A Long Petal of the Sea
Ratings24
Average rating4
15
Ratings24
Average rating4
A story about love, crisis, growth, and history repeating itself.
From the author of The House of the Spirits, this epic novel spanning decades and crossing continents follows two young people as they flee the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War in search of a place to call home. Parade 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 on the SS Winnipeg, a ship chartered by the poet Pablo Neruda, to Chile: “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. A masterful work of historical fiction about hope, exile, and belonging, A Long Petal of the Sea shows Isabel Allende at the height of her powers.
Praise for A Long Petal of the Sea:
“Both an intimate look at the relationship between one man and one woman and an epic story of love, war, family, and the search for home, this gorgeous novel, like all the best novels, transports the reader to another time and place, and also sheds light on the way we live now.”—J. Courtney Sullivan, author of Saints for All Occasions
“This is a novel not just for those of us who have been Allende fans for decades, but also for those who are brand-new to her work: What a joy it must be to come upon Allende for the first time. She knows that all stories are love stories, and the greatest love stories are told by time.” —Colum McCann, National Book Award–winning author of Let the Great World Spin
“One of the most richly imagined portrayals of the Spanish Civil War to date, and one of the strongest and most affecting works in [Isabel Allende’s] long career.”—The New York Times Book Review
• New York Times Bestseller • Named one of the best books of the year by Esquire
Reviews with the most likes.
I've just finished this book and I already feel that it will stay with me for a long time. The story takes you through several countries, wars, relationships, hardships and loves. George R.R. Martin said, "A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. [...]" If we take this quote literally, A Long Petal of the Sea brought me much closer to that goal.
The book also gave me a much better understanding of the past of Spain and Chile. Allende wrote a novel, but it touches on a lot of important real history. I sometimes checked what I'd just read on Wikipedia to see if it was true and to learn more about the events described. The author did her homework so well that you get a novel and a history lesson in one. The book also portrays the sadly ever-present issue of people being forced to flee their own country. It helps the reader to see other perspectives.
If you are interested in love stories, the hardships of war, people being both good and very, very bad, this book is for you. One of the criticisms I've heard about Isabel Allende is that her writing sometimes gets in the way of the story by using too many or convoluted metaphors. At least in this book, I don't agree with that. The writing was good, flowed with the story and never took center stage. The characters and environment did the telling.
Two things bothered me a little. One was the ending, it felt rushed and the book could have been finished a few pages earlier and I think it would have left a better impression. The second is that most of the time I couldn't hear the characters saying their dialog. With a few exceptions, it felt like they were mostly there to move the plot along.
All in all, I highly recommend this book and I'll probably try another one by Isabel Allende in the future.
