brughiera 's review for:

Inés of My Soul by Isabel Allende

3.0

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The book gets off to a slow start, one wonders why we are following the lives of both Ines Suarez and Pedro de Valdivia. Inevitably the two lives must join, but it takes a rather long, tedious time before they do. Ms Allende's intention is clearly to portray the history of the conquest of Chile and the founding of Santiago through the eyes of a key but perhaps unexpected protagonist. Ines herself comes across as an exceptional person and there is sympathetic yet realistic portrayal of the native Indians, both Yanucoma and Mapuche. The hardships encountered are convincingly rendered. However, as a novel the story and evolution of the characters is less than satisfying. The requirements of relating historic events prevail over the story-telling for which Ms Allende is best and deservedly known. At the end one feels that the story would have made a better film as the book turns out to be ponderous.