away too much until the time was right.
All in all it was hard to keep motivated to finish this book, but it's informative when it comes to the history of Chile and Catalonia.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and War
davidbythebay's review against another edition
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This was my first Isabel Allende book. It was good. I find fault in the scope of the book, though. It feels too packed with characters that it gets a bit muddled. It’s like there were too many thoughts and not enough editing. I also too a long time (about 25% of the novel) to feel like something was happening. It was rather bland and slow until then. And then periodically got slow.
The summary on the book doesn’t fully encompass what this is about. Yes, there is a romance that forms. But this reads more like a political critique that comes across more like a propaganda tool to talk up a regime that was - I’ll word this mildly because my knowledge of Chilean history is not great - troubled as a brilliant rule the populace squandered and dismantled. Also, the political discussions are rather one note and brief. It seemed like it would be better as an inquiry into the nature of government and role of politics and the people. But this didn’t happen. It was slanted, like a certain spin on history. In fact the story sits in the 1930s-1940s then have a huge chapter long jump to the 1970s. So much happened and yet it was a lot of side characters and plots that just seemed to go nowhere but end.
I think I’ll give this author another chance, but I was not impressed with this piece (one of her latest novels). Unfortunately, the story didn’t grip me too much and I have to rate this 3 stars.
The summary on the book doesn’t fully encompass what this is about. Yes, there is a romance that forms. But this reads more like a political critique that comes across more like a propaganda tool to talk up a regime that was - I’ll word this mildly because my knowledge of Chilean history is not great - troubled as a brilliant rule the populace squandered and dismantled. Also, the political discussions are rather one note and brief. It seemed like it would be better as an inquiry into the nature of government and role of politics and the people. But this didn’t happen. It was slanted, like a certain spin on history. In fact the story sits in the 1930s-1940s then have a huge chapter long jump to the 1970s. So much happened and yet it was a lot of side characters and plots that just seemed to go nowhere but end.
I think I’ll give this author another chance, but I was not impressed with this piece (one of her latest novels). Unfortunately, the story didn’t grip me too much and I have to rate this 3 stars.
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Child death, Death, Terminal illness, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Abortion
cookiesandchapters's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Death and Grief
Minor: Child death
sarah984's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The history that this book was based on was fascinating, but I think I would have preferred to read a straight-up history book to this work of historical fiction. The characters are all very vaguely drawn and have extremely predictable stories. The reader is always told how the characters feel instead of it being demonstrated in the text, and somehow despite all of the characters’ hardships everything seems to always work out neatly for them so the stakes felt weirdly low.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Dementia, and Religious bigotry