This is one of those books where I felt one way while reading the first two-thirds and then VERY differently during the last third. Awarded four stars on Goodreads.
This is a less linear plot than other books I’ve read by the very talented Chilean writer, Isabel Allende, and I think that threw me. At times it felt disjointed to me and I couldn’t see how all the pieces of the story were ever going to fit together. Ah, but then they did. And Beautifully!
Alma, Nathaniel, and Ichimei meet in San Francisco as children and we follow their interconnected lives into old age. Initially, Alma is a Polish refugee fleeing the Nazis. Nathaniel is her protective older cousin. Ichimei is the son of the family gardener.
If you are tempted mid way to drop the book, don’t. Stick with it. You’ll be glad you did.
