August 1, 2021

In this latest from Allende, winner of multiple lifetime achievement awards, Violeta is born into a family boasting five boys just as the 1918 influenza hits her South American homeland. The narrative carries her through 100 years to a new pandemic, encompassing the Great Depression (with her capsized family forced to resettle in her country's remotest reaches), the fight for women's rights, and the rise of dictators, plus love, loss, poverty, wealth, and brimming-to-the-rim affairs. Formatted as a letter to someone for whom Violeta cared deeply.

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 8, 2021
Chilean writer Allende (A Petal of the Sea) chronicles the lives of an upper-class South American family across various historical events of the 20th century. Violeta del Valle, 100, recounts the story of her life to her grandson, Camilo, beginning with her birth during the Spanish Flu pandemic. The del Valles—patriarch Arsenio and his invalid wife, five sons, and the youngest, daughter Violeta—survive by quarantining in their mansion in the capital city of their unnamed country, but the Great Depression soon shatters the family’s economic stability. Nine-year-old Violeta finds her father’s body with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and they move to a farm. In whirlwind fashion, Allende conveys Violeta’s life: her lackluster first marriage, an adventure-filled affair with British RAF pilot Julian Bravo, Bravo’s underhanded dealings flying CIA operatives to South America, and the tragic story of her drug-addled daughter who dies while giving birth to Camilo. Allende frames Violeta’s life story with two global pandemics, and while Violeta’s reflections on Covid-19 feel a little forced, Allende seamlessly ties the rise and fall of Cold War–era military dictatorships throughout Latin America to Violeta’s autobiography. It’s a mixed bag, but Allende succeeds once again at making the historical feel personal.

January 15, 2022
In a rueful account written for her grandson, a 100-year-old South American woman recalls her tumultuous life. Born during the Spanish flu pandemic, Violeta Del Valle spends her early years quarantined with her well-off family in the capital of an unnamed country (one that resembles Allende's native Chile). With her mother ill, she is largely raised by her warm-spirited, independent-minded Irish governess. The family fortunes gutted by the Great Depression, her father kills himself (Violeta discovers his body). While living in relative isolation in the country, she meets and marries a German veterinarian whose life is mostly about finding a way to preserve the semen of pure-bred bulls. Tired of playing the submissive wife, Violeta, in a heated scene that could be a parody of romance novels, is swept off her feet by a dashing but soon abusive Royal Air Force ace of Latin American origins who runs guns for the Mafia and performs missions for the CIA. "Held together by a perpetual cycle of hate and lust," even when he takes up with another woman, the couple--though Violeta remains legally married to the vet throughout--has a son whose sensitive nature doesn't sit well with his macho father and a daughter who will become a drug addict. While there's no lack of incidence in this chronological epic, which is punctuated by glancing references to historical events including the rise of military takeovers, Allende's reductive style deprives the book of narrative power. For all she goes through, Violeta is thinly drawn--her great business success as a home builder seems tossed in like an afterthought. And the "floods, drought, poverty, and eternal discontent" she refers to are kept offstage. A slog even Allende fans may have trouble getting through.

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Starred review from December 15, 2021
Allende has crafted many unique heroines of passionate, resilient spirit in her internationally best-selling historical novels, and Violeta Del Valle is no exception. Born during the Spanish flu outbreak in an unnamed South American country (clearly based on Chile) in 1920, Violeta addresses her memoir to a beloved relative, Camilo, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. She spins a captivating, cinematic tale of her century-long existence, intertwining large-scale political and social transformations with reflections on her life. The spoiled daughter in a family with five older sons, Violeta watches the Del Valles' finances tumble into ruin during the Depression. After losing their illustrious home, her family finds refuge in a remote southern farming town with many Indigenous residents and German and French immigrants. This supposed exile becomes an enriching experience for Violeta. Her love life is complex, tumultuous, and unpredictable for readers, who will eagerly follow her narrative, which Violeta recounts in a style that's remarkably forthright about her own and others' personal failings. The characterizations are intriguingly layered, and as people's lives are buffeted by dramatic changes, including a military coup that destroys her country's democracy, Violeta comes into her own strength. Allende has long been renowned as an enchanting storyteller, and this emotionally perceptive epic ranks among her best.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Allende's treasured historical sagas are always profoundly relevant, and this tale of a woman's life bracketed by two pandemics will have special magnetism and resonance.

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Starred review from February 1, 2022

Allende's latest is bookended by twin pandemics: Violeta is born during the South American wave of the 1918 flu and dies as COVID-19 begins to sweep the world. Born into a privileged family that loses its fortune in the 1929 stock market crash, Violeta and her family are taken in by rural relatives of a family friend. Throughout several lovers and marriages, political upheaval, and societal changes, Violeta becomes a successful businesswoman and eventually gets involved in social justice movements. Her most significant romance is her tempestuous relationship with adventurous pilot Julian Bravo, though they never marry. Personal tragedies involving her son and daughter finally force Violeta to realize that she is not immune to the impact of social and political change and that she has a place in working toward solutions. VERDICT As this is a chronological reflection on a long life, the novel has an episodic feel, with events sweeping along at a rapid clip, though Allende still manages to pepper the tale with an abundance of memorable characters. Violeta is a character who follows her passions and lives an unconventional life but never stops evolving along with the century in which she lives. Recommended for all collections.--Christine DeZelar-Tiedman

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.