Rating: 
Summary: Masterful Storytelling - Allende's Best Work!
Review: I found this book to be so captivating that I couldn't put it down until I had finished it. The characters were masterfully designed, and I found the plot riveting. Allende takes Eliza Sommers from British "society" in Chile to an early San Francisco Chinatown and the old gold mining towns in a fluid manner that is extremely captivating. Allende clearly did a great deal of research about the California Gold Rush, and did such a wonderful job of painting a picture through her storytelling that oftentimes I felt as though I was in the book with Eliza, the heroine. I also appreciated Allende's spin on the Joaquin Murrieta story that is prevalent in California history.This book is a wonderful blend of several aspects of Chilean, Chinese, English, and American cultures. I was only disappointed that it had to end, although I felt that the ending was very appropriate for the story. For those of you who didn't like the ending, Allende's novel _Portrait in Sepia_ will tie up any loose ends from _Daughter of Fortune_. All in all, this is a wonderful book for anyone who likes multicultural literature, or for someone who is just looking for a great book to read.
Rating: 
Summary: ESTE LIBRO ES REALMENTE IMPERDIBLE
Review: A veces sucede que, cada tantos años, aparece un escritor que vale la pena. Y algún libro de ese escritor vale la pena más que otros. Este libro, junto con otros de Isabel Allende, es incomparablemente bello, bien escrito, con una historia coherente, bien armada. Es uno de esos libros que hacen de la literatura española una de las mejores literaturas del mundo. Lo recomiendo fervientemente. Si quieren divertirse, asombrarse y enternecerse, aquí está el libro para hacerlo.
Rating:
Summary: A book about true love.
Review: I think that "Daughter of Fortune" by Isabel Allende, is one of the most underrated novels of 1999. It has a suspenseful plot, that keeps you at the edge of your seat for those of you who want to have fun reading a novel. And for those who like to themes of novels (like me), it has perhaps the most powerful ideas that Allende has ever suggested!
The mistake that people make is comparing it to "The House Of
The Spirits", they are two completly different novels, and shouldn't even be compared at all! Daughter of Fortune takes place during the gold rush of 1849. It starts in Chile where Eliza Sommers falls in love with a man who is hungry for gold. The man she falls in love with, Joaquin Murieta, travels to California by ship. He offered Eliza to travel with him, but she didn't accept, so he went to California alone.
After only days Eliza realizes that she cannot live without this man whom she had given so much love to, so she decides to travel on her own to California to search for her lover.
In her search for her lover Eliza must cross many obsticals, and risk much.
Read this epic of the 90's and walk with Eliza in her search for her beloved!
Rating: 
Summary: Good enough to make me finish it, but....
Review: unsatisfying enough to make me regret putting in the time. The story was mediocore, the characters only slightly better. It was the flow of the novel and anicipation of the ending that kept me reading. But be warned - this book has the most unsatisfying, let-down ending I've ever encountered. I expected much more from a book this highly spoken of. I was disappointed on all fronts. It gets three stars because, as I've said, it was good enough to make me finish it.
Rating:
Summary: fortunate to have found this one!
Review: Allende is masterful at creating a colorful image filled with the precise emotion necessary to evoke the atmosphere of this book. This novel is full of interesting characters with even more interesting lives. I did not want the story to end and am glad to see that there is more to the characters in her other book. What a delightful read! Definetly worth the the read.
Rating:
Summary: Well written, leaves you wanting more...
Review: Daughter of Fortune walks you through the history of Valpariso, Chili and the California Gold Rush while telling the undaunting story of Eliza Sommers. Eliza was found as a newborn babe wrapped in swadling clothing. There was no miracle birth attached to this child; she was found by an English family; a spinster woman named Miss Rose and her brother, a confirmed bachelor, Jeremy Sommers. Miss Rose brought Eliza up to believe she had English blood in her as they did, but the Chilian maid made Eliza aware of her cold black hair and Chilian features as her own.
Eliza was raised to be an up and coming debutante, but as fate would have it Eliza fell in love with Joaquin Andieta, a poor Chiliean boy, who Eliza's family would certainly not approve.
Eliza and Joaquin declared their love for one another and Joachin announced that he was going to America to become rich in the Gold Rush that was mouthed to be happeing in California. Not long after Joaquin has left on his quest that Eliza realizes she is pregnant with Joaquin's child. She cannot stay in Chili and bring shame upon her family. With the help of the Chiliean maid and a new found friend new Chinese Tao Chi'en, escaped Chili and journeyed to California to look for her lover. This trip proved to be the true debut of Eliza Sommers.
Allende wrote a cast of characters that holds your interest until the last words of this story, but the story leaves you wanting and wondering. A book well worth the read, with a rather abrupt finish.
Rating:
Summary: Poetic yet earthy
Review: This is the first book of Isabel Allende's I've ever read. For some reason I always thought she would be an intimidating author and a bit too mystical for my taste. In fact, it's her concrete details that provide the very definite auras of the places and people she describes. So in addition to a wonderful plot and terrific characterizations, she brings to life the mid-nineteenth century in Chile and California during the Gold Rush. I will definitely read others' of hers now, and would recommend this to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Isabel Allende's Daughter of Fortune
Review: I found myself choosing one of many novels from a school list and quite honestly this one just sounded interesting. I began to read and fell into this common, seen before plot. Daughter of fortune is a Mulan and A Doll's House all in one. It seemed seen before and simply, quite boring and repetitive. Oh, and the ending. ...Anywho! if you are stuck reading a quick novel for school and this is on the list, give it a shot, it's really straight forward.
Rating: 
Summary: Listening vs. Reading
Review: I got the tape version of this book. I started with excitement to "hear" some great storyline with geographical and histoical info. Contrary to other opinions, I don't agree with the "sudden ending" that others complained about. I heard 3 tapes (out of 10) and decided to skip to the last one to wrap up the story.....I thought that a "sudden ending" would have happened after one tape.....the only line that didn't get solved for me (probably happened in the 9th tape) is what was her parentage? If I can find someone else who read the book, maybe I'll find the answer to the most interesting storyline in the book.
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre, predictable.
Review: Normally, I like Allende, although her works are always better in her native Spanish. But this novel was surprisingly lackluster in its plot and character development. This was a very easy read, but didn't really get me going. The plot is very predictable, It seems like this story has been written over and over again with nothing to distinguish them from any other romantic story. If you can read it, do so-- it's a fun read, but not worth the [money]to buy.
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