Hey guys, let's get this blog going again!
Last week I finished Isabel Allende’s wonderful book, Daughter of Fortune. I had never read
any Allende before but knew she was a legend. She did not disappoint! Daughter of Fortune was a beautiful read
about a Chilean girl’s quest to find her sweetheart during the California gold
rush. I wanted to write about some of the important themes here, because it
really made me think about a lot of interesting questions. I will try to do so
without giving away too many spoilers, because if you haven’t read this yet, I
highly recommend it!
One of the big themes of the book was how difficult life was
for women during this period. The female characters are severely limited. If
they are not trapped by Victorian standards of respectability, class
boundaries, or health issues, then they are prostitutes. Eliza (the main
character), goes to California to find her lover, but I think the journey is
more than just about a man. It is also her desperate attempt to escape the
limits of her gender. In California, she has to pretend to be a man than to
risk living amongst the miners as a woman. In the book’s conclusion, she makes
a choice to live the way she wants. In overcoming the limits of Victorian
womanhood, she creates her own freedom.
Thinking about Eliza’s agency in shaping her own destiny
makes me think about the meaning of the title. Is she really a daughter of
Fortune, of Chance? Or does she create her own destiny? When Eliza leaves Chile
for California, she does not go on her uncle’s boat, named Fortuna. Instead she boards a different boat named Emilia. I don’t think this would be an
important detail except for the tie to the title. She doesn’t decide to just go
along with her destiny, as some other women (and some men) in the book do and
as Victorian standards of behavior and morality dictate. She chooses her
destiny, something women (like Eliza, or the Emilia that the boat is named
after) are not supposed to do. I think this female agency is one of the book’s
most important and powerful themes. Eliza’s search for her love is part of a
broader quest for the freedom to make her own decisions, to shape her own
identity, to live freely even as a woman—in effect, to create her own Fortune.
Allende also explores the themes of race, power, love,
memory, identity, and the masks we wear to deceive ourselves and others. This
book is very rich and gave me a lot to think about. I’d highly recommend it for
that reason—it’s not just a great book of historical fiction with an
adventurous plot, it’s as thought-provoking as it is entertaining. I also
really loved the way the book was written. Margaret Sayers Peden, the
translator, has done a wonderful job. It really is beautifully written. I
stopped a number of times to just to re-read certain sentences and marvel at
how perfectly crafted they were. Allende also gives us a rich portrait of life during
the California Gold Rush—the filthy conditions, the poverty, the ubiquitous
vice. She also creates lovely, elaborate backstories for several of the more
minor characters. This makes you feel like you really know them and can
understand what led each of the characters to this particular moment.
I am
definitely an Isabel Allende fan now, and will be reading more of her books in
the future. What’s everyone else reading? I’d love to hear about your favorite
recent reads!
