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A review by alertnerd
Eva Luna by Isabel Allende
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
After reading [b:A Nation of Enemies: Chile under Pinochet|98416|A Nation of Enemies Chile under Pinochet|Pamela Constable|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1349079262l/98416._SY75_.jpg|94871], I was looking for a fictional account of the dictatorship in Chile. Isabel Allende was the obvious choice because of her close connection to those involved in the coup. In Eva Luna, Allende mixes a few different country’s histories and fictionalizes where necessary, but a lot of the story closely resembles the history of Chile. I would recommend reading A Nation of Enemies to get a more complete story of what Allende is writing about.
To start, this novel was written in 1987, and some of the writing is a little dated. There are tiny hints of xenophobia throughout that made me a little uncomfortable, and there were some aspects of the way Mimi’s story was told that wouldn’t be accepted today.
Onto the novel, I really loved how this read more like a series of short stories told through Eva Luna’s eyes than one cohesive novel. And the more ridiculous the stories became, the more fun it was to read. By the end, I was thinking ‘I can’t believe Eva has gotten herself into this.’
My favorite of the stories was Mimi and La Señora. I was so happy when Eva ran back into Mimi and they ended up spending the rest of the story together. I want to read more about Mimi’s life, it sounds just as interesting, if not more interesting, than Eva Luna’s life. Seeing Mimi become a successful actress and meet the love of her life, made me so happy. I was waiting for some tragic end to her story, but was relieved that wasn’t the direction Allende went with it.
I spent the whole novel waiting for Eva Luna and Rolf Carlé to meet, and I was a little disappointed when they finally did. I was hoping more time would be spent on them connecting, but it ended up being rushed and a little overshadowed by Eva’s love for Huberto Naranjo. With how often it was hinted that Eva didn’t like happy endings, I wasn’t expecting the final words of the novel to be ‘happy endings’ but I loved that.
To start, this novel was written in 1987, and some of the writing is a little dated. There are tiny hints of xenophobia throughout that made me a little uncomfortable, and there were some aspects of the way Mimi’s story was told that wouldn’t be accepted today.
Onto the novel, I really loved how this read more like a series of short stories told through Eva Luna’s eyes than one cohesive novel. And the more ridiculous the stories became, the more fun it was to read. By the end, I was thinking ‘I can’t believe Eva has gotten herself into this.’
My favorite of the stories was Mimi and La Señora. I was so happy when Eva ran back into Mimi and they ended up spending the rest of the story together. I want to read more about Mimi’s life, it sounds just as interesting, if not more interesting, than Eva Luna’s life. Seeing Mimi become a successful actress and meet the love of her life, made me so happy. I was waiting for some tragic end to her story, but was relieved that wasn’t the direction Allende went with it.
I spent the whole novel waiting for Eva Luna and Rolf Carlé to meet, and I was a little disappointed when they finally did. I was hoping more time would be spent on them connecting, but it ended up being rushed and a little overshadowed by Eva’s love for Huberto Naranjo. With how often it was hinted that Eva didn’t like happy endings, I wasn’t expecting the final words of the novel to be ‘happy endings’ but I loved that.