Daughter of Fortune (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Isabel Allende
- First Published: 1999
- Type of Work: Novel
- Time of Work: 1800-1853
- Setting: Valparaiso, Chile; China; England; and California
- Principal Characters: Eliza Sommers, John Sommers, Rose Sommers, Jeremy Sommers, Tao Chi’en, Jacob Todd (Freemont), Joaquín Andieta (Murieta), Ah Toy, Joe Bonecrusher, Tom No-Tribe, Paulina del Valle, Feliciano Rodríquez de Santa Cruz, Michael Steward
- Genres: Long fiction
- Subjects: North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Love or romance, Sex or sexuality, Nineteenth century, Prostitution or prostitutes, California, West, U.S., England or English people, Orphans or orphanages, Pacific Northwest, South America or South Americans, China or Chinese people
- Locales: California, England, China, Valparaiso, Chile
Allende begins her novel by observing that Eliza Sommers, her heroine, has “many memories, both real and illusory,” and that Eliza recalls her life with “an astrologer’s poetic vagueness.” As a result, Allende’s novel, ostensibly told from an omniscient point of view, is best seen as a memory which incorporates magic, poetic license, and illusion—all ingredients of the “magic realism” of South American writers. Eliza also has culinary talents, a trait she shares with the heroine of Mexican Laura Esquivel’s Como agua para chocolate (1990; Like Water for...
[The entire page is 1743 words long]
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