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Recommended for: fans of The Notebook, and Victorian “sensation” novels like The Woman in White.
This was incredibly over the top. Allende took everything she had and threw it in. If it could happen, it happened. If a character trope exists, it’s in there. Noble poverty; lazy but good-hearted rich; old people bravely facing the ends of their lives, epic love affairs, classism, sexism, racism, homophobia; (view spoiler) ...more
This was incredibly over the top. Allende took everything she had and threw it in. If it could happen, it happened. If a character trope exists, it’s in there. Noble poverty; lazy but good-hearted rich; old people bravely facing the ends of their lives, epic love affairs, classism, sexism, racism, homophobia; (view spoiler) ...more

I tried really hard with this one - I finally gave up after about 120 pages. I was excited to read this - it takes place in San Francisco - one of my favorite cities. It is also about the Japanese internment during WWII - another topic that fascinates me. Unfortunately, i thought the novel was quite slow and didn't seem to be going anywhere. After 100 pages I expect the story to to be underway.
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Jan 10, 2021
Jenna
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
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A dreamy surreal book about love. The narrative is third person and while technically it would probably be considered omniscient since it switches between the characters, it actually feels limited due to the style feeling so distant. It was like reading a love story through a filmy filter.
There novel touches on so much tragedy: WWII, the Holocaust, Japanese-American internment, human sex trafficking etc. but it is not depressing. The tone could be described as mournfully hopeful, maybe because ...more
There novel touches on so much tragedy: WWII, the Holocaust, Japanese-American internment, human sex trafficking etc. but it is not depressing. The tone could be described as mournfully hopeful, maybe because ...more

I've never read Isabel Allende before because I'm not really into magical realism, but the description of her latest sounded so intriguing that I decided to try it and I loved it! And it actually didn't include any magical realism at all, so I don't know if this was a departure for her, or if I was wrong to assume she always used it. Anyway, this was a great realistic novel that goes back and forth in time between a senior living center/nursing home in present day and the 1930s - 1950s. All of t
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A brilliant romantic tale of endurance and love, peppered with issues of mortality and race differences.
Wish the narration has been tighter. The jumping through timelines via different characters was a little rough on maintaining continuity
Writing is gorgeous as always and the biggest takeaway from the book
Wish the narration has been tighter. The jumping through timelines via different characters was a little rough on maintaining continuity
Writing is gorgeous as always and the biggest takeaway from the book

Sep 25, 2015
Julianne Dunn
marked it as to-read

Nov 05, 2015
Isabel
marked it as to-read

Nov 12, 2015
Nicole
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Nov 15, 2015
anne
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Nov 27, 2015
Alison
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May 22, 2016
Maryam
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Aug 13, 2016
Sarah C
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Sep 29, 2016
Anne
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May 02, 2017
Sarah
marked it as to-read

Feb 08, 2021
Amy Richard
marked it as to-read

Sep 22, 2023
Christy Clements Hair
marked it as to-read