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Violeta [English Edition]: A Novel (Unabridged)
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5.0 • 5 Ratings
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- $21.99
Publisher Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • This sweeping novel from the author of A Long Petal of the Sea tells the epic story of Violeta Del Valle, a woman whose life spans one hundred years and bears witness to the greatest upheavals of the twentieth century.
“An immersive saga about a passion-filled life.”—People
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: PopSugar, Real Simple, Reader’s Digest
Violeta comes into the world on a stormy day in 1920, the first girl in a family with five boisterous sons. From the start, her life is marked by extraordinary events, for the ripples of the Great War are still being felt, even as the Spanish flu arrives on the shores of her South American homeland almost at the moment of her birth.
Through her father’s prescience, the family will come through that crisis unscathed, only to face a new one as the Great Depression transforms the genteel city life she has known. Her family loses everything and is forced to retreat to a wild and beautiful but remote part of the country. There, she will come of age, and her first suitor will come calling.
She tells her story in the form of a letter to someone she loves above all others, recounting times of devastating heartbreak and passionate affairs, poverty and wealth, terrible loss and immense joy. Her life is shaped by some of the most important events of history: the fight for women’s rights, the rise and fall of tyrants, and ultimately not one, but two pandemics.
Through the eyes of a woman whose unforgettable passion, determination, and sense of humor carry her through a lifetime of upheaval, Isabel Allende once more brings us an epic that is both fiercely inspiring and deeply emotional.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Isabel Allende’s captivating historical novel tells the story of the entire 20th century through the eyes of one extraordinary woman. During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, 100-year-old Violeta Del Valle writes to her grandson to share the details of her life. Born in Chile during the outbreak of the Spanish flu, young Violeta is approaching adolescence when her wealthy family loses everything, moving from the sophisticated capital to a farm in the country. As global events, including World War II and Chile’s 1970s military coup, buffet her family, Violeta encounters struggle and joy, passionate love and shocking loss, horror and delight. Allende is masterful at writing this kind of beautiful, multifaceted character—there’s a depth to Violeta that makes it feel like we’re reading a memoir. And narrator Yareli Arizmendi is a perfect match for the material, capturing every emotion, from soaring highs to heartbreaking lows. This is a sweeping historical epic about a woman living life on her own terms.
