I received an ARC of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Written in the form of a letter the book is essentially the biography of Violeta del valle in Chile. It spans a century during which the world changes enormously - perhaps Chile is somewhat behind the rate of change in more developed countries. The book feels easy enough to read and kept my attention throughout. I am not sure how much is absolutely historically accurate - for example i cannot find any evidence of responses to the Spanish Flu pandemic that mirrors what is happening in our Pandemic ridden society today and yet Violeta talks about such things.

I felt that for me it missed the spark that would have created a dynamic narrative, Violeta's letter felt distanced - why does she consistently refer to some of the characters with full names rather than simply as Julian or Roy? I felt it kept me at arm's length from their true character.

I have enjoyed several books by this author this simply isn't my favourite

As a big fan of long, winding autobiographical/fictional autobiographical fiction, I was sure I was going to love 'Violeta'. Overall, while I really enjoyed Violeta's main narrative voice and the fact that the setting was purposely left kind of vague, I definitely enjoyed some parts of the book more than others.

Looking back on her life, Violeta covers 90 years of a tumultuous adventure covering her birth into a privileged family followed by the death of her father which drastically alters the family circumstances.. A brave three dimensional character she allows no hardship to dampen her will to succeed whether the circumstances be that of an abusive relationship, or in business or in politics . Ultimately a survivor; with the author, we relive the highs and lows of a determined woman overcoming the obstacles suffered by women during the decades covering early 20C to beginning of 21c. This character with aplomb and a zest for life recalls her adventures, hardships and successes uncommon for a woman born into that generation. The depth of experiences covered over a period of nearly a hundred years means that frequently actions supersede in depth characterisation which may have been enhanced if split into a trilogy. Or is that as a reader I regret that a well written book by an excellent writer always leaves us begging for more. Many thanks to author, publisher and NetGalley for ARC.

An amazing story spanning 100 years of South American history through the eyes of Violeta, who lives for a century. The tale is told by Violeta, as if she is writing to someone or narrating her life and we find out later in the book who she is telling her tale to. I liked the story of her life combined with the battles of women in South America just after the war. Whilst most women were dependent on men, Violeta is able to make her own way but is still not fully recognised in her own right.
I loved it.

From the moment Violeta bursts into the world, the first daughter in a family of five boys, her life is marked by world changing events. It may be 1920 but the aftermath of the Great War is still apparent and all too keen felt by the participants able to return home. But as the family celebrate their new arrival, the Spanish Flu hits her South American homeland. Even if all is well, and you’re rooting for the family, there’s the Great Depression to endure, which transforms the place she knows as home forever. The family have no choice but to flee for more sedate surroundings and it is there that Violeta has her first foray into romance. She recounts her life – tumultuous wouldn’t be the word for it – in a letter. It details the highest highs and lowest lows of life, a life that has been shaped by a significantly changing world. It feels epic as a novel and it’s wonderful. Please someone make this into a film.

This is a captivating novel. It is a retrospective on a life by a 100-year old dying woman, narrating the events of her life to her grandson.

Born into a well-to-do family in 1920 South America, Violeta (the protagonist) careers through her life, her family, friends, loves and lovers. The pace is not breath-taking, but well-measured, with beautiful details, well-observed nuances, and characters you can empathise with, if not identify with.

Historical fiction it may be, but it reads like a memoir, with Violeta growing and deepening throughout the book. Her life is one of Riches to Rags and back to Riches, interspersed with the main events of the 20th Century (globally, cold-war South America, Great depression, etc). Her supporting cast are well-drawn, with each role they played in her life clear and plausible.

Violeta struggles with class, machismo and "women's place in society", but also finds her inner strength and eventual purpose. Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/ Ballantine Books for gifting me this ARC. Thoroughly recommended

Violeta del Valle was born in 1920 while the Spanish flu raged outside her parents' house in Santiago, Chile. A hundred years later she lies dying while another pandemic sweeps the world. In between the two she lives a full, eventful life. She marries, embarks on a passionate love affair, has children who bring joy and despair, helps her brother rebuild the family fortune, and manages to avoid retribution from both left and right wing of Chile's political extremes.
Told in the first person, at first seeming like a memoir but as it goes on turning into a letter to a grandchild, it should be a fascinating story, but for me it sadly fell flat. I'm sure I've read Isabel Allende's work before and enjoyed it but it may be that my tastes have changed over the years. I didn't really feel I knew Violeta, or the multitude of characters that come and go in her life. Maybe the scale was just too sweeping for the length of the book, maybe it was the 'telling, not showing' style of writing, but I certainly wasn't emotionally invested in the outcome. Violeta's life, despite financial and personal losses, seemed to me to be cushioned from the harshness of the world around her, and the terrible realities of Chilean politics. Yet I'm sure this wasn't the author's intent.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a beautifully written historical novel. This is the first book I have read from this author, but it won't be my last. Wonderful.

Violeta is the story of a 100-year old woman who's been through a lot. It's not my first read from Isabel Allende, but I think it's my first fiction book from her.

Violeta's story is told from her own point of view as told to her grandson. She frequently talked about her love life, which I found a bit strange/awkward/uncomfortable -- not because it's a 100-year-old woman talking about it, but because she's talking about it to her grandson.
I thought the pacing was just right, although perhaps a bit rushed towards the end. There was frequent foreshadowing of events and Allende/Violeta occasionally pointed out things that would be important for the story afterwards, which felt a bit like spoon-feeding but since this isn't really a thriller, it felt natural (isn't that how we tell stories anyway?).

I found the translation quite good at capturing Allende's Spanish voice and tone, so kudos to the translator.

This is an honest review is based on a free eARC. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me a copy of this book.

This is my first Isabel Allende book, and it won't be my last. It is a wonderful, evocative Bildungsroman which traces the life story of Violeta. I was slightly distracted by the clear lack of setting, which was clearly a South American country, but it is never named. I am not sure why this was never revealed but it did detract a little as I started to wonder if I had missed it and whether it was more relevant than it perhaps was.

The book takes the form of a memoir and it quite late on before it is revealed who Violeta is 'talking' to. There are lots of characters and they are beautifully drawn, warts and all, Allende does not hold back. I was captivated by Violeta's various relationships and her honesty as to why they failed. The form use works perfectly for this reflective style of story telling.

Violeta is quite a character and I chuckled at her honest appraisal of her childhood tantrums. There are many strong female characters which help to shape the grown Violeta. She makes bold choices and brave decisions, not all of which turn out the way she hoped. Heartbreak and hardship are something that she suffers but I felt made her a better person.

There is so much that happens in this book, yet the pace is leisurely and measured out. Perhaps that is a reflection of Violeta's 'ancientness' when she honestly recounts her adventures.

Excellent writing - but I am frustrated that I don't exactly know where it was set. Why that is I cannot say, maybe because her life story is so different from my own that I want to pin Violet's experiences on a map!

This was a beautiful gentle novel that almost read like a memoir. I enjoyed the pace and the lack of urgency, the backdrop of Chile transformation from 1920 to 2020. The characterisation was superb, and I am now an absolute fan of Isabel Allende.

It’s an Isabel Allende book, it’s not going to be bad, is it?

The eponymous Violeta is born into a wealthy family in an unnamed South American country (Chile maybe?) in the early twentieth century. This is one of those family saga type novels that Allende does so well and her remarkable gift for storytelling is on full display here as Violeta recounts 100 years of her life to her grandson Camilo.

Some of the defining moments of the twentieth and twenty-first century appear in the novel including the Spanish Flu, the First World War, the Great Depression, military coups and the feminist movement before coming full circle to the current Covid-19 pandemic.

Although the actual country is never actually defined, the novel’s South American setting feels believable and vivid, I particularly enjoyed the sections detailing the fading grandeur of the family mansion and the family’s subsequent move out to the countryside.

Some of the political commentary might be a bit heavy for some but it makes complete sense within the context of the novel. I also felt the passion was lacking somewhat in her relationship with Julian, the great love of her life, despite her putting up with his crap for so long.

To me, the book had echoes of one of Allende’s previous books, House of the Spirits, as well as Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels, and Colleen McCullough The Thorn Birds. Allende writes a great sweeping family epic and she’s pulled it out of the bag again this time.

Violeta by Isabel Allende is an epic sweeping novel spanning a century of South American culture, history and political turbulence framed by two pandemics. Violeta is recounting and reflecting upon her life in a letter written to her beloved grandson as she prepares for her own death in 2020. Born during a storm in 1920 in the middle of the Spanish Flu pandemic, Violeta is raised in a wealthy home surrounded by her parents, aunts, and eldest brother. Along her journey she encounters and develops lifelong ties to a variety of remarkable characters who each shaped and influenced Violeta giving her strength and character during the most difficult times of her life.
Allende’s is truly a master of storytelling, I adored this book and Violeta for all her flaws and virtues, she is a strong character, making the best of the situations she finds herself in along her long life and working these to her advantage but remaining loyal to those she loves dearly. Allende brings to life each character in these pages, and I cared deeply about each one, I didn’t want to reach the end. Violeta is an unflinching account of dangerous and ever-changing times during this period in South America, full of emotion and adversity combined beautifully with the deep bonds of family, friendships, and love. This story is a brilliant piece of historical fiction and has firmly secured Isabel Allende as one of my favourite authors. Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for an advanced digital copy for review.

This is an epic story about the life of centenarian Violetta and her amazing life set somewhere in South America.
You are never actually told where but my thoughts are Chile as there is talk of the Spanish flu , military coups, revolts, economic upheaval & criminal & drug cartels.
Violets knows she is nearing her final days & is writing her life story to her grandson in a letter.
It's a long sweeping story told unemotionally about all she has gone through in her life & the choices she made.
Violets was born in 1920 at the time of the Spanish flu pandemic & covers her
Life up to 2020 into another pandemic.
From the global events that shaped her life, to fighting for women's rights, her relations & the abuse she suffered, to becoming a very astute business woman.
Well written but not an easy read due to quite a bit of political content.
Non the less it was an interesting read with plenty of content but I felt the narrative of the story lacked a little warmth.

Although it is fiction this book feels and reads like an autobiography
It is about the turbulent life of Violeta a centenarian who writes in the first person to her grandson Camilo telling him basically about his family history
Although it is not specifically stated about the county that Violets was born and lived in certain clues allude to Chile
Not only is it a story of a courageous women who lived through a century of war and peace it is also a social history of the country that she lived in and the tyrannical way that women were treated went at times their worth was less than an animal
An absolutely brilliant book and very thought provoking

Violeta by Isabel Allende is the story of one woman, but it is also so much more, it is the story of a century of history, recounting the political and sociological changes that swept the author's home country of Chile. Written as a letter from Violeta to someone she clearly cares deeply about, the book feels both intimate and epic , a feat that would be difficult to pull off for a writer any less talented than Allende.
Violeta is born in 1920 as the country is being devastated by the Spanish Flu epidemic, and is the only daughter in a family of five sons, born to a wealthy businessman. Her idyllic childhood comes to an end when the Great Depression wipes out her family's wealth , and those who survive are forced to move to one of their remote rural holdings. There Violeta grows up, becoming a beautiful young woman who catches the eye of the son of a German immigrant family, and soon she is married , though not always happily, setting the scene for an affair that will be the great love of her life.
As with any life that spans a hundred years, there are many ups and downs, and I found certain parts of the story more compelling than others, but I was always captivated by Violeta as a character, her thoughts and actions. I also found the history fascinating, and found myself looking more into some of the events described in the book .
A beautiful and timely read.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Unfortunately this book wasn’t for me. The premise sounds great but I found it too heavy on description without a lot of plot. It read more like a historical textbook than historical fiction.

A story spanning over a 100 years told via letters to her grandson. She was born during the Spanish flu pandemic and died during the COVID pandemic. A moving and emotional journey, beautifully written. Would thoroughly recommend.

This is a 100 year story about one person and her family. It is told by Violeta in a letter to her grandson. From the beginning I knew there would be peaks and troughs. One hundred years of someone's life must have its ups and downs and at times would be unremarkable.
The story covers so many themes, starting and ending with a pandemic. So much has gone into the life of Violetta and there was nothing straight forward about it. The book left me with so many questions and the main one was how can our life define us, when at the end we look back?
The book is unstoppable and as the reader I had to keep going to see how things developed. It wasn't what I was expecting. Sometimes the events take precedence to the relationships and that keeps the book alive.
I enjoyed the book, which didn't feel too long and was a good read.

Gorgeous cover! Violeta was the only daughter, her father was a business man... who thought he knew how to be successful ... however he lost the lot during the Great Depression .
The book follows the history of Chile over the last century ..from corrupt governments to dictatorships
Violeta led a colourful life.... and became a very successful business woman.... a rarity in Chile during the 1940's to today ... ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️