Portrait in Sepia Author:Isabel Allende Internationally celebrated novelist Isabel Allende has written a magnificent historical novel set at the end of the nineteenth century in Chile -- a marvelous family saga that takes up and continues the story begun in her highly acclaimed Daughter of Fortune. — Recounted in the voice of a young woman in search of her roots, Portrait in Sepia is a... more » novel about memory and family secrets. Aurora del Valle suffers a brutal trauma that shapes her character and erases from her mind all recollection of the first five years of her life. Raised by her ambitious grandmother, the regal and commanding Paulina del Valle, Aurora grows up in a privileged environment, free of the limitations that circumscribe the lives of women at that time, but tormented by horrible nightmares. When she is forced to recognize her betrayal at the hands of the man she loves, and to cope with the resulting solitude, she decides to explore the mystery of her past.
Portrait in Sepia is an extraordinary achievement: richly detailed, epic in scope, intimate in its probing of human character, and thrilling in the way it illuminates the complexity of family ties.« less
Just finished. It's the second book in a 2 book series. I really enjoyed the first book Daughter of Fortune. There were so many stories entwined but easy to follow. Portrait in Sepia continues and you see the generations.
I enjoyed the book very much ,though one graphic sex scene was not to my liking. I think she could have made a point of what happened without detailing the act. Otherwise it was very interesting since I didn't know much about Chile and its history,so I liked it. I'm not sure if I would recommend it to younger readers.