Synopsis During the California Gold Rush, Eliza Sommers, raised as an adopted daughter in a wealthy Chilean family, follows her flamboyant lover to California--partly as a way of beginning her life over again. Allende's historical adventure novel touches on feminist themes such as the repressed upbringing of girls in Chile, the disgraceful treatment of Chinese prostitutes in America, and the rough life of frontier women.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 1999-04-01 |
| Size | | Length: | 428 pages | | Height: | 9.5 in | | Width: | 6.5 in | | Thickness: | 1.8 in | | Weight: | 24.8 oz |
Publisher's Note
Eliza Sommers es una joven chilena que vive en Valparaiso en 1849, el ano que se descubre oro en California. Su amante, Joaquin Andieta, parte hacia el norte decidido a encontrar fortuna, y ella decide seguirlo. El viaje infernal, escondida en la cala de un velero, y la busqueda de su amante en una tierra de hombres solos y prostitutas atraidos por la fiebre del oro, transforman a la joven inocente en una mujer fuera de lo comun. Eliza recibe ayuda y afecto de Tao Chi'en, un medico chino, quien la conducira de la mano en un itinerario memorable por los misterios y contradicciones de la condicion humana. Hija de la fortuna es un retrato papitante de una epoca marcada por la violencia y la codicia en la cual los protagonistas rescatan el amor, la amistad, la compasion y el valor. En esta su mas ambiciosa novel, Isabel Allende presenta un universo fascinante, poblado de entranables personajes que, como tantos otros de la autora, se quedan para siempre en la memoria y el corazon de los lectores.
In 1843, a baby is left on the doorstep of Rose Sommers and her brother Jeremy, who live in the British colony of Valparaiso, Chile. Rose names the baby Eliza and raises her as part of the family. When Eliza falls in love with Joaquin Andieta, one of Jeremy's delivery boys, news of the gold in California has just reached Chile. Joaquin, caught up in the popular fever, sets out to make a fortune up north, leaving behind Eliza, now pregnant with his child. Spirited and with a mind of her own, Eliza leaves her home in Valparaiso and undertakes a dangerous sea voyage to San Francisco in search of her lover. What she finds instead is adversity and adventure and, through her own resourcefulness, an even more momentous journey to independence and freedom. When she finally hears news of Joaquin, Eliza must decide who her true love really is. A classic story from one of the foremost and beloved storytellers of our time; Daughter of Fortune proves again Allende's ability to "hold the world spellbound with her tales" (Miami Herald).
Industry Reviews "[A]n extravagant tale by a gifted storyteller whose spell brings to life the 19th century world....DAUGHTER OF FORTUNE, while entertaining and well paced, is frustratingly one-dimensional....Though Allende offers pictures of this darker world, they come across as mere snapshots, dwarfed by the sweeping historical panorama she's trying to paint...." Curwen
"[R]eads like a bodice-ripper romance crossed with Judith Krantz, with plenty of feminist and multicultural seasoning thrown in to update the mix....Ms. Allende does little to dramatize her feminist sentiments--she simply hammers her points home with dogmatic asides, and starkly lighted tableaux of women being abused and taken advantage by men. Her people are equally simplistic and trite: evil outlaws, greedy opportunists and whores with hearts of gold. Eliza...never becomes more than a paper-doll figure...." Kakutani
""[B]ecause Allende details her plot and settings more richly than her characters' inner lives, this derring-do saga feels somewhat spiritless." Harlan
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