Violeta

 

Imagine living 100 years … one complete century of, not only your own life evolving and changing, but your country and the world around you as well.  What stories would you have to tell about what you’d lived through and experienced, and what would you leave to those who continue on after you?  

Violeta del Valle was born in Chile during the Spanish Flu pandemic and she dies during the Coronavirus pandemic, but what an incredible life she lives between them!  This work of historical fiction reads much like an actual memoir, written by Violeta in a long letter to her beloved grandson, Camilo.  In it she details a life that sees prosperity and ruin due to the Great Depression, re-forging her own prosperity in a time where society frowned on women in business, marriages and affairs that range from sedate to tempestuous, the joys and sorrows of motherhood, war in the world at large and political upheaval and danger in her own country, a plethora of social issues, and ultimately finding new purpose in her later years.

I’ve never read Isabel Allende before, but she truly has a gift of immersing you in the story and allowing you to see and experience through the eyes of another, the world she’s describing.  I felt transported and invested in the people and places she took me to, and there were a LOT of them.  This is a character-rich novel, and there are so many vibrantly drawn characters to enjoy.  Each one brought a wealth of personality and interest to the story, and Violeta’s travels took her to so many places that you almost felt you were traveling with her.  

Although they’re two different stories, I felt the same draw to this story that I did to Sofia Segovia’s book The Murmur of Bees, and there are points the two have in common, such as the descriptions of the Spanish Flu pandemic, and some parallels between the character Simonopio in Segovia’s book and Torito in this one, both of whom I loved.

It’s a wonderful story, both joyful and heart-breaking, and it’s beautifully told.  Honestly my only minor issue is just that the retelling of a hundred-year life can, understandably at moments, feel a little long!  Having said that, we should all be so lucky to have a life as full as Violeta!

★★★★ ½ (rounded to 5)

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Netgalley and author Isabel Allende for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.  It’s due to be published January 25, 2022.