Daughter of Fortune

My latest read is Isabel Allende's Daughter of Fortune. My copy, sadly, also sports the Oprah seal of approval. Hopefully the other subway riders didn't think I was some Oprah-following sheep!

Seriously, though, the book took me a fairly long time to get into. The story is really split into two parts: the first introduces us to Eliza, an orphan, the British family who adopts her, and their home in Chile. I have to admit that this first section--a pretty big portion of the book--moved very slowly. It's only once Eliza runs off to California during the gold rush that the book picked up. Still there weren't a lot of surprises. Plot lines are not always tied up neatly (which I appreciate, and which gave Allende the opportunity to continue the story in Portraits in Sepia), but none went in an unexpected direction, either.

I already have Portraits in Sepia, and by the end I liked Daughter of Fortune enough to give the follow-up a chance. But this isn't for anyone looking for a book that will grab you instantly.