This book was written based on someone that Isabel Allende knew, named Victor. He lived until he was 103, dying right before she was to send him the manuscript. the fictional character, Victor, and his wife Roser enter into a marriage of convenience during the upheaval of the Spanish Civil War. Through the rest of their lives, they depend on each other and experience displacement, revolution, imprisonment as well as failed love affairs, and the joys of domestic tranquility. It is only at the end of their long lives do they acknowledge their deep love for each other. ( )

Historical Fiction of Spanish Civil War/Franco, WWII France, and Chilean Pinochet repression from late 1930s to 1990s. Following the lives of an extended family and an eventual Doctor named Victor Dolmau. I listened to this on an audio CD with Edoardo Ballerini narrating. His reading was OK but not brilliant. This was an enjoyable work by Ms. Allende, but not her best of the 5 other books by her that I have read. ( )

Lush historical fiction so deftly told in Isabel Allende’s trademark beautiful prose. The story begins in 1938 in Spain, where we meet Roser Bruguera and the Dalmau family; Roser becomes pregnant with Guillem Dalmau’s child before he is killed at the Battle of Ebro in the Spanish Civil War. Although Guillem’s death is concealed from Roser, as it becomes clear that the Republican cause will be crushed, a very pregnant Roser, her would-be mother-in-law Carme, and another friend are convinced to flee to France. Eventually, Roser and Carme are separated and Roser has a treacherous journey over the Pyrenees, where she eventually encounters Guillem’s brother Victor. After Roser gives birth to a son and they are unable to ascertain the whereabouts of Carme, they learn of a ship, the Winnipeg, that will carry 2000 exiles to Chile, a mission organized by the poet Pablo Neruda. To gain passage on the ship, Victor and Roser must marry, but it is really Roser’s ability to play the piano that assures them berths. Once in Chile, Victor, who served as a medic during the Spanish Civil War, is helped into medical school by the socialist politician, Salvador Allende, whose friendship puts the Dalmauses in jeopardy when Allende is deposed by the brutal Augusto Pinochet in a 1973 coup, and they escape to Venezuela. Richly drawn characters for the most part, and a compelling saga of love and resistance against authoritarian regimes. ( )

Lyrical and evocative historical fiction about two lost souls fleeing the Spanish Civil War and the lives they make for themselves in Chili. Victor, a medic for the militia, must flee Spain with his mother and Roser, his brother's pregnant lover. Since his father and brother's death, Victor must do what is best for the women in his life. Told over the course of decades, A Long Petal of the Sea, tells us the up and downs of the life that Victor has forged for himself. Set in a country where I have read little, it was fascinating to learn more about Chile and the political strife they were facing. This story is really a 3.5 rating for me. For a lot of the book I wasn't sure where the story was going but I was still intrigued. I enjoyed the characters and thought they were very human, but didn't always love them. They were real and flawed. Character driven and beautifully narrated. ( )

This was pretty interesting. It started out with people on the Republican side in the Spanish civil war. Franco's forces pretty much defeated the Republicans, rather brutally, actually. The characters ended up in "refugee camps" in France. The protagonist, Victor ? escaped to Chile with his pregnant "wife", Roser, thanks to the intercessions of the famous poet, Pablo Neruda. Roser was actually pregnant with Victor's brother's child, but the brother had been killed in the war. The only way to save Rosar was to marry her and take her along. Over time, Victor and Roser developed a deep love.

Anyway, they set up in Chile and things were good there until Pinochet headed up a military coup to depose Salvador Allende. So, it was back to exile, this time in Venezuela. Eventually, things improved in Chile and they got to go back for their final years.

Interesting that as I was reading about the military coup that installed Pinochet, Henry Kissinger, who abetted Pinochet with the coup died. Also interesting to me is how awful authoritarian regimes can be, but here in the U.S., close to half the population are seriously contemplating installing an authoritarian in the White House come 2024. WTF?

Better than ***, but not so good as ****, so actually, ***
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