Daughter of Fortune : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: disappointed
Review: I have read many of Allende's books and enjoyed them. Unfortunately, this one was a dud. The characters were wooden stereotypes and the story was far-fetched. I kept reading, thinking things would begin to gel, but they never did. Eliza was too unbelievable a character, as were most of the others. Too bad.

Rating:
Summary: Save your money....
Review: If you have ever read a book by Allende before, please don't read this one. It will cause you to lose all respect for her as a writer. I'll wait to check out the next one from the library before I buy her books blindly again. I was reading Ahab's Wife (Naslund) at the same time and though the stories are similar, the quality of the writing and story are so much better in Ahab's Wife.

Rating:
Summary: DAUGHTER OF FORTUNE
Review: A good read and well worth the time. A love story and more. Characters are developed slowly and carefully.Part II moved a bit slowly but in all-it was worth the time.

Rating:
Summary: Daughter of Fortune
Review: This book was about conditions during the California gold rush and not about a young girl looking for her love. Many characters were introduced and dropped, the reader had to come up with their own conclusion. To many lose ends. The author went over and over the same areas involving views of immigrants and miners during the gold rush and got boring after a while. I was very disappointed in the last part of the book. When I finally realized I wasn't going to be rewarded at the end of the book I just skimmed the last 40 pages. Waste of my time. I didn't take any of the characters with me. Every character was a stereo type of their culture and ethnic group.

Rating:
Summary: Allende as the master storyteller
Review: I wasn't ready to leave these characters as the number of pages left to read dwindled. Allende is in top form again, maybe the best of her work since House of Spirits. Multi cultural, as often are her characters, yet truly believable as their lives evolve within a realistic time frame of human nature.

Rating:
Summary: I was so moved
Review: By this book. I will admit I wish there was more to the ending, but only because I didn't want to leave the characters. I cried out of joy and sadness when the book ended. I had not read any of Ms. Allende's work till this book, now I own everything she has ever written and I am on book number three Eva Luna! She is a fantastic writer whose books (any of the many she has written) will enchant and touch you in a way very few writers can!

Rating:
Summary: It starts out well, but is ultimately disappointing.
Review: I picked up "Daughter of Fortune," by Isabel Allende, because it is an Oprah book and I have liked some of Oprah's choices. I was drawn to the story of Eliza, a foundling taken in by a British brother and sister, Jeremy and Rose Sommers, in Valparaiso, Chile. Allende describes Eliza's childhood in Chile effectively. Rose Sommers, who has never married, cares for Eliza but does not know how to nurture her effectively. Jeremy Sommers is remote and busy with business matters. Eliza learns a great deal at the feet of Mama Fresia, a loving Indian woman who is as wise as she is caring. The book takes a strange turn when Eliza falls in love and travels to California during the Gold Rush to search for her departed lover. The book meanders badly after that, with new characters constantly being introduced. Allende captures the frenzy and madness of the California Gold Rush, but Eliza gets lost in the hubbub. She meets a Chinese man, named Tao Chi'en, on her voyage to America. Tao Chi'en becomes a confidante and a close friend, but this relationship is not satisfactorily developed. Eliza also gets involved with a madam running a brothel. All these characters are shallow and uninteresting. The promise of the first part of the book is not realized, as the book meanders to its disappointing conclusion.

Rating:
Summary: Magnifica historia no muy bien desarrollada...
Review: Es un buen libro,pero no es el mejor que he leido...realmente no se los recomiendo...

Rating:
Summary: Can't put it down!
Review: Make sure you have plenty of time to just sit and read because once you start it you won't have time for anything else..What a vivid and fabulous story.The heroine captures your heart from page one when she is just a tot.Everyone should be so lucky to have the love of family and friends in their own life that this book shows. A sequel showing the rest of her life would be fabulous..ENJOY

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable story
Review: This story was an enjoyable one. The main character begins life with many strikes against her. She seems to go through life as a careful observer, but when she decides to partake in life, makes several bad choices, leading to life changing situations. It is her hitting rock-bottom and taking charge of her own life, along with her good fortune in finding a strong clear headed friend, that allow her to grow and mature into a very responsible, caring, intelligent person. I really liked the way this novel ended, no spoon feeding the reader a sappy, happily ever-after end, but allowing the reader to really think about the characters and their possible future(s). Our book club, (Bunny's Book Club) discussed the different versions of endings we had come up with, and there were several possibilities. Each had merit and everyone enjoyed this novel. The overviews of Chilean and Goldrush life were enjoyable. The racial and ethnic clashes were openly pictured. The portrayal of the media as giving the people what they want, true or not, was interesting and as true today as it appeared then. While some of the characters could have been fleshed out a bit more, this does not detract from this wonderful story.