My name is Emelia Del Valle

Emilia Del Valle lived with her mother and step-father in San Francisco. She wanted to be a writer and began her career writing dime novels under the pen-name of Brandon J Price. She then worked as a columnist for a daily newspaper but because she was female she could not use her real name. Emilia eventually took the opportunity to travel to Chile to write columns relating to the unrest in that country. This time she was allowed to use her own name but shared the writing with Eric Whelan, a journalist at the newspaper.

Emilia knew that her father lived in Chile but she had had no contact with him except for a photo taken on her fourth birthday which her mother forwarded to her father. When her mother discovered that Emilia was going to Chile she insisted that Emilia should locate her father and give him a letter that she had written to him. Emilia gradually realises that she needs to know more about the country of her father.

As well as covering the challenges faced by Emilia, much of the novel provides graphic depictions of life during the civil war that occurred in Chile in 1891. 

My Name is Emilia Del Valle by Isabel Allende begins slowly, but eventually the pace increases as the book develops into an interesting work of historical fiction as well as the study of a young woman finding herself in a world ruled by men as she attempts to follow the life she wants. 

In the Midst of Winter

It is the middle of a very cold winter in New York when Richard Bowmaster's car runs into the car in front of him. He gives his details to the young driver and goes home. Later Evelyn Ortega appears at his house asking for help. She speaks little English so Richard calls a neighbour, Lucia Maraz, who speaks Spanish to asist him when communicating with Evelyn.

In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende tells the stories of the lives of these three different people and how they came to be in New York that winter. The reader learns of the former lives of the characters as Richard and Lucia seek ways of assisting Evelyn who borrowed her employer's car without permission and then found a body in the boot.

Isabel Allended began writing the novel in 2015 when Donald Trump was promising to build a wall to prevent illegal entry into the USA from countries to the south. Evelyn is an illegal immigrant and much of the book deals with her experiences - why she was forced to leave her country and the challenges that she faced into getting in America. Lucia also left South America looking for a new life while Richard had lived in South America for many years before returning north. This book is primarily a moving story about people who are attempting to escape danger and tragedy to rebuild their lives.

Violetta

 

Violetta was born in 1920 during the Spanish Flu pandemic and in 2020 sets out to write an account of the family story for her grandson. The book is set in an un-named country which is probably Uruguay. Violetta's family was well off but her father concentrated on the next deal instead of ensuring that the family finances were safe. Consequently the family fortune was lost during the 1930s depression and they had to relocate to an isolated part of the country to start a new life.

The novel, Violetta, by Isabel Allende is the story of a family struggling to survive through difficult political times including dictatorships and political interference from other countries. It is also the story of women gaining control of their lives instead of being constantly under the power and the will of the men in their lives. Violetta has a series of relationships, some of which she recounts. Violetta is determined to earn and keep her own money in order to survive. As she ages Violetta reaccesses what is truely important in her life.

This is a compasionate story of a woman's struggle to survive, despite the odds; the power and importance of family and the struggle of the population of a country trying to determine a better life.