A Long Petal of the Sea: A Novel

A Long Petal of the Sea, Isabel Allende, 2020I really like good historical fiction. It gives one the personal experience of participating in historical events through the perspective of fictional characters. And this is good historical fiction as it addresses the subjects of refugees and exile brought about by political instability and turmoil. Allende is not someone without personal experience in this regard as her uncle was Salvador Allende and she had to flee Chile in 1973 when Pinochet staged a rightwing coup. Her first book “House of the Spirits” dealt with this same subject using a fictional country and fictional political leaders. This book is about real countries, real events, real political figures.The book starts in the year 1939 in the city of Barcelona. Franco’s forces have just defeated the Republican forces in the battle of Madrid and are closing in on the last Catalonian stronghold of Barcelona. There the middleclass family of a music teacher, Marcel Dalmau, is contemplating the impending disaster. Marcel’s two sons are socialists, members of the Republican forces. Victor is a medic and his brother, Guillem, a soldier, just killed in the forces defeated in Madrid. Also, part of the household is a girl, Roser, a musical prodigy, adopted by Marcel and pregnant with Guillem’s child. The story follows the flight, in the depths of winter, of Victor and Roser, along with the catastrophic exodus of hundreds of thousands from Barcelona to the French border. There, in the French concentration camps on the beaches at Argeles-sur-Mer, they endure brutal mistreatment and witness the deaths of thousands of refugees.The Nobel Prize winning Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda plays a crucial role in the story as he organizes an exodus of over 2000 of the refuges on a chartered freighter to be resettled in Chile. The story follows the lives of Victor and Roser as they are rescued by Neruda and end up in Santiago, Chile. They are adopted by the scion of a wealthy family who is a sympathizer with left-wing causes. The tensions, inequalities and instability of Chilean society of that time are revealed through the characters’ lives and portend another repeat of the horror they escaped in 1939. Allendes’ complex interweaving of compelling characters and situations propel this story forward and will keep you turning pages. Victor does not relinquish his political affiliations, and this will prove disastrous 34 years after he arrived in Chile when the right-wing dictatorship of Pinochet takes over. Along with Rosa he again becomes a refugee and again they both are forced into exile in Venezuela.Allendes’ portrayal rings true because she has lived this story herself. Political instability fueled by inequality and strident ideology are dangers to all Democratic societies and can give rise to catastrophic conflict. Allendes’ book is a plea for understanding and compassion for the plight of refugees from political, societal and racial violence. The world is again confronting refugee crisis’s in the middle east and on our own southern border. How we treat or mistreat these refugees reflects on our human values not theirs. Apparently throughout history it has been all too easy for people to succumb to the politics of unscrupulous leaders who appeal to the worst aspects of human nature.If you’re looking for an epic and masterful work of historical fiction, of hope, exile and belonging then look no further. Within this epic sweep of history is embedded a great story with many unexpected plot twists. This will be made into a movie. Pablo Neruda’s poetry is featured at the beginning of each chapter. JACK“Foreigners, here it is,This is my homeland,Here I was born and here live my dreams,Chile, long petal of sea and wine and snow”

(My opinion on this book kind of went up and down rather drastically as I read it, so at the end, it was 4, but at other times it was a 3.)This was an epic historical tale that (mostly) follows Victor Dalmau over the span of his eighty years of life and encompasses everything from his early days as a soldier for the Republic of Spain to his exile to Chile (and further tragedies that might be spoilers, but if you don't know about the history of Chile.) The one guiding theme throughout all of these life events is love.Dalmau is a heart doctor. He has many loves throughout his long life (and not just people, but I'd argue the countries that he takes refuge in too). The most important love of these is for his wife, who he falls in love with multiple times in their later years. (When he was evacuating, he was forced to marry his brother's girlfriend, Roster. It was supposed to be that they would divorce after arriving, but they ended up staying together.) Theirs is a free love and a mature one that evolves many times over the years, and even after she dies, it persists as she tells him to love the neighbor as well in order to not be alone. So he does. Love, in this book, seems to be equated with the continuation of life and keeps showing up in every aspect of the book, even when the world outside is bleak and keeps falling apart.(I can't help thinking about the symbolism of Dalmau restarting the heart of that soldier as some sort of representation of the respective countries that Dalmau must repeatedly flee from due to violence and the slow rebirth of those countries. I greatly admired this and enjoyed reading and learning about the happenings in those countries. And love, it seems in this book, to be present both in the violent times and after; it is always there and that was an interesting aspect - that love can be violent and also peaceful.)However, there are somethings about the way this book is written that made it a bit tough for me to get through. First off, this is written like a history textbook. There are many instances of just facts (of political parties etc.) being presented while the story takes a backseat. Then, because of the timeline involved, a lot of the story ends up reading like a summary of a story, and nothing is ever really in present time. And due to this, I would totally get it if someone DNF'ed this. At times, it's not that enjoyable to read, but due to the interesting topics (and some of the beautiful lines), I rated this up.I would recommend this book for people who like history (and maybe not so much fiction).

Isabel Allende writes with so much heart. In A Long Petal of the Sea for the first time she bears her soul and her love of Chile. This is a very good historical novel.As I said another good read.