A lens into cultures - the protagonist is a racially mixed child of Chinese-Chilean descent who is orphaned at birth and raised by grandparents of both cultures at the latter end of the 19th century, and continents - North and South America and Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. It describes the brutality of war, racial prejudice and class difference, seen through the eyes of the young protagonist.

This is only the second Allende that I have read, and the only one from this -duet/trilogy-depending on the source. But it stands alone as a wonderful read. ( )

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Portrait in Sepia by Isabel Allende is the second book in the Involuntary trilogy, continuing the family saga. Ms. Allende is a Chilean-American novelist, known for focusing on women’s experiences in Latin America.

Aurora del Valla grows up in a privilege environment but is tormented by nightmares. As a child, Aurora suffered a traumatic experience which erased her memories from the first five years of her life.

I enjoyed Daughter of Fortune, the first book of the trilogy, very much. After finishing the novel, and finding out it was part of a trilogy, I went out and bought Portrait in Sepia by Isabel Allende only for it to languish on my “to be read” pile for about a year.

This book, however, was disappointing. I found it quite boring in the beginning, but the story got better when the narrative was moved from San Francisco to Chile. While the women in this book took center stage, unlike her previous novels though, they didn’t shine.

Even if a book is a sequel, it has to be a standalone story, and I simply didn’t feel this was the case with Portrait in Sepia. There are pages and pages of narration, and so many characters crammed in to the point where the actually story gets lost.

The many characters were dull and underdeveloped. I didn’t care about any of them except one minor character. The spark that I enjoy so much in Ms. Allende’s books was missing, and it was a struggle to finish it.

Part one of the book is a long flashback, part two takes place in San Francisco and Chile, and then the book ends with… another flashback. The ending was emotionless, hasty without any payoff for my insistence to finish reading it. ( )

confirmed

PRATELEIRA EUNICE LIVRO 103
A finales del siglo XIX en Chile, Aurora del Valle sufre de un trauma brutal que borra de su mente los primeros cinco aÑos de su vida. Criada por su ambiciosa abuela, Paulina del Valle, crece en un ambiente privilegiado, pero se ve atormentada por horribles pesadillas. Cuando debe afrontar la traiciÓn del hombre que ama, y la soledad, decide explorar el misterio de su pasado.

A finales del siglo XIX en Chile, Aurora del Valle sufre de un trauma brutal que borra de su mente los primeros cinco a;os de su vida. Criada por su ambiciosa abuela, Paulina del Valle, crece en un ambiente privilegiado, pero se ve atormentada por horribles pesadillas. Cuando debe afrontar la traici;n del hombre que ama, y la soledad, decide explorar el misterio de su pasado.