I have read several of Allende's novels and I always find them fascinating and full of information that I previously knew little about. This one was no exception. It tells the story of Victor Dalmau, a young doctor who is caught up in the upheaval of the Spanish Civil War and the fascist army of Franco. This forces him and many others to flee the country into France where many of the refugees are placed in concentration camps. Victor eventually is able to embark for Chile on the SS Winnipeg, a ship chartered by the poet Pablo Neruda: "the long petal of sea and wine and snow." Along with his brother's girlfriend Roser who is pregnant, he goes into exile in Chile. Victor marries Roser in what at first is a platonic relationship to provide a father for her unborn child. The novel then goes on to tell the how Victor is able to work in a hospital in Santiago, befriends the rising left politician, Salvador Allende, intellectuals, artists, including the poet Neruda. Allende becomes president of Chile in 1970, but is overthrown and killed by a military coup in 1973. Augusto Pinochet then becomes the Fascist dictator and remains in power for nearly twenty years. Thousands of Chileans are imprisoned, tortured, murdered or disappeared during his time as leader. Victor and Roser long to return to Spain but end up exiled in Venezuela after Victor is arrested and placed in a concentration camp. Eventually they return to Chile where Victor strives to help the less fortunate.
This novel was filled with a panorama of events and characters that come together over the course of four generations. It also echoes my favorite work of Allende, The House of the Spirits which also told of the rise to power of her uncle, Salvador Allende and the tragic events that followed. The novel also tells of the horrors of the Spanish Civil War which I really knew little about. And it also reflects our current political situation in the US where the right and left are so clearly divided as happened in both Spain and Chile. The plight of refugees is also highlighted as they were escaping to France from war-torn Spain. "Nobody wanted these foreignersâReds, filthy fugitives, deserters. . . repugnant beings who were going to spread epidemics, commit robberies and rape, and stir up a revolution." Sounds a lot like attitudes towards refugees on our southern border today. Overall, another strong recommendation for Allende.
This novel was filled with a panorama of events and characters that come together over the course of four generations. It also echoes my favorite work of Allende, The House of the Spirits which also told of the rise to power of her uncle, Salvador Allende and the tragic events that followed. The novel also tells of the horrors of the Spanish Civil War which I really knew little about. And it also reflects our current political situation in the US where the right and left are so clearly divided as happened in both Spain and Chile. The plight of refugees is also highlighted as they were escaping to France from war-torn Spain. "Nobody wanted these foreignersâReds, filthy fugitives, deserters. . . repugnant beings who were going to spread epidemics, commit robberies and rape, and stir up a revolution." Sounds a lot like attitudes towards refugees on our southern border today. Overall, another strong recommendation for Allende.
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