Play Book Tag discussion

In a South American country, Eva Luna begins by telling the story of her mother, then her own story. Orphaned at a young age, she tells us about growing up a servant in multiple houses, having many people take her under their wing, until she finally finds her place. Throughout her life, she's always had a vivid imagination, telling herself and others captivating stories. She interacts through the whole book with a diverse cast of fascinating characters who all bring something to the imaginary country and its dynamics, and to Eva's life.

This was absolutely lovely! I wasn't expecting to like it that much, but Eva was fascinating and her story was so engrossing! All the secondary characters were so fleshed-out, it's almost like they weren't secondary anymore.

A big part of my liking it more than I expected were the chapters centred on Rolf, a young Eastern European moving to South America sometime after WWII whose path will eventually cross with Eva's. I thought it was so cool to have a different story in parallel to Eva's.

The reason I knocked off a star is the ending, which I felt was a bit too speedy. I thought it would have deserved more time spent on it.

Nice review, Elise! I really enjoyed this one too

I have only read one Allende, which I loved, and I keep saying that I want to read another. This one sounds great!