Violeta by Isabel Allende

 

Born during the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic, this is the story of Violeta, the only daughter of a wealthy South American family.  It follows her life for over a century.  Although born wealthy and spoiled as the first girl in a family with five brothers, the family loses its wealth during the Depression and Violeta grows up on a rural farm in the mountains, far from the city and all its glitter.

She has several loves in her life.  She marries young but doesn't know what love is.  When she meets the love of her life, she leaves her husband and spends years with the man she loves and with whom she has two children.  Late in her life, she marries again in a marriage that brings her love and contentment.

Violeta lives through the liberation of women and she supports herself.  She and one of her brothers start a development business which draws on Violeta's architectural knowledge and provides much needed housing both for the rising professional class and for those less fortunate.  She also makes a fortune in real estate.  On a more somber note, she lives through the time of South American dictatorships and the vanishing of those who opposed the government.  Her own son is forced into exile and lives most of his adult life in Norway, far from those who would kill him for his political beliefs.

Isabel Allende was born in Peru, although she now lives in the United States.  She has had a very successful career with more than twenty novels that bring South American culture and history to the world to discover.  Violeta is a strong female character and her love of family is characteristic of the Latin culture.  There are exciting and saddening events in Violeta's life which is a full and eventful one.  This book is recommended for readers of multicultural and historical fictioin.