Violeta by Isabel Allende is life story about a Chilean woman who is born in one pandemic the Spanish Flu and writes her life story as she is close to death in the midst of Covid. The story acts as a confession to her grandson Camilo about her life from the 1920’s to 2020’s. The novel covers a hundred years of struggle to find love, survive death, and find her purpose in life. The story is beautiful and very emotional at times. I don’t know much about Chile my knowledge comes from The Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevara with that time getting covered in the book. I found the history of the people and the land the most interesting, learned of Chile’s vast immigration from Europe. The narrative works of Violeta telling her story and some family secrets to her grandson. There are a few over share moments but will make a little more sense when you find out what Camilo does for a living. The politics of the time play a big role this book gave the best description of the difference between Communism versus Fascism which I’ve been a little confused by, but understand it better. The politics in the book are interesting since Violeta wants nothing to do with them but is also so affected by them. The book takes place mainly in Chile, but the characters go to Miami, Las Vegas, and Norway. The novel has a good pace through out and I found it all so interesting that this historical fiction was a breeze for me.

Plot Summary: Violeta is born in Chile in the 1920’s during the Spanish Flu. She writes that it took 2 years after breakout in America to reach Chile. She was born at time where a family raised a child like a village. Violeta is the baby and the only girl to her five brothers. Violeta writes in 2022 as she is close to death to her grandson Camilo that she raised. she is going to confess everything, every flaw, every selfish act, every regret, and every happy or sad moment she can remember.

What I Liked: The history and the way Chile is described Isabel Allende was born in Chile and feels very authentic. The characters are massive in this book but they all have their own little moments and histories. The history is told really well, some decades roll together but it was interesting to see history from another country’s eyes. I like that I felt some of these characters sadness and joyous moments, I love to get caught up in my emotions towards these characters. I did not cry like I have during other books but I felt my chest tighten up some times. Torito the gentle giant was one of my favorite side characters. His loyalty and strength are to be desired in a friend. I did like the bit about how influenced they were from American culture in movies that when they ran into Chile’s indigenous people they were expecting the American Indian when they met them.

What I Disliked: The politics of the time were pretty confusing I think this book makes the politics in Chile not to hard to understand, but when you throw Argentina in there that is when I started to get confused. I also thought we might have needed a scene in the present to start off then go to the past to really tie in the pandemics and also make the reader more emotionally involved with Camilo.

Recommendation: This was a very well written historical fiction that felt very true and authentic. This is a good novel that shows you characters from all walks of life, conservative, LGTBQ, Nazi sympathizer, and liberal. This is a novel that is so honest and raw with its character flaws. I rated Violeta by Isabel Allende 4 out of 5 stars. This is my first Isabel Allende novel (I did read a short story of hers in Spanish for class when I was in college) and it will not be my last I have heard good things about her Zorro novel.