anneinaz 's review for:

My Name Is Emilia del Valle by Isabel Allende

5.0

adventurous emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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My Name is Emilia del Valle by Isabelle Allende is a story taking place around 1900 and features a woman, Emilia, who wants to be a reporte and a novelist, but more especially wants to find herself. She is the daughter of a woman who was raised in a convent orphanage and was raised hard. She was then taken advantage of by a man who left and never looked back. She was left with a child: Emelia. She married a man who had been her friend and with whom she worked who turned out to be the best father a girl could have. Her mother kept trying to get her birth father to recognize her, to to avail. Emelia loved to write. She started with journals and loved on to penny novels, which both her parents contributed ideas for. She became very successful and was a huge support to her family. She wanted more so she sent a piece the The Examiner, a medium-sized newspaper. If she stuck to human interest stories she was in. So she did, in the beginning. After several successes she was sent to Chile to help cover the revolution there. She went with the man who was to become her husband, although that was unknown at this point. Her adventures there, both good and bad, were chronicled in this enticing story.

Emelia, like all ground-breakers, was viewed as different. She didn’t care. She forged forward. She did meet her birth father, on his death bed, after many trials and when all was said and done, she wanted to go see the land he had left her. It turned out it was miles from civilization, but she never altered her course, despite the fact it nearly killed her. She was a fabulous character. The descriptions of the native peoples were also fascinating. Without their help, she would not have survived. The resilience both she and her fiance showed is remarkable, and not easy for the time. Beautifully written, it is an entrancing story and one well worth the read. A quest, if you will. 

I was invited to read My Name is Emelia del Valle by Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #RandonHousePublishingGroupBallantine #IsabelleAllende #MyNameIsEmeliaDelValle