Reviews
With The Japanese Lover , Allende reminds us that, while not everyone has a true love, we all have loves that are true. Whether they be passionate, familial, unrequited or timeless,the one constant in our lives is love. And Isabel Allende celebrates them all, beautifully., Themes of lasting passion, friendship, reflections in old age, and how people react to challenging circumstances all feature in Allende's newest saga, which moves from modern San Francisco back to the traumatic WWII years. As always, her lively storytelling pulls readers into her characters' lives immediately... the story has many heart felt moments, and readers will be lining up for it., [A] fairy tale of a novel...As in all of Allende's fiction, we find a large, colorful cast of characters..., Allende's magical and sweeping tale focuses on two survivors of separation and loss…Befitting the unapologetically romantic soul bared here-the poignant letters to Alma from Ichimei are interspersed throughout-love is what endures., Filled with Allende's signature lyricism and ingenious plotting, the book delves wonderfully into what it means to respect, protect, and love., A Syntactically Beautiful Story with the Twists and Turns of a Telenovela and Warmth at Its Center., Praise for The Japanese Lover " The Japanese Lover is animated by the same lush spirit that has sold 65 million copies of her books around the world... a novel that's a pleasure to recommend.", Devotees of Allende's forays into magical realism ( The House of Spirits , The Stories of Eva Luna ) will find the universe she creates here--an account of earthly lives lived in an earthly setting--more madcap and macabre., [ In the Midst of Winter ] forthrightly embraces both harsh realities and whimsy, pleasure and pain in this buoyant adventure, a heartfelt story of resilience and respect that seems just the thing to help us through these darkest of days in our land of exiles., Allende's latest tale is heartfelt and raw... The interactions between the characters is well thought out and deep. Readers will come to love them and experience the heartbreak and joy both of their past, present, and future., The contrast of a modern-day mystery with the characters' magical worlds of South American culture, makes In the Midst of Winter an absorbing, page-turning adventure., Like the incomparable storyteller she is, Isabel Allende does not release us from the novel's spell until the last pages, with a brief but bittersweet hint of her famed magical realism., Allende has a rare and precious gift for simultaneously challenging and entrancing readers by dramatizing with startling intimacy such dire situations as the desperation behind illegal immigration and domestic violence, then reveling, a page later, in spiritual visions or mischievous sexiness or heroic levity., "With her engaging new novel, "The Japanese Lover," Allende brings us a tale at once global and rooted deeply in Bay Area history, sweeping through time and across continents to explore the inner lives of two very different women in contemporary California.", The latest from the writer who's been called Gabriel Garcia Marquez's successor. It's a love story that covers a lot of ground, from Nazi-occupied Poland to present-day San Francisco. You won't want to put it down., Isabel Allende's masterful blend of history, suspense, and rising passion makes for yet another riveting novel., Isabel Allende's oeuvre ranges widely...but The Japanese Lover , her lushly detailed new work, may be her most expansive yet..., [Allende] continues to beguile readers with themes of social justice and love, tied together with a bit of magical realism. In this vivid and fast-paced work of fiction, [she] weaves a suspenseful love story, rendering [its] central trio with generosity, spirit, and passion., Allende uses imagination to help readers gain a better understanding of what the immigrant experience is really like for many people in this country., It's when revealing the characters' harrowing past lives in other countries that the generous and unflagging energy that characterized Allende's debut, The House of the Spirits , can most clearly be felt., Isabel Allende brings her poetic and compassionate eye to In the Midst of Winter , [which] is being compared with her masterpiece The House of the Spirits ., Themes of lasting passion, friendship, reflections in old age, and how people react to challenging circumstances all feature in Allende's newest saga, which moves from modern San Francisco back to the traumatic WWII years. As always, her lively storytelling pulls readers into her characters' lives immediately… the story has many heart felt moments, and readers will be lining up for it., The lesson is clear in both book and life--passion is possible. So is survival and change and making a difference in the world, in Isabel Allende's grand and inimitable style., [Allende] is a dazzling storyteller, with a wry, sometimes dark, wit and a great eye for society's changing fashions. She may be writing a fairy tale for adults, but like the best of the genre, it's almost irresistible., Allende's engrossing narrative spans 70 years of tumultuous world history, but the powerful message you'll take away is that love -- all kinds of love -- will take root and endure under the most harrowing conditions., Allende's magical and sweeping tale focuses on two survivors of separation and loss...Befitting the unapologetically romantic soul bared here--the poignant letters to Alma from Ichimei are interspersed throughout--love is what endures.
