Several years ago, I read
THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS by
Isabel Allende and liked it's style of magical realism well enough that I decided to check out another of Allende's early novels,
EVA LUNA. I liked it as much as THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS. It's the life story of a woman, born in the jungles of an unnamed South American country and follows her life from childhood, when she's orphaned at an early age and shows a talent for spinning fabulous stories. The novel is a somewhat sprawling work and has a fairly large cast of characters and lengthy time frame. Allende's style is hyper-descriptive and almost every sentence is filled with unusual and fascinating adverbs and adjectives.
THE STORIES OF EVA LUNA is a collection supposedly written by Eva Luna. I thought creating a character who's a writer and then having that character write a collection of short stories was very interesting. Isabel Allende has written many novels since EVA LUNA and her
DAUGHTER OF FORTUNE was an Oprah book club pick in 2000. It's a good bet that no matter which of her novels you pick, you'll be happy with your choice.
