Orphaned at birth, Eliza Sommers is raised in the British colony of Valparaíso, Chile, by the well-intentioned Victorian spinster Miss Rose and her more rigid brother Jeremy. Just as she meets and falls in love with the wildly inappropriate Joaquín Andieta, a lowly clerk who works for Jeremy, golContinue
Orphaned at birth, Eliza Sommers is raised in the British colony of Valparaíso, Chile, by the well-intentioned Victorian spinster Miss Rose and her more rigid brother Jeremy. Just as she meets and falls in love with the wildly inappropriate Joaquín Andieta, a lowly clerk who works for Jeremy, gold is discovered in the hills of northern California. By 1849, Chileans of every stripe have fallen prey to feverish dreams of wealth. Joaquín takes off for San Francisco to seek his fortune, and Eliza, pregnant with his child, decides to follow him.
So begins Isabel Allende's enchanting new novel, Daughter of Fortune, her most ambitious work of fiction yet. As we follow her spirited heroine on a perilous journey north in the hold of a ship to the rough-and-tumble world of San Francisco and northern California, we enter a world whose newly arrived inhabitants are driven mad by gold fever. A society of single men and prostitutes among whom Eliza moves--with the help of her good friend and savior, the Chinese doctor Tao Chien--California opens the door to a new life of freedom and independence for the young Chilean. Her search for the elusive Joaquín gradually turns into another kind of journey that transforms her over time, and what began as a search for love ends up as the conquest of personal freedom. By the time she finally hears news of him, Eliza must decide who her true love really is.
Daughter of Fortune is a sweeping portrait of an era, a story rich in character, history, violence, and compassion. In Eliza, Allende has created one of her most appealing heroines, an adventurous, independent-minded, and highly unconventional young woman who has the courage to reinvent herself and to create her own destiny in a new country. A marvel of storytelling, Daughter of Fortune confirms once again Isabel Allende's extraordinary gift for fiction and her place as one of the world's leading writers.
Miguelyn said on Jan 12, 2012 | Add your feedback
JOSÉMIGUELTICDEPLATA said on Jul 3, 2009 | Add your feedback
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Paula 
la busqueda del ser amado para encontrar su propio yo...!
Una preciosa novela...me sorprendió de verdad!!..otro clásico de Isabel Allende con la fuerte presencia de personajes femeninos, solo alguién como ella podría escribir una novela así (algo impensado de escribir en la época real de la novela). Muy interesantes los analisis politico y sociales sobre e ... (continue)
Una preciosa novela...me sorprendió de verdad!!..otro clásico de Isabel Allende con la fuerte presencia de personajes femeninos, solo alguién como ella podría escribir una novela así (algo impensado de escribir en la época real de la novela). Muy interesantes los analisis politico y sociales sobre el Chile de mediados delsi glo XIX; la fiebre del Oro y la colonización de una California ya arrebatada a Mexico, y la creación de San Francisco, en donde el que llega no tiene un pasado. En una época de violencia y codicia, los protagonistas nos muestran el amor, la amistad, la compasión y el valor. Me gustó como esos "ojos femeninos" describen a Joaquin Murieta, el famoso bandido chileno (ya Pablo Neruda le había cantado, aunque también se diga que es mexicano).
Quien lea "Hija de la Fortuna" deberá leer "Retraro en Sepia", estan sumamente ligados!... y junto con la "Casa de los Espiritus" forman una trilogía,(aunque mucho mas ligados los dos primeros) en donde se puede crear entre ellas una genealogía que une a los protagonistas de las tres novelas…
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