Ines of My Soul by Isabel Allende Paperback Book

Details

Rent Ines of My Soul

Author: Isabel Allende

Format: Quality Paperback, Paperback, Unabridged-CD

Publisher: Harper Perennial

Published: Sep 2007

Genre: Fiction - General

Retail Price: $14.99

Pages: 352

Synopsis

Born into a poor family in Spain, Ines, a seamstress, finds herself condemned to a life of hard work without reward or hope for the future. It is the sixteenth century, the beginning of the Spanish conquest of the Americas, and when her shiftless husband disappears to the New World, Ines uses the opportunity to search for him as an excuse to flee her stifling homeland and seek adventure. After her treacherous journey takes her to Peru, she learns that her husband has died in battle. Soon she begins a fiery love affair with a man who will change the course of her life: Pedro de Valdivia, war hero and field marshal to the famed Francisco Pizarro.

Valdivia's dream is to succeed where other Spaniards have failed: to become the conquerer of Chile. The natives of Chile are fearsome warriors, and the land is rumored to be barren of gold, but this suits Valdivia, who seeks only honor and glory. Together the lovers Ines Suárez and Pedro de Valdivia will build the new city of Santiago, and they will wage a bloody, ruthless war against the indigenous Chileans—the fierce local Indians led by the chief Michimalonko, and the even fiercer Mapuche from the south. The horrific struggle will change them forever, pulling each of them toward their separate destinies.

Ines of My Soul is a work of breathtaking scope: meticulously researched, it engagingly dramatizes the known events of Ines Suárez's life, crafting them into a novel full of the narrative brilliance and passion readers have come to expect from Isabel Allende.

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Reviews

BookLender review by Merredith on 2010-12-31 17:33:02

I like Isabelle Allende and I had no idea what this book was about before I started reading it. I was pleasantly surprised when I started, to find that it is a historical account of the founding of Chile in the 1500s. I oh-so-briefly learned about the conquistadores back in 6th grade or so, and have not learned much about any of that since. I think maybe we touched on it in high school spanish class. The whole thing was so lifelike and realistic. A lot of historical novels are kind of romantic but this was not. This is not a book that you speed through - it's pretty slow reading, but not because it's boring or bad. It's set up as a memoir by Ines, now in her 80s or 90s, who helped found chile. Naturally, while I was reading, I thought it probably was made up. When I got to the end, I found out that Ines really existed and this is, while fiction, largely based on fact. I never knew that a woman was so instrumental in founding that country and especially back then! What an amazing woman! There are a lot of sad parts - lots of cruelty, particuarly to the native americans, who they kill and enslave. I highly recommend this book!

BookLender review by Sarah on 2010-10-11 14:40:08

I was disappointed after finishing this book I had really hoped it would grab my attention, transport me back in time, and make me want to read more about the time period. However, it didn't not really, anyway.The first thing I should mention is the fact that this book was originally written in another language and the translation may be part of why I didn't enjoy reading this book. If I could have read it in the original format, then, maybe I would have enjoyed it more.The story seemed to drag on and on. The battles were seem to repeat themselves over and over with little to no change. I could not really place myself in Ines' shoes and found it difficult to sympathize with any of the characters.It's really too bad, I would have loved to love this novel. It is, however, worth giving a shot.