Imagine that you have been invited to a dinner party in a different country. You are not acquainted with any of the guests, but, upon arriving, you find them to be a most diverse and lively group, encompassing rich and poor, young and old, lovable and detestable. You seat yourself at the table among them and for hours they make conversation with you, allowing you intimate glimpses into their innermost secrets, fears and desires. Eventually, once night has long since fallen and you have begun to yawn and glance at your watch, your hostess finally remembers her obligation to provide some sort of food, and rustles up a brief, unremarkable meal before bidding you all goodnight. Imagine all of this, and you will have some idea what it is like to read Isabel Allende's Of Love and Shadows, which is all very well and good – if you like that sort of thing.

The book begins well enough, introducing a rich cast of characters and painting a lifelike picture of a South American dictatorship. The promising orientation is carried out with care and perceptiveness, delving deep into the lives of the characters and fleshing out their personalities convincingly. This, however, is about far as Allende goes towards writing a novel. It soon becomes clear that Of Love and Shadows is firmly stuck in orientation mode, and intent on staying there for nearly two hundred pages. In the absence of a plot, the novel languishes and meanders aimlessly through page after page of text, in thick, merciless slabs which are sure to try the patience of even the most resolute readers.

By the time the plot finally kicked in, it was too late. I had been switched off so completely that nothing Allende wrote could switch me back on again. I cannot fault the quality of the writing, (apart from the occasional paragraph of florid melodrama,) but reading it was still like wading through treacle, counting down the pages until I could move on and read something else!

If you can derive enjoyment from endless anecdotes and character descriptions, then congratulations; you are much more patient than I. If, on the other hand, you prefer books with storylines, then take my advice: steer well clear of Of Love and Shadows. ( )

An interesting story about discovery courage and bravery. Historical and political fiction that seems removed from the magical realism for which Allende is known. Two friends uncover a crime committed by the military and struggle to expose the truth without putting each other in danger. A story where everything that is a lie is truth and everything that is truth is a lie. What do you do, who are you and who do you become when you discover that the world is not as you believed it to be? ( )

Excellent story about the history of Chile under the Pinochet dictatorship as seen from the eyes of three families. ( )

A823.3

I have a weird fascination with this book. It's not Allende's best known by far, yet something about the characters really affected me. In many ways I feel like it takes the broad scope of politics, family, and magic of House of the Spirits and condenses it into a more manageable package. ( )