This book wonderfully combines the generational family stories of Amy Tan with the magical realism and folklore of Isabel Allende. Rosa's start in life is far from auspicious; born only a few days after her father's brutal murder, her first childhood experiences take place against a sound-track of shells and guns. She remembers finding her new home in West Jerusalem so recently vacated by its former Arab owners that there is still a meal on the table. Rosa grows up to be a voluptuous beauty with a voracious appetite for all sensual pleasures. Though a childhood prophecy leads her to believe that she will have four husbands, nothing prepares her for the extroadinary and remarkable diverse life she is to lead.