Synopsis
In this sequel to DAUGHTER OF FORTUNE, Aurora del Valle, who belongs to a large and colorful Chilean family, looks back on the 30 years of her life and the events leading up to her birth, covering the years 1862 to 1910. In the process she provides a history of her family--including her beautiful mother, her Chinese grandfather, and her eccentric and obese grandmother Paulina.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 2002-11-01 | | Edition Description: | Reprint |
| Size | | Length: | 304 pages | | Height: | 8.0 in | | Width: | 5.3 in | | Thickness: | 0.8 in | | Weight: | 9.6 oz |
Publisher's Note
Isabel Allende's sensuous novel about
the mystery of memoryIn nineteenth-century Chile, Aurora del Valle suffers a brutal trauma that erases all recollections of the first five years of her life. Raised by her regal and ambitious grandmother Paulina del Valle, Aurora grows up in a privileged environment, but is tormented by horrible nightmares. When she is forced to recognize her betrayal at the hands of the man she loves, and to cope with the resulting solitude, she explores the mystery of her past.
Industry Reviews
"Complex, intriguing, ambitious, and uneven sequel....Though her narrative spans nearly 50 years of Chilean and American history, it's Allende's remarkable flair for character that makes it all come alive."
Kirkus Reviews (08/15/2001)
"PORTRAIT IN SEPIA is the best book Allende has published in the United States since her splendid first novel of nearly two decades ago, THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS. Like much of her previous work, it can be called a romance, and perhaps will be welcomed by her many loyal readers as precisely that, but if it is a romance it is also tough-minded, uncompromising and not a little bloody....PORTRAIT IN SEPIA is both an intimate examination of the inner lives of a woman and her family and a large canvas across which many people parade and on which momentous events are played out. Its romantic elements--which are to be found in its language as well as its sentiments--are counterbalanced by its shrewd, uncompromising view of those people and events."
Washington Post Book World - Jonathan Yardley (10/28/2001)
"Allende doesn't probe the inner life of every character to its deepest layer, but she musters enough grace and poise to give us complex histories in the simplest lines. It adds up to a book about transformation--of people and nations and of the rights of women."
New York Times Book Review - Andrew Ervin (11/04/2001)
| See an error? Submit a change request |
All rights reserved.
