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A review by book_concierge
Portrait in Sepia by Isabel Allende
4.0
Audiobook narrated by Blair Brown
This is the third book Allende has written about the Del Valle family. Though it was the last published, in chronological order it falls between [b:Daughter of Fortune|16527|Daughter of Fortune|Isabel Allende|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1299666780s/16527.jpg|3471915] and [b:The House of the Spirits|9331|The House of the Spirits|Isabel Allende|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388187463s/9331.jpg|3374404], but can easily be read as a standalone novel. The sweeping scope of this book takes us from mid 19th-century San Francisco to early 20th century Chile, and is narrated by Aurora Del Valle, a fiercely independent woman who followed her own destiny regardless of convention.
I love Allende’s writing. There is a decidedly Latin beat to the flow of her sentences. And her descriptions are full of sensory highlights – the reader smells the sea air, feels the quality of fine fabrics, suffers in the tropical heat, hears the cacophony of a busy marketplace, and tastes the herbs and spices of Chinese or Chilean cuisine.
The characters are larger than life and run the gamut from a wealthy Chilean grand dame to a Chinese herbalist to an English butler and a Serbian physician. I greatly appreciated the family tree printed in the text version, and wished that I also had a map handy to help with the geography.
While she is known for magical realism, there is little of that in this book, aside from a reference to the ghost of Aurora’s grandfather being ever present. I think I need to go back to [b:The House of the Spirits|9331|The House of the Spirits|Isabel Allende|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388187463s/9331.jpg|3374404] and read it again….
Blair Brown does a fine job performing the audio version. She has good pacing and enough skill as a voice artist to clearly distinguish the many characters.
This is the third book Allende has written about the Del Valle family. Though it was the last published, in chronological order it falls between [b:Daughter of Fortune|16527|Daughter of Fortune|Isabel Allende|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1299666780s/16527.jpg|3471915] and [b:The House of the Spirits|9331|The House of the Spirits|Isabel Allende|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388187463s/9331.jpg|3374404], but can easily be read as a standalone novel. The sweeping scope of this book takes us from mid 19th-century San Francisco to early 20th century Chile, and is narrated by Aurora Del Valle, a fiercely independent woman who followed her own destiny regardless of convention.
I love Allende’s writing. There is a decidedly Latin beat to the flow of her sentences. And her descriptions are full of sensory highlights – the reader smells the sea air, feels the quality of fine fabrics, suffers in the tropical heat, hears the cacophony of a busy marketplace, and tastes the herbs and spices of Chinese or Chilean cuisine.
The characters are larger than life and run the gamut from a wealthy Chilean grand dame to a Chinese herbalist to an English butler and a Serbian physician. I greatly appreciated the family tree printed in the text version, and wished that I also had a map handy to help with the geography.
While she is known for magical realism, there is little of that in this book, aside from a reference to the ghost of Aurora’s grandfather being ever present. I think I need to go back to [b:The House of the Spirits|9331|The House of the Spirits|Isabel Allende|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388187463s/9331.jpg|3374404] and read it again….
Blair Brown does a fine job performing the audio version. She has good pacing and enough skill as a voice artist to clearly distinguish the many characters.