A Long Petal Of The Sea - Isabel Allende

On September 3, 1939, the day of the Spanish exiles' splendid arrival in Chile, the Second World War broke out in Europe.

Victor Dalmau is a young doctor when he is caught up in the Spanish Civil War, a tragedy that leaves his life – and the fate of his country – forever changed. Together with his sister-in-law, the pianist Roser, he is forced out of his beloved Barcelona and into exile.

When opportunity to seek refuge arises, they board a ship chartered by the poet Pablo Neruda to Chile, the promised 'long petal of sea and wine and snow'. There, they find themselves enmeshed in a rich web of characters who come together in love and tragedy over the course of four generations, destined to witness the battle between freedom and repression as it plays out across the world.

A masterful work of historical fiction that soars from the Spanish Civil War to the rise and fall of Pinochet, A Long Petal of the Sea is Isabel Allende at the height of her powers.

_______________

'A masterful work of historical fiction about hope, exile and belonging' - Independent Online

'A defiantly warm and funny novel, by somebody who has earned the right to argue that love and optimism can survive whatever history might throw at us' - Daily Telegraph

'A grand storyteller who writes with surpassing compassion and insight. Her place as an icon of world literature was secured long ago' - Khaled Hosseini

'A novel not just for those of us who have been Allende fans for decades, but also for those who are brand new to her work: what a joy it must be to come upon Allende for the first time' - Colum McCann

'Allende's style is impressively Olympian and the payoff is remarkable' - Guardian

'Epic in scope, yet intimate in execution'

About The Author

Isabel Allende

Isabel Allende, (born August 2, 1942, Lima, Peru), Chilean American writer in the magic realist tradition who is considered one of the first successful women novelists from Latin America.

Allende was born in Peru to Chilean parents. She worked as a journalist in Chile until she was forced to flee to Venezuela after the assassination (1973) of Chilean Pres. Salvador Allende, her father’s cousin. In 1981 she began writing a letter to her terminally ill grandfather that evolved into her first novel, La casa de los espíritus (1982; The House of the Spirits; film 1993). It was followed by the novels De amor y de sombra (1984; Of Love and Shadows; film 1994), Eva Luna (1987), and El plan infinito (1991; The Infinite Plan) and the collection of stories Cuentos de Eva Luna (1990; The Stories of Eva Luna). All are examples of magic realism, in which realistic fiction is overlaid with elements of fantasy and myth. Her concern in many of these works is the portrayal of South American politics, and her first four works reflect her own experiences and examine the role of women in Latin America. The Infinite Plan, however, is set in the United States, and its protagonist is male.