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Adventurous,
Interesting,
Epic

5 reviews

Daughter of Fortune: A Novel (P.S.)
by Isabel Allende

Published: 2014-04-15
Kindle Edition : 399 pages
3 members reading this now
11 clubs reading this now
6 members have read this book
Recommended to book clubs by 5 of 5 members

An orphan raised in Valparaiso, Chile, by a Victorian spinster and her rigid brother, vivacious young Eliza Sommers follows her lover to California during the Gold Rush of 1849. Entering a rough-and-tumble world of new arrivals driven mad by gold fever, Eliza moves in a society of single ...

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Introduction

An orphan raised in Valparaiso, Chile, by a Victorian spinster and her rigid brother, vivacious young Eliza Sommers follows her lover to California during the Gold Rush of 1849. Entering a rough-and-tumble world of new arrivals driven mad by gold fever, Eliza moves in a society of single men and prostitutes with the help of her good friend and savior, the Chinese doctor Tao Chi'en. California opens the door to a new life of freedom and independence to the young Chilean, and her search for her elusive lover gradually turns into another kind of journey. By the time she finally hears news of him, Eliza must decide who her true love really is.

Editorial Review

Oprah Book Club® Selection, February 2000: Until Isabel Allende burst onto the scene with her 1985 debut, The House of the Spirits, Latin American fiction was, for the most part, a boys' club comprising such heavy hitters as Gabriel García Márquez, Jorge Luis Borges, and Mario Vargas Llosa. But the Chilean Allende shouldered her way in with her magical realist multi-generational tale of the Trueba family, followed it up with four more novels and a spate of nonfiction, and has remained in a place of honor ever since. Her sixth work of fiction, Daughter of Fortune, shares some characteristics with her earlier works: the canvas is wide, the characters are multi-generational and multi-ethnic, and the protagonist is an unconventional woman who overcomes enormous obstacles to make her way in the world. Yet one cannot accuse Allende of telling the same story twice; set in the mid-1800s, this novel follows the fortunes of Eliza Sommers, Chilean by birth but adopted by a British spinster, Rose Sommers, and her bachelor brother, Jeremy, after she is abandoned on their doorstep.
"You have English blood, like us," Miss Rose assured Eliza when she was old enough to understand. "Only someone from the British colony would have thought to leave you in a basket on the doorstep of the British Import and Export Company, Limited. I am sure they knew how good-hearted my brother Jeremy is, and felt sure he would take you in. In those days I was longing to have a child, and you fell into my arms, sent by God to be brought up in the solid principles of the Protestant faith and the English language."
The family servant, Mama Fresia, has a different point of view, however: "You, English? Don't get any ideas, child. You have Indian hair, like mine." And certainly Eliza's almost mystical ability to recall all the events of her life would seem to stem more from the Indian than the Protestant side.

As Eliza grows up, she becomes less tractable, and when she falls in love with Joachin Andieta, a clerk in Jeremy's firm, her adoptive family is horrified. They are even more so when a now-pregnant Eliza follows her lover to California where he has gone to make his fortune in the 1849 gold rush. Along the way Eliza meets Tao Chi'en, a Chinese doctor who saves her life and becomes her closest friend. What starts out as a search for a lost love becomes, over time, the discovery of self; and by the time Eliza finally catches up with the elusive Joachin, she is no longer sure she still wants what she once wished for. Allende peoples her novel with a host of colorful secondary characters. She even takes the narrative as far afield as China, providing an intimate portrait of Tao Chi'en's past before returning to 19th-century San Francisco, where he and Eliza eventually fetch up. Readers with a taste for the epic, the picaresque, and romance that is satisfyingly complex will find them all in Daughter of Fortune. --Margaret Prior

Excerpt

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Discussion Questions

Suggested by Members

Why do you think she named it Daughter of Fortune?
by sluce (see profile) 10/21/10

Notes From the Author to the Bookclub

No notes at this time.

Book Club Recommendations

there is a sequel
by kimhalti (see profile) 05/12/10
several of our group have also read Portrait in Sepia, which is a sequel to Daughter of Fortune.

Member Reviews

Overall rating:
 
 
  "Doughter of Fortune"by Stacy L. (see profile) 10/21/10

The group felt that although the novel had some beautiful prose throughout the story that we were left feeling unsatisfied with the ending and the overall character development.

 
  "Daughter fo Fortune"by Anne H. (see profile) 08/25/10

A very well written book that took you on a journey from South America, China, and the United States.

 
  "Daughter of Fortune"by Marlys B. (see profile) 06/11/10

It was a long book.. THe story was interesting but sometimes it got bogged down with too much information. I felt let down at the end.

 
  "Daughters of Fortune"by marla g. (see profile) 05/14/10

I enjoyed this book cover to cover. I think more could/should have been written about prior relationships but the characters were expertly developed. The historic references were acurate and insightful.... (read more)

 
  "Daughter of Fortune"by Kim H. (see profile) 05/12/10

Our club members loved this book. It presents historical fiction set in an era that most of us were not too familiar with, and focuses on themes of the role of women, racism, and the history of medicine.... (read more)

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