A review by serendipitysbooks
Violeta by Isabel Allende

emotional informative reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

 The cover says it all really - “One extraordinary woman. One hundred years of history. One unforgettable history. “ Violeta del Valle was born in Chile in 1920 at the peak of the Spanish ‘flu outbreak. One hundred years later, in the midst of another pandemic, she is dying and recording her story in a letter to her beloved grandson, Camilo. And what a life she led full of highs and lows - riches to rags and back again, marriages and affairs, some good, others bad. She was a woman who refused to be tied down by the social mores of the day, and lived her life large, for better or for worse. She’s got some regrets but she’s mostly unapologetic about the choices she made. Violeta’s story unfolds against some key historical events including the Great Depression, World War II, earthquakes and a military dictatorship rife with human rights abuses. Allende’s storytelling was top-notch as expected, and I had to remind myself a couple of times that I was not listening to a real person telling me their life story. I listened to the audio and the narrator did a fabulous job, which I’m sure enhanced my enjoyment. I was absorbed from beginning to end and flew through it, finding plenty of excuses to keep listening. 
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