Portrait in Sepia by Isabel Allende

fljustice · Post by **fljustice** » Tue February 22nd, 2011, 6:48 pm

This is a sequel to Daughter of Fortune, a bridge to The House of the Spirits and not quite as good as either. Portrait in Sepia is written as the memoir of Aurora del Valle, granddaughter of the intrepid Eliza Sommers and formidable Paulina del Valle from Daughter of Fortune. Isabel Allende uses her usual style of intense character portraits, lyrical descriptions and background history of Chile to tell us what happened to all our favorite characters from that book; but her heroine is a lack luster vehicle. To me, Aurora came off as a "poor little rich girl." Sure, she was orphaned, but raised by people who loved and cherished her. She watched a horrible tragedy as a child that gave her nightmares, but lived a life of luxury and intellectual indulgence. Even in an unhappy marriage, she found refuge in sympathetic and loving in-laws who did nothing to curb her eccentric behavior or limit her in any way. Aurora takes up a modern hobby (later profession) in photography, rides in men's clothing, and has an affair--all with no, or even threatened, consequences. She faced little in the way of personal obstacles, which is the essence of conflict in a character-driven story.

I'm not denigrating the psychological effects of witnessing a personal tragedy, or saying rich people can't be unhappy; just that it didn't make for compelling reading in this particular book, especially against the background of poverty and war that Allende provides. The most interesting parts, for me, were catching up with the characters from Daughter of Fortune and seeing the seeds planted for The House of the Spirits (both of which I very much enjoyed). There are several more engaging characters than Aurora, which make the book worth reading; including Severo and Nivea del Valle, the parents of the main characters in The House of the Spirits. The Chilean history is also interesting and well integrated. I would recommend Portrait in Sepia for folks who want the bridge from Daughter of Fortune to The House of the Spirits, truly enjoy character-driven fiction and/or are interested in Chilean history. For those who like more plot-driven fiction, this will be a disappointment.

Telynor · Post by **Telynor** » Wed February 23rd, 2011, 5:25 am

I really did enjoy this one; I think it was my first Allende novel -- is it the one where the wife has the mistress's bed driven around town with a bell ringing?

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Wed February 23rd, 2011, 1:46 pm

Allende's later books after Paula were mere shadows of her earlier work. I've tried Inez of my Soul, Invented Country, and Daughter of Fortune in hopes of finding another House of Spirits or Eva Luna, and sorely disappointed. So I don't bother when her new books come out now.

fljustice · Post by **fljustice** » Wed February 23rd, 2011, 4:36 pm

[quote=""Telynor""]I really did enjoy this one; I think it was my first Allende novel -- is it the one where the wife has the mistress's bed driven around town with a bell ringing?[/quote]

Yes, that's the one!

fljustice · Post by **fljustice** » Wed February 23rd, 2011, 4:38 pm

[quote=""Ash""]Allende's later books after Paula were mere shadows of her earlier work. I've tried Inez of my Soul, Invented Country, and Daughter of Fortune in hopes of finding another House of Spirits or Eva Luna, and sorely disappointed. So I don't bother when her new books come out now.[/quote]

I just finished The Infinite Plan a couple of months ago and was very disappointed. However, I did enjoy Daughter of Fortune.

rockygirl · Post by **rockygirl** » Fri February 25th, 2011, 3:12 am

I find that I either love her books or can't finish them. Portrait in Sepia was one I couldn't finish.

The one about watching her daughter dying, Paula, is her best work in my opinion.

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Sat February 26th, 2011, 1:51 am

That was my first experience with her books, read it for a book group, and immediatly set out to read everything she'd written up to that point. Amazing writer.

Telynor · Post by **Telynor** » Fri March 4th, 2011, 7:47 am

[quote=""fljustice""]Yes, that's the one![/quote]

Reading that, I just died with laughter. How sweet that revenge.

fljustice · Post by **fljustice** » Fri March 4th, 2011, 4:14 pm

The bed became a reoccurring character in the story and we did learn its final fate.