Emilia is ahead of her time, determined to succeed as a journalist despite having to fight to be accepted in a man's world. I enjoyed getting to know the personalities of the characters that Allende is so good at developing. However, although I realise the civil war in Chile was the main point of the novel, I did find there was too much focus on the battlefield for me.

Thank you for allowing me to review this book. I have previously enjoyed Violeta by this author so had high expectations for this book. Emilia del Valle is a strong female character, born in the 1890's San Francisco, living with her very religious mother and her teacher stepfather. She begins work as a reporter and after learning of her Chilean heritage she sets off to Chile to report on the war, between the Army and the rebels. Along the way she seeks out her father. The story builds slowly, with lots of detail of the war, the location, the people. I found myself becoming a little switched off from all the details and confused by the nam4es as to who was on which side etc. I found the ending disappointing.
I'm sure some will enjoy this book, as the author is very knowledgeable about the country and its history. It is not one I would choose to read again.

Allende’s writing is as beautiful and engaging as ever. She paints San Francisco and Chile so vividly, I felt like I was right there with Emilia. I really enjoyed Emilia's journey, starting as a child and going right through to adulthood. Great story by a brilliant writer.

This is another great book from Isabelle Allende. It follows Emilia from youth to adulthood in the 1800s as she explores her past and tracks down her father. Allende depicts in detail life in San Francisco and Chile. She creates a strong voice for Emilia as she attempts to create a career for herself as a writer at a time when women had to struggle to be employed.
I kept reading all the way through, compelled to find out more about Emilia and how the book would end.

Emilia del Valle Claro, born on April 14, 1866, was a pioneering woman. A strong and independent woman who courageously voiced her opinions and advocated for her rights, she achieved success in a male-dominated world through her perseverance and determination. What a captivating character and story!

Emilia's narrative gracefully unfolds, beginning with her childhood and her mother's background. It details her discovery of a passion for writing dime novels under the pseudonym Brandon J. Price, and her subsequent rise to becoming a columnist for The Daily Examiner at the age of 23. This role led her on extensive travels, from New York to Chile, the homeland of her previously unknown father. There, she became involved in the civil war.

Her experiences ranged from inspecting a nitrate mine and interacting with the miners and their families, to meetings with President José Manuel Balmaceda and her biological father. She also recounts camping with troops and participating in the initial battle on the Aconcagua River at Concón on August 21, 1891.
Ultimately, she embarks on a journey of self-discovery to a distant area of the country to conclude her Chilean odyssey.

I love how Isabel Allende seamlessly blends historical fact into her narratives. This is an engaging story filled with fascinating details about a period of history with which I was previously unfamiliar. It tells the tale of a strong young woman seeking self-discovery and her place in the world.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

Another beautifully written story from Isabel Allende, this time she takes us to San Francisco and then Chile, following the story of the strong and independant Emilia del Valle. Brought up to believe she can do anything, she embarks on a career as a writer, using a male name to get published iniatially she becomes a journalist for the Daily Examiner and wins the right to publish stories under her own name and this leads to her being sent to cover the civil war in Chile and the opportunity to discover her Chilean father who abandoned her mother.

Highly recommended.

I had enjoyed this author‘s previous novel the letter and the long Petal of the sea. She has a strong south American voice and interesting and great storytelling skill
This book follows the story of emelia who is born to a Chilean aristocratic father with whom she has no contact as she grows she develops a fierce ambition and desire to write even if at that time the novel is set this was a very unusual pathway for a young woman to take. We follow her as she starts to write her own novella’s using a man’s pen name in order to get published and then as she decides to take on journalism and in the particular war journalism when she is posted to Chile to follow a civil war that is taking place there.

There is a sweet love story wrapped inside the historical novel. I don’t usually read Ants but this was nice to find inside the historical elements.

I was quite quickly immersed in the novel and enjoyed reading it very much. The author has a clear flowing writing style making the novel an enjoyable read. The setting in South America and Chile in particular is interesting and as an additional element to the story.

I read an early copy of the novel on NetGalley UK and return for an unbiased review. The book is published in the UK on the 6th of May 2025 by Bloomsbury publishing PLC
This review will appear on NetGalley UK, StoryGraph, Goodreads and my book blog bionicSarahS books.wordpress.com. After publication it will also appear on Amazon and Waterstones.

Follow Emilia on a voyage of adventure and discovery as she is sent to Chile to report on events there during the Civil War. She also hopes to trace the roots of her natural father. This is a double edged mission to prove her journalist skills and discover the truth about her father.
Well researched and expertly written and translated

Isabel Allende's latest book is set in 19th century San Francisco and Chile and follows the titular Emilia del Valle. Born out of wedlock to a novice nun, Emilia is a strong independent woman who writes novels under a male pseudonym and eventually becomes a journalist covering the Chilean civil war.

As with the author's other works, the human element is presented through masterful storytelling and meticulous research. I went from knowing nothing about the war in Chile to having a good grasp of the situation from diverse perspectives, all while following the story of the people caught up in the conflict. The facts never come across as dry as they are infused with the emotion of the main characters.

A recommended read for fans of Isabel Allende and well-researched historical fiction.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Publication date 6th May 2025: thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the early copy!

It's been a while since I read a book by Isabelle Allende (pre-GoodReads come to think of it!), and it took a little while for me to settle into the style of this, but I ended up loving it.

My Name is Emilia del Valle is the story of Emilia, a girl brought up in San Fransisco in the 1890s after her wealthy Chilean father abandons her mother Molly Walsh, a nun, before Emilia is even born. Molly is filled with bitterness and wants revenge, giving her daughter her true father's name in the hope of some inheritance to come... However, she remarries and Emilia is brought up by the man she regards as her true father, Don Pancho Claro: an enlightened, optimistic scholar who encourages Emilia to look beyond the confines of her gender and station, to pursue her true goals in life.

She begins by writing 'dime novels' at seventeen - formulaic, sensationalist, cheap novels published in both Spanish and English - under the pseudonym of Brandon J Price, as a woman writing such melodrama was deemed inappropriate. From this starting point, she becomes a journalist, first travelling to New York, and eventually to Chile, where the novel really begins.

I found it quite a slow read up to this point, but in Chile, Allende writes with simultaneous ease and intense emotion of her home country. Emilia is sent to cover the civil war in Chile, where at least 10,000 men were killed; her longing for adventure is over sated, as she places herself at the centre of the action. The conditions are harsh, merciless - it makes for quite difficult reading. Details are not spared. Emilia, once squeamish about the sight of blood, is changed utterly. She travels with the other foreign correspondent for the newspaper, Eric Whelan, and their relationship evolves as the brutality of war surrounds them. By the age of twenty-five, Emilia experiences so much pain, sees the depravity of human nature, and experiences it it first hand. She is no longer the girl brought up looking after her younger brothers and teaching at her father's school, and her adventurous spirit won't let her stop travelling...

The characters feel very real, although some points are quite detached. The Chilean Civil War is not something I knew about before, but I found myself looking up the places, the dates, the people... it's all real. It really reads like a memoir; some people have criticised it for this, but I found apt for the story Allende wanted to tell.

A fascinating history lesson, an unconventional romance, a coming-of-age story, an examination of ways women can push at the boundaries of expectations - this novel is beautiful. The ending wasn't quite satisfying for me (I might have preferred a more open ending), and the beginning was slow, but it's definitely worth reading. 4.5 stars.

This is a captivating tale of self-discovery, redemption and ultimately, love. Isabel Allende has done it again - this upcoming book shows how the literary legend has managed to write another powerful tale about an ambitious young woman navigating challenges and reinventing herself along the way.

Emilia del Valle is the main character of the book, and I initially thought it was kind of strange for how obvious it is although it subsequently came to me why that has to be the case. The tale is set in 19th century San Francisco and it begins with how her Chilean aristocrat father abandons her mum before she is even born. Emilia finds the father figure in her kind stepfather, whom her mother subsequently marries, and he encourages her to pursue her dream to become a writer when she grows up.

Emilia initially starts writing under a male pseudonym, and when an opportunity arises for a reporter to go to Chile, her biological father's homeland, she signs up for it and her contract allows her to write under her real name (hence, the title). Along with her partner in the mission, Eric Whelan, she finds herself in dangerous situations due to the social and political upheaval in Chile at the time. The rest of the book then narrates her journey, as well as how she explores her root, and grows as a person and finds herself.

I enjoyed reading this book, for Allende's storytelling gift and how it’s written in the first person narrative style. Definitely a quick read for me

This is an absolutely brilliant read which follows the life of Emilia a young illegitimate woman living in the times were women were expected to be submissive.but this did not fit in with her ambitions as a budding writer..
Her career in writing started young writing penny dreadfuls under the guise of a man.
Not satisfied she aimed higher to be a female reporter fora newspaper and whilst fulfilling this role was sent to Chile to cover the civil war that is raging there.
Brilliantly written this is a historical lesson into the Chilean war with no bars held
It is a story of love and war but more importantly Emilia,s journey to find who she is and become a woman

An immersive story that I couldn't wait to get back into each night. I enjoyed following Emilia De Valle's story and the writing was incredible as always. My only disappointment was the ending when she waited for Eric to come - it didn't feel true to her nature but it was a minor thing and didn't detract from the story.

Thanks net galley for allowing me to read this absolutely wonderful,story, and thank Isabel Allende for another great book. I have read all her books and this one did not dissapoint me it was just as great.
Emilia was born out of wedlock by her mother Molly Walsh, who fell in love with a Chilean wealthy man who left her.
Molly had every intention of being a nun, but obviously that was out of the question now so she bought up Emilia with a teacher whom she had met.
He loved Emilia as if she was his own, and taught her to be an intelligent curious and adventurous woman who could achieve everything she wanted to be.
Emilia wanted to be a journalist which was unheard of , woman just did not do that job, but Emilia never gave up and was offered a job to cover the civil war in Chile with another reporter.
Their Emilia came into her own, and tried to succeed and do all the things she was destined to,do.
Was sorry when I finished this book, and hope there will be another one soon.

My Name is Emilia del Valle is the latest release from Isabel Allendeand it iis the powerful story of one woman's determination and ambition as she strives to find her way in the world. Emilia has someting of an unorthodox upbringing as the daughter of a Chilean aristocrat and a postulant nun. Abandoned by her lover, Emilia's mother is forced to come clean at the convent. She marries a kindly local teacher who promises to raise the baby as his own and so Emilia has a happy childhood in eeighteenth century San Francisco. She is bright and ambitious and in many ways ahead o her time, becoming a popular author of pulp novels under a male pen name before working her way into a role as columnist for the Daily Examiner. There she uses her Chilean heritage to get herself assigned to cover the civil unrest brewing in that country. Once there she not only finds a family and heritage, she finds herself embroiled in the struggle.
This is a powerful story and has a main character that it is very easy to root for, she is practically the definition of a plucky heroine. Once again the author's love for her native land shines through and her descriptions of Val Pariso and various other parts of the country were both vivid and striking and immediately took me back to my visit to the country years ago. In some ways the storytelling felt familiar, fans of the author will know what to expect and will not be disappointed. The writing is beautiful of course and some of the passages describing the war were harrowing, really bringing to life the horror and senselessness of it all, and highlighting the role that women played, something that I had never really known about before.
Another triumph from Allende.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

This is another one of Allende’s books featuring a strong woman. The story – in terms of narration and setting – feels strangely familiar, since it follows a similar pattern as so many of Allende’s other novels. As always, she tells a meandering tale based on historical events with a bit of magical realism thrown in.

Our heroine, Emilia del Valle, is of Irish and Chilean decent. Her mother came to San Francisco as an immigrant fleeing the potato famine, where she met Emilia’s father, a handsome ne’er-do-well, who promptly left her penniless and with child. This child, Emilia, grows into a fiercely independent young woman, who manages to secure herself a job as an editorial journalist, which in the 19th century was a job solely reserved for and protected by men. When she persuades her editor-in-chief to send her to Chile as war correspondent to report on the outbreak and developments of the civil war, her real adventure begins.

She gets deeply drawn into this war and her journey of discovery and self-discovery entails her search for her father and family origins as much as a love story and the close – almost intimate - experience of the horrors and cruelty of war.

All in all, a story containing many others, all worth telling and mostly well told. My reading experience got just slightly marred by Allende’s drive to get a point across, which occasionally results in commonplace sentiments and stilted dialogues, which however does not take anything away from Allende’s gifted story-telling.

I am grateful to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine

I absolutely love this author and this was an absolute treat
I feel very privileged to be able to read this

I got totally lost in the story
Highly recommend

I was looking forward to this book. The synopsis sounded intriguing, so I was excited to get stuck. The writing was fluent but overly descriptive, which at times, made me want to skip on. I never took to the characters. The story is set in 1890, and I felt the characters were too modern for the time. Emilia, the main character, had too much freedom even for an adventurous woman of the time, which made the story rather implausible for me. She travelled alone to remote places and easily got meetings with high-ranking men. For me, this felt unrealistic. The descriptions of the war were graphic and believable, though.
Her descriptions of Chile were very good, but for me, there wasn't enough focus on the storyline for me to really enjoy the book.

Told with all the flair and intrigue that the author never fails to provide, I loved the wonderful independent heroine of the title. The writing is full of joy and beauty, following the progress through life of one of Allende’s most compelling characters, a woman whose journey through life is full of passion and bravery. She manages to combine the personal and historical in Emilia’s life, uninhibited by the expectations of society in 19th century San Francisco and Chile, covering the latter’s chequered history of war and repression, amidst a landscape of staggering beauty, still unspoilt in places.

Another brilliant book from Isabel Allende - I've enjoyed every one I've read so far. This one is no exception, with its taut writing (and excellent translation), as well as a story and characters that you can't help but care about.