Daughter of Fortune : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Not her best work
Review: I loved some of Allende's previous novels. This is not her best work, but it's still an enjoyable story. Some of the motives and actions of the main character, Eliza, seem a bit contrived at times - convenient to move the story along. Her relationship with Tao could definitley be better developed and explored. I was also disappointed in the tone the book takes when describing San Francisco during the Gold Rush. Allende wants to force her viewpoint on us instead of weaving it cleverly into the narrative. There was a good story here, but Allende could have done a better job telling it.

Rating:
Summary: a little generic
Review: I read the House of Spirits many, many years ago and I loved it. I decided to read Daughter of Fortune with a great deal of interest. Gone is the complex and intricate style along with the allusions to magic realism. Now we have a mass market "populist" style. This is by no means a brilliant mesmerizing novel but it is a proud story of romance, self discovery and the journey that one takes through life. Eliza is an extremely strong willed and independent woman and one cannot help admire her for undertaking an incredible adventure. It is easy to see why Oprah picked this book as it has all the makings of a generic romantic best seller. Allende does, however, provide an interesting historical treatise on the British in Chile, and China in the 19th century. I was particularly interested to read that many Australians particularly Tasmanian convicts emigrated from Australia to work in the Californian gold fields. Daughter of Fortune is educational and entertaining but not really insightful - a romantic drama masquerading as historical fiction? The book also begs a sequel but I hope Oprah doesn't pick it for her book club Read this as an adventure and romance but that's all!

Rating:
Summary: Allende had me spellbound, awaiting the next paragraph...
Review: how richly this book was writter, bravo ms allende, this is a great read and so i am surprised that others seem to pan it, WHATEVER! i say to them....this book is a wonderful, dreamy yet realistic book, if that makes sense. i am un abashedly impressed, in 3 days i read half the book! it's gripping, and has SUCH a magical resonance to it! i am hooked! :o) this book takes you to another place, rivoting, to another time, a great diversion from (in my case) the not so great aspects of my urban commute in manhattan to home in the NYC borough wherein i reside. it is so accessible and fascinating. A MUST READ.

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't stick with it
Review: I think this book had good potential but was a little too fluffy for me. I thought that it was very unoriginal and predictable. I also found that I didn't want to pick it up; it became more of a chore than anything. I've recently been bored of Ophra's choices.

Rating:
Summary: Feels weak
Review: Feels weaker than,The House of the Spirits, Of Love and Shadows, Paula. I think this feeling is rooted in the fact the setting is a result of research and not experience.

Rating:
Summary: Lacking vitality and substance
Review: I should have listened to the review that warned me that Daughter of Fortune was dull. It was dull. The book lacked vitality and substance. Eliza as a character was never really fleshed out; she was lacking in character and was totally uninteresting. The story seemed disjointed. I'm sorry I spent the money on this one.

Rating:
Summary: Good potential, but ultimately disappointing
Review: I thought this was going to be a good old-fashioned historical epic. Instead, it was a deadly boring diatribe about the sordid conditions of prostitutes and people of color in Gold Rush California. Eliza wasn't a compelling central character. Miss Rose was much more interesting. And am I the only one who noticed that Isabel Allende co-opted characters and an exact scene from that Antonio Banderas film "The Mask of Zorro?" Maybe Harry Love, Joaquin Murieta and Three-Finger Jack were real historical figures and this was their true story, but I found that a discordant note in what is supposedly a prestigious novel by a revered author.

Rating:
Summary: Poor poor Isabel.
Review: An egregious attempt at history; solipsistic and jejune, the writing style employed An egregious attempt at history; the jejune writing style employed by Ms. Allende is better recorded in dime novels of the times in which she sets her flat tale. The end result leaves you yearning for a stronger writer on the subject. The irony of her story is that without her over bearing attempts at style, it might have flown.

Rating:
Summary: marin hot tubber seeks talent, style
Review: I used to teach high school, and after listening to my ninth grade girls ooh and ahh about miss allende, I felt obligated to at least be in the conversation. And, like the sad little boy with his nose pressed against the window desperately wanting to be with the in crowd not realizing that they were as vapid and venal as could be, I took the plunge, dropped good money, only to find, or fail to find, an ounce of quality between the covers. I wanna be 14 again

Rating:
Summary: Not Substantial
Review: The story had potential early on, but then it became trivial and predictable. Not worth reading.