the bad feminist

The first time I heard of Isabel Allende was when Rory of Gilmore Girls mentioned her and a week after that “Daughter of Fortune” fell into my hands. I was scrolling through Facebook marketplace to look for a vintage wall mirror when I saw a listing that says “Books for free”. I met Maria who is a delightful, retired literature teacher and she gave me her half of her collection. I always consider that incident as a serendipity. The entirety of this book is also a serendipitous journey for each character especially for the spirited heroine, Eliza.

Abandoned as a baby in the British colony of Valparaiso, Eliza is raised by Jeremy and Rose Sommers, a prosperous pair of siblings who consider the girl a gift. Eliza falls in love with Joaquin Andieta, who got her pregnant and then sails for the promise of gold in California. The “terrible weight of idealized love” pushed Eliza to follow Joaquin with the help of her new Chinese physician friend, Tao Chi’en. What began as a search for love ends up as the conquest of personal freedom. Allende has clearly enjoyed providing rich elaborations that may not particularly advance the story but affirm her theme of personal discovery. Each of her characters finds “something different from what we were looking for.”

History is thematically rich no matter how it is presented.  When properly observed and documented, any piece of the past can expose both the best and worst of human nature.  “Daughter of Fortune” chooses to emphasize the vast inequalities between men and women, whites and people pf colour, rich and poor.  The haughty imperialism of the British towards the native population of Chile underscores the point as even when vastly outnumbered, white men still maintained full control over a country not their own.

This novel is a marvel of storytelling and I cannot wait to read more of Allende’s writing. I thank Allende for introducing to me such an appealing, adventurous and independent-minded heroine. Eliza had the courage to reinvent herself and create her own destiny in a new country and that to me is very inspiring. As someone who is also continuing to navigate a new life in a new county I hope I get hold of her luck, bravery and resilience.