Eva Luna

A wildly inventive story of the life of Eva Luna, who rises from a penniless servant in the early years of her life and has an amazing gift for storytelling. In fact, she is the narrator of the book, most of which takes place in Venezuela (although never named), where the author lived as a political exile from Chile.

The novel is as colorful as a flowering jungle and filled to the brim with tropical passion and sensuality. Allende is often pegged as a writer of magical-realism, but in my eyes, she is simply more open to the spiritual and pays attention to dreams and portents. She also writes very realistically about the negative effects of political polarization, class without opportunity, and patriarchy on the actual lives of the show more majority of people.

This is a truly charming book and it's impossible not to be seduced by the rich prose, wild situations and well-realized characters within. It is a rather dense read however, as the book is written as one might tell a story, with tons of description and not a lot of dialogue. show less

Eva Luna is a young girl in Chile who has grown up without many boundaries beyond survival. Her conception was by chance and her father was never in her life, her mother died young, and from then on Eva bounces among employers and whoever will give her shelter, learning life on the fly as a matter of necessity. But as she becomes caught in the machinations of guerrilla warfare, her personality and sense of self solidifies in response to the determination and purpose of the fighters.

Allende does better atmospheric writing than plot-driven, as there were points at which I felt closer to the setting of the town and its cadence than I did to Eva herself. This novel has been described as picaresque, but I think it is better understood as its show more inverse: rather than setting and situation being tools to showcase character development, Eva's development seems to showcase her settings and cultural situation - or at least, that is how I was engaged by the book. Interesting way to tell a story, but I felt it wasn't wholly successful with so little story to have been told. show less

Eva Luna - Allende
Audio performance by Cynthia Farrell and Timothy Pabon
4 stars

This book wasn’t so much a character study as a study of characters. It’s like watching a parade of colorful personalities passing by, one float after another, with the occasional marching band and juggling clown running along beside them.

Eva Luna is an unusual girl growing up in an unnamed South American country. Her unconventional birth is followed by a haphazard life. Her experiences are a multicultural cross section of a troubled country as she encounters people from all walks of life. It reminded me of Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children although it was, fortunately, much less frenetic. The book is structured episodically, almost like a collection of show more connected short stories. Although there are many likable male characters, there’s a definite feminist slant in the storytelling. Eva eventually takes control of her own life. It’s a relief when she finally refuses to cede control to any man. I did enjoy the book, but it wasn’t quite as good as House of the Spirits. show less

Allende almost always succeeds in producing favorites, with a rare few exceptions. [Eva Luna] is one of those books, documenting the birth of an author from her mother's jungle-wild origins through revolutions and all manner of adventures. The characters are colorful and complex without overshadowing the narrator. As an origin story or comic-of-age or love story, it succeeds at every turn. I'm looking forward to [The Stories of Eva Luna], as the only thing I wanted more of during the book was Eva's own writing. It's nice that Allende provides that in another volume about this unusual writer.

Nope.
DNF @ 1%.

That’s the most pathetic percent I’ve ever left a book at, but it’s actually about 50 pages in; this book is just short of 500 pages. Sticking with it when I hate the protagonist with such a passion would be torture, classic or no classic.

Content warnings:
I know I barely scratched the surface of this thing, but
G Rroma slur
Stalking framed as being romantic

The House of the Spirits is a very famous and classic book following three generations of the Trueba family in Chile. Covering political issues, love stories, and things that can only be described as otherworldly, the book is one of the most famous and well-loved Latin American works from the twentieth century.

Again, I barely put a dent into this long book (not only show more is it 500 pages long, but the pages are also nearly transparent and the text is small), but what I read was enough for me to know if I could bear reading on or not. As I said, it was the protagonist that made the book unbearable. He was engaged to Rosa, an ethereal mermaid-like beauty from the Trueba family, but before he could make his fortune and marry her, she died.

His grief had him blaming her at her graveside for everything that basically went wrong in his life. I get it; grief is a powerful force and it makes people do things and think things they normally wouldn’t. But then he admits, totally heartfelt, that he even never touched other women those past years he was trying to make a fortune -- well, except for those prostitutes, lmao.

Not only this, but he was already wearing me thin, because to win her hand he literally stalked her every day, learned where she lived and when she went outside, and apparently this won her family over? The whole thing was so intensely creepy but was framed as romantic. I don’t care what “generation” this mindset is from, I just didn’t want to share 500 pages with this dude anymore. I have a life to live and other books to read.

So no thanks. show less

I enjoyed this book very much and I love the Eva Luna character. She is a story teller, a story creator, a writer. As she narrates this tale of her life, she tells the stories of other characters who have been important to her and the history of the South American country in which she lives. She describes a gift her mother gave her in this way: “She sowed in my mind the idea that reality is not only what we see on the surface; it has a magical dimension as well and, if we so desire, it is legitimate to enhance it and color it to make our journey through life less trying.” And she does just that, for herself and for other characters.

For about 30 years I’ve been a fan of Isabel Allende's work, starting with her amazing “The House of the Spirits” (highly recommended as an introduction to her work). Allende’s style of magical realism, her strong storytelling and her beautiful prose so far have always managed to capture my heart.

"Eva Luna" was no exception to this rule: Allende's writing is lush and evocative, and she creates a vivid sense of place and time. The unnamed South American country in which the novel is set is brought to life with rich detail, from the bustling streets of the city to the quiet beauty of the countryside. Allende's descriptions of the natural world are particularly striking, and she imbues even the most mundane objects with a sense of show more magic and wonder. The way she weaves in themes of magical realism throughout the novel is truly masterful.

Even though the country is never named, it never ceases to fascinate me that it’s strongly inspired by Allende’s native Chile. She has acknowledged that the novel draws heavily on her own experiences growing up in Chile, and many of the political and social events depicted in this and many of her other novels are based on real-life events that occurred in Chile during the 20th century. I remember the grim news of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet who overthrew and assassinated democratically elected President Salvador Allende who was Allende's cousin. To me, this makes Allende’s work even more important.

The character of Eva Luna is also a standout. Eva’s gift for storytelling is a central element of the novel, and Allende uses it to explore the power of narrative and its ability to shape reality. Eva is a complex and compelling character, and I found myself rooting for her throughout the novel. Her resilience in the face of adversity is inspiring, and her ability to find joy and beauty in even the darkest of circumstances is a testament to the human spirit.

The novel's exploration of political turmoil and social injustice is also powerful. Allende does not shy away from difficult topics, and she portrays the violence and oppression of the time with unflinching honesty. Rolf Carlé, a guerilla fighter and Eva's love interest, is particularly compelling in this regard. His passion for justice and his willingness to risk everything for his beliefs are both admirable and heartbreaking.

However, I do have some reservations about the novel. At times, the plot can feel disjointed, and the jumps in time can be confusing. Additionally, some of the secondary characters feel underdeveloped, and their motivations remain unclear. The novel's episodic structure can also make it feel like a series of loosely connected stories rather than a cohesive narrative.

The novel's themes of love, power, and storytelling itself are universal and both these themes and the story itself - despite having been published almost 40 years ago - feel timeless and relevant independently of age and place.

Four out of five stars.

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