Very Good, Not Great, Fiction From Allende

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	• Ines of My Soul: A Novel Isabel Allende Harper Perennial, 2007 - 352 pages average customer review:based on 43 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Superb book

This is a historical novel, very well researched and wonderful. Typical of Isabel Allende style, it transports you to a long gone time, full of of truthful Latin-American flavour.
Five stars!

Historical Fiction

Allende employs a unique method of story crafting as she relates this story about the conquest of Chile. 70 year old Ines Suarez is the protagonist relating this story to her step-daughter Isabel. We can almost see the old lady as she stops to say "I may have told you this before but please bear with me Isabel."
The story is multilayered dealing with Ines's love affairs, her journey to the Americas, the long and difficult journey to Chile with Pedro de Valdivia, the bloody wars, courage, betrayal and much, much more.
Although the story takes place in the 1500's there is much that is relevant today. It seems that "we humans repeat the same sins over and over eternally." So true is Ines's statement that "cruelty engenders cruelty in an eternal cycle." (305).

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Very Good, Not Great, Fiction From Allende

Isabel Allende has previously dabbled in historical fiction (Daughter of Fortune, Portrait In Sepia). With Ines of My Soul, Allende fully plunges into the genre. This immersion has resulted in a book that is better than her previous forays into the style, but not as good as her best fictional works.

The point that distinguishes Ines of My Soul from Allende's other historical fiction is the strength of the main character. In Ines Suarez, Allende has created her most memorable personality since Clara in The House of the Spirits. While Allende does a good job depicting Ines' passion and resourcefulness, she outdoes herself in giving voice to Ines' exhaustion, pride, and regret. As a result, this book feels like the real memoir of someone who is at the end of their life and is taking stock of their actions. This impression is supplemented by a minimum of dialogue (always a plus in an Allende book) and Allende's characteristic energetic prose.

Though the book's strengths are impressive, there are several weaknesses which drop it below Allende's most notable works. The biggest weakness is the lack of memorable characters outside of Ines. Even though Ines is the book's subject, other memorable characters are needed to provide a rounded picture of the protagonist. Instead, the reader is treated to a series of easily forgettable names that dot the story. Even the book's other key character, Pedro de Valdivia, has enough holes in his characterization to leave the reader with a lot of questions about his motivations. Unfortunately, when Allende skimps on characterization, she has a tendency to fill in the gaps left by those incomplete characters with politically correct stereotypes. From emotionally strong women to noble Indians to brutish men, stereotypes generally dominate the story's background. These weak supporting characters diminish the story's overall flow.

Despite the weak supporting characters, Ines of My Soul is further proof that the "comeback" which Allende commenced with Zorro wasn't a one time fluke. While not to the level of The House of the Spirits or any of her non-fiction, Ines of My Soul is a very good book that displays many of the strengths that have made Allende a famous writer. For first-time Allende readers, it's a good book to read in order to become aware of her prodigious gifts. It's also a book that long time will find to be a worth addition to Allende's body of work.

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Good Historical Fiction

Set in the 1500's "Ines of My Soul" is a story about Ines Suarez and the early conquest of Chile by the Spanish conquistadors. Allende does a good job of dramatizing Ines' life- or the events that are known about her life. The story flows nicely and helps the reader understand the motives of the conquistadors and the indigenous Chileans.

Ines Suarez was a seamstress who fled to the New World, from Spain, looking for adventure and freedom. During her journey she meets Pedro de Valvidia, a military man and war hero. They begin a passionate love affair and set-out to conquer the city of Santiago in Chile.

Allende uses the voice of Ines to tell the story. Ines is writing a letter to her step-daughter to leave her a history of events. She tells about her journey as a woman, and their struggles, adventures, and brutal conquests as conquistadors. The story is well told because it communicates some of the motives that may have driven both the Spaniard's and indigenous Indians to commit horrible acts of war. It is interesting to see how history repeats itself.

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A Fabulous Read

I don't think I've had a book read to me since grammar school. I had resisted books on CD since I believed that I had an inadequate attention span, but a long commute and the expense of the Teaching Company classes made me reevaluate my stand. I decided to start with the "A"s, so picked up Ines of My Soul, written by Isabel Allende. And I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Ines Suarez is newly widowed and near death as she tells her story to her husband's daughter. A young woman in the early 16th century Spain, she follows her wastrel husband to the New World to find that he had already died. She initially settles in Peru, where she becomes the lover of the married Pedro de Valdivia. Ines accompanies Valdivia to Chile, which Valdivia hopes to conquer for Spain. However, the trip is perilous and the natives unwilling to allow the Spaniards to settle in their territory. The conquest led to years of brutal warfare between the peoples. In Santiago, Ines becomes a leading citizen as an advisor, nurse, and cook. She also knows how to use a sword, using one to great effect during an early battle with the Indians.

Ines of My Soul is historical fiction, based on the true story of the founding of Chile. The story was so engrossing that several times I found myself in the car, at home after a long day at work, unwilling to end the story. The characters were interesting and believable, such that I felt that I knew Ines and her family. Ines is more or less a true Spaniard, who believes that the Christianization of the Indians is essential, and she fails to see how the conquest of South America is disastrous to the native populations. That the natives are essentially enslaved to the Spaniards seems almost natural to her. That said, she is horrified by the treatment of the Indians by the conquistadors, who rape and murder Indians at will. Whether a reader should suspend moral judgment will, of course, be up to the reader. I found it hard at times to do so. It certainly inspired some contemplation about the conquest of the new world.

The book was read by Blair Brown, who did an excellent job of developing Ines' voice. I highly recommend the CD, and suspect that the book is also a great read.

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

In the early years of the conquest of the Americas, Inés Suárez, a seamstress condemned to a life of toil, flees Spain to seek adventure in the New World. As Inés makes her way to Chile, she begins a fiery romance with Pedro de Valdivia, war hero and field marshal to the famed Francisco Pizarro. Together the lovers will build the new city of Santiago, and they will wage war against the indigenous Chileans?a bloody struggle that will change Inés and Valdivia forever, inexorably pulling each of them toward separate destinies.

Inés of My Soul is a work of breathtaking scope that masterfully dramatizes the known events of Inés Suárez's life, crafting them into a novel rich with the narrative brilliance and passion readers have come to expect from Isabel Allende.

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