A historical novel full of romance and violence, magic and history

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	• Ines of My Soul: A Novel Isabel Allende Harper Perennial, 2007 - 352 pages average customer review:based on 45 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Will we ever overcome our violent nature?

It is an interesting time to read this book since Chile has been in the
news due to Pinochet's death and the accounts of the killings and torture
that occurred while he was in power. Also interesting,of course,is Isabel
Allende's relationship to Salvador Allende and her current comments about
Augusto Pinochet.

I am a long time fan of Isabel Allende's works, but this is not one of
my favorites. I did not feel as drawn into the characters and story as I
usually am. I did not feel the delight in her language and vibrancy. Yet,
the adventures, loves, and events in the life of Ines Suarez were
fascinating and deserved to be told. The story of the founding of Chile
drew me away into another world.

The book also added some perspective to our current extremely violent
world. Killing and torture has been going on for so many years, it is
nothing new, and shows no signs of stopping.

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A historical novel full of romance and violence, magic and history

In the early 1500s a young woman named Inés Suarez decided to leave Spain for the New World. She did not go to look for fortune and gold, like so many, or to conquer new lands. She went seeking freedom. Inés had been left behind by her husband, Juan, while he traveled to Peru, lured by the promise of riches. According to custom, she lived like a widow until it became too stifling and she asked for passage to Peru in order to join Juan. Truthfully, Inés didn't want to be reunited with her husband, but the pretense granted her the opportunity to depart.

Isabel Allende's latest novel, INÉS OF MY SOUL, is the story of this adventure. Inés Suarez was in fact an actual person, a Spanish woman who was influential (at least behind the scenes) in the conquest and colonialization of Chile. Allende's historical fiction imagines Inés's motivations, goals and especially her relationships with three very different men. It is because of these associations (although sometimes despite them) that she is able to garner uncommon power for a woman of her time and place.

Upon arriving in Peru, Inés learns that her husband is dead. While his ghost haunts her (literally, in true Allende fashion), she is liberated by his death and begins to create a life for herself in the New World. She is soon partnered with the dashing and powerful Pedro de Valdivia, and the two of them share the same objective: to successfully settle Chile for Spain. Together they begin to make this dream a reality. This is the story of the birth of the modern nation of Chile. Inés is unable to separate her own story (as she tells it to her stepdaughter) from that of the early days of Spanish settlement.

While her tale is deeply personal, Inés recounts battles with the indigenous people, how the towns were constructed and what the Spanish ate and wore --- all in as much, if not more, detail than how she felt or reacted to the events around her. And therein lies both the appeal of and problem with INÉS OF MY SOUL. Allende has skillfully written a character totally enmeshed in her environment and circumstance, who understands herself most clearly in relation to the events around her and the context in which she lives. However, that does not necessarily make for the most engaging or compelling reading. Inés's accounts of battles and transactions for which she wasn't even present illustrate the bloody history of colonialization, but they distance Inés from the action and thus the reader from Inés.

As she tells the story, Inés is 70 years old and feels that her death is near. She wants to leave a record of her life but instead gives mostly an account of the brutal (yet often romantic, in this telling) conquest of Chile and the attempted subjugation of the native peoples.

Allende is an accomplished storyteller and her talent and unique voice are apparent in this latest work. While perhaps not as successful as her previous novels, INÉS OF MY SOUL is still appealing --- full of romance and violence, magic and history, and strong female characters who are in control of their own destinies.

--- Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman

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Less than Brilliant, but Affecting Nonetheless

I am an Isabel Allende fanatic, so I looked forward eagerly to this new work. As a reader, I have been spoiled with both her previous novels and short stories; I have become accustomed to being 'swept away' from the first page to the last. I was disappointed, then, to find "Ines of My Soul: A Novel" difficult to enter; Allende's usual smooth and liquid narrative uncharacteristically bumpy and uneven in the first and second thirds of this still worthwhile read. Exhaustively researched and painstakingly imagined, the real payoff is when Allende's magical storytelling soars beyond the pages to thrill us with the horror, courage and sacrifice of this unheralded heroine. A worthy tribute, a satisfying novel if you stay the course.

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NO "GLASS CEILING" FOR INES

Based upon the life of a Doa Ines Suarez, a 16th century woman who left her life as a seamstress in Spain to travel to the "New World" in an attempt to find her missing husband, Juan. Upon discovering her husband is dead she decides to remain in Peru rather than return to Spain. She aligns herself with Don Pedro de Valdivia, a field marshall in the army of Pizarro. Their life together is initially filled with romance and a common goal to found a country based on Christian and egalitarian values. Their relationship is eventually doomed as Valdivia pursues his personal quest for glory. Through it all, Ines remains true to her ethics and triumphs to become the first female President of Chile.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, page 8, 9

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