A Long Petal Of The Sea by Isabel Allende

 

A Long Petal Of The Sea by Isabel Allende.

Published in paperback 4th March 2021 by Bloomsbury Publishing.

From the cover of the book:

'A powerful love story spanning generations. Full of ambition and humanity' Sunday Times

'One of the strongest and most affecting works in Allende's long career' New York Times Book Review

Victor Dalmau is a young doctor when he is caught up in the Spanish Civil War, a tragedy that leaves his life - and the fate of his country - forever changed. 

Together with his sister-in-law, he is forced out of his beloved Barcelona and into exile in Chile. 

There, they find themselves enmeshed in a rich web of characters who come together in love and tragedy over the course of four generations, destined to witness the battle between freedom and repression as it plays out across the world.

'A masterful work of historical fiction about hope, exile and belonging' Independent Online

'A defiantly warm and funny novel, by somebody who has earned the right to argue that love and optimism can survive whatever history might throw at us' Daily Telegraph

'Allende's style is impressively Olympian and the payoff is remarkable' Guardian

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A Long Petal of the Sea is a sweeping tale of love and loss - and it is is also my first Allende, in conjunction with the wonderful The Soul of a Woman (review of that one here) as part of the thoroughly enjoyable Tandem Collective readalong on Instagram.

The story begins in Catalonia, Spain during the Spanish Civil War, where young doctor Victor Dalmau and his family are caught up in the political upheaval that will change his country for ever. As Franco and his fascist forces bear down upon Barcelona, Victor is forced to flee to France with his brother's widowed, pregnant wife, Roser- a dangerous journey that finds them housed with other refugees who have fled from the fighting in Spain. By chance, they are offered the opportunity of a new life in Chile, but only if they go as a couple, so Victor and Roser marry and  head off to a life of exile on foreign shores - but their fight for freedom is not yet finished, and it seems that love is also not done with them yet...

This novel is full of wonderful themes of the bonds of family, love that is lost and found, bitter recriminations and forgiveness, that weave deftly through a tale of political troubles and the fight for freedom. Its scope is immense, sweeping you along over four generations and bringing in a cast of rich and varied characters. There is so much history to take in with this book, especially if you do not know much about the Spanish Civil War or the politics of Chile, and while much of this is fascinating, at times it was a little tricky to keep up with the political machinations that dictated the course of events - so it helps if you do a little homework as you go along. I did also feel a bit disconnected from the emotional intensity of the story, and could not work out if this was a product of the translation or simply because I did not really like Victor all that much!

However, there is a lot to immerse yourself in with this book and reading it as part of a readalong with other members of the Isabel Allende group was both entertaining and enlightening, as it made me really think about how the story played out - and reading this at the same time as absorbing Allende's The Soul Of A Woman added an extra dimension that helped me see the characters through her eyes too. I think this may have made me more partisan towards the female characters, who I wanted to know more about, and perhaps this is why I failed to connect with Victor - it's interesting to speculate on that one.

If you like your fiction on the sweeping scale, with a big dollop of historical fact woven into the story, then this is definitely going to be one you will enjoy, and it has definitely made me want to explore more of Allende's writing.

A Long Petal of the Sea is available to buy now in paperback, hardback, e-book and audio versions from your favourite book retailer.

Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing for gifting me a copy of this book in return for an honest review and to the Tandem Collective for organising and inviting me to take part in this brilliant readalong.

About the author:

Born in Peru and raised in Chile, Isabel Allende is the author of The House of the Spirits, Daughter of Fortune, Paula, My Invented Country, The Japanese Lover and The Soul of a Woman.. Her books have been translated into more than 35 languages and have sold over 65 million copies worldwide. The Japanese Lover was an international and New York Times bestseller. She lives in California.