Violeta is born in South America as the youngest child to a family with five older boys, at the time in history just after the Great War and during the time of the Spanish flu epidemic.
She lives 100 years and dies in 2020 when coronavirus hits. Even after a century of living..at the end she says “where did those hundred years go?”
This story is told by Violeta to a loved one, and it doesn’t hold anything back..her passionate affairs, heartbreak, poverty, wealth, devastating losses, and the political upheavals she’s been witness to.
I really enjoyed the book, especially the first half which was more about herself with her family and close friends.
The second half became a little bogged down by all the political upheavals and other events in history..
Nevertheless, an engaging story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for the ARC!

4 stars

Violeta by Isabel Allende tells the life of a South American woman named Violeta del Valle. The book is set up as a letter to the mysterious Camilo. The reader does eventually discover who Camilo is to Violeta, but I won’t spoil it in the review.

Violeta describes her life as being framed by two pandemics. She was born in 1920 during the Spanish flu outbreak and died in 2020 during the covid 19 outbreak. Her comparisons of the two pandemics was very interesting given current events. The book is divided into four parts each covering a different time period in Violeta’s life. The parts are labeled exile, passion, absence, and rebirth. Violeta did not have an easy life. She suffered, but she also had a lot of love. Her story was beautiful, tragic, and inspirational.

I love Isabel Allende’s writing. I will automatically read anything that she writes ever since I read House of the Spirits in high school. I love her descriptions. The way that she writes about her characters’ experiences are always so thought provoking and emotional. She often includes strong female characters and Violeta is no exception. I highly recommend this book.

I was invited to read an ARC of Violeta [English Edition] by Isabel Allende. #VioletaEnglishEdition #NetGalley

4.5 Stars

Violeta entered the world in 1920, the youngest of five children, and the only daughter, during the years of the pandemic that began in 1918, and arrived in South America the year she was born. Soon after, the Great Depression will follow, and their family will settle in a more isolated area, where she spends her childhood, and where she will meet her first sweetheart.

As the story of her life and the life of her family is shared, her personal life is filled with the history of those years whose effects were felt by many, the inequality of the times, the losses and her personal heartbreaks. The Women’s Suffrage Movement had finally made progress in America, which shaped the course of women’s rights beyond those borders.

This story is shared in an epistolary style, she shares her life’s story with a loved one, it covers the hundred years of her life, the memories of her parents, the memories of those she loved, and those she lost, as well. Men she loved for their friendship and caring, and those she loved more intimately. Her children, the struggles and frustrations that went with raising them, and the intensity of her love for them despite the paths they took.

She tells her story in the form of a letter to someone she loves above all others, recounting times of devastating heartbreak and passionate affairs, poverty and wealth, terrible loss and immense joy. Her life is shaped by some of the most important events of history: the fight for women's rights, the rise and fall of tyrants, and ultimately not one, but two pandemics.

While she shares her story, the story of the changes in the world during these hundred years is also shared, as well as her regrets, her confessions and her love for the gift of this life, despite the heartbreaks that are inevitably included.

A lovely and inspiring story of a woman filled with a passion for life, lived on one’s own terms.


Pub Date: 25 Jan 2022


Many thanks for the ARC provided by Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books

A wonderfully vibrant and colorful new novel for Isabel Allende and historical fiction fans. I enjoyed learning about Chile and its culture and history through this story but I wasn't as emotionally invested or attached to the characters as I would have liked. I feel like that is a trait of historical fiction though. This novel covers a large breadth of time and history so it's certainly eventful and interesting, but it would have been nice to know a bit more about the characters' motivations and reflections on what was happening at the time. Regardless, it's still a good and worthwhile read.

Thank you NetGalley for the digital eARC. This book was SO GOOD! OMG I have not read a book this in a very long time. This is one great author. The details. The history involved. The characters. So true to life and so vividly detailed! The story lines were just wonderful. It was a really wonderful book. The end had me in tears.

This book provides quirky characters, nods to the present through the telling of history, dramatic turns of events, and passion galore. Although there are plenty of heavy moments, the overall tone of the story still manages to be fairly positive. Overall, an enjoyable read by a wonderful author.

Gorgeous, this novel traces a family through one woman’s voice. Allende’s magical realism is here, yet subtle. It’s in the ways her characters interact. This novel is lushly presented. Readers are on this journey with our main character through major life events.

My take: 4 out of 5. I was very excited to get an ARC copy to check out Isabel Allende's new book, and found it interesting to check her out in English as Ive only previously read her in spanish. This An epic tale expanding the life of a woman that is 100 years old, it falls very much in line of Isabel Allendes Books, lots of family and historical drama intertwined and with the Chilean political system at a lamplight. However, unlike long petal of the sea, which tended to drag on and be a bit tedious, this book was a breeze to read and the characters very engaging. I also loved the pandemic bookmarks of the storytelling, between two pandemics, which made it relevant and telling of the time, without digging to much into it (which has become a PTSD thing for me in book). Definitely recommend it for fans of Isabel Allende and of Historical Fiction.

This book is a look at the last 100 years from the lens of a 100 year old woman who has spent her life in an unnamed South American country as well as the USA. It’s Allende so the prose is fantastic, and overall I really liked it. The ending got a bit cliche for me, but I would definitely recommend

Epic. Spectacular. Compelling. Allende at her best!

From the first pages, Violeta drew me in. The writing is captivating and the story is so engaging. I wanted to know 'what's next' and had trouble putting it down!

This is a story of Violeta's life... it is one very long and loving letter written to someone she deeply loves. The story includes Chilean history (which I knew very little about) and bookends the life of Violeta tucked between two pandemics. It is brilliant and I found that bit of irony so perfect and gave an incredible glimpse into the unique life Violeta lived. If you think a person cannot change, this book will show you that change is absolutely possible... you just have to want it with everything in your being.

I want to thank NetGalley, Ballantine, and Random House for this ARC and this is my unbiased review of this book.

I highly recommend it! Really... this is a must read book!

Interesting historical fiction told from the perspective of Violeta Del Valle, a Chilean woman nearing the end of her life and sharing her story with a beloved relative. Violeta's life is bookend by two pandemics--influenza in 1920, and COVID in 2020. In between, she shares her experience of the Great Depression, wars, military coups and dictatorships, natural disasters, personal loves and tragedies, and social justice movements.

I wish this history came with a bit more self-reflection from Violeta. While I feel like I learned a lot about Chilean history, which was presented as the driving action for certain developments in her life, when it came to her (fictional) life, I don't know what lessons I was meant to take away because I was limited by what she did (or more often, did not) learn. Without that, it sometimes felt like a series of "and then this happened, and then this happened."

That said, it was generally entertaining and a colorful, detailed narrative that will appeal to Allende fans and those who love stories set against compelling historical backdrops.

Violeta is another Allende tour de force. While you are reading, you ARE Violeta. You see everything through her eyes, and she is a keen observer, as is Allende herself. There is no soft-pedal of the difficult situations that populate Violeta’s life, but this is by no means a depressing novel. For me, rather than depressed, I found myself intrigued, wanting to know what happens next. Isabel Allende is, above all things, a wonderful writer. Violeta is worth reading for the writing alone. But read it also for the story of an engrossing life. You won’t regret it.

VIoleta narrates the story of her life , and it’s a long life !
It's written to a specific person and you’ll spend at least half the book figuring out who it is. It is very detailed and I’ll admit that at times I grew a bit weary but never to the point of wanting to stop reading it.
As years go by she experiences so many different trials , tribulations, friendships, lovers family issues and just life in general during her long lifespan.
Allende’s books paint a complex picture of people, places and world events , and she is quite the artist of literature !
Great character development and the scenes are nuanced to the perfection of every detail.
I think this is a great book many would love, maybe not my “cup of tea” 100% though.
I did enjoy the book overall and it is certainly worth consideration for most readers.
Thanks to @NetGalley @ballantine @randomhouse for the ARC , this is my unbiased review.

NOTE: I received early access to this book through netgalley.com in exchange for writing an impartial review. Thank you Ballantine Books. Scheduled Publication: January 25, 2022.

I should acknowledge up front that author Isabel Allende is a favorite of mine and I have loved nearly all of her books. This one is no exception.

I find some books tend to be more plot driven, others propelled by character evolution, and a few full of rich, lyrical language that can read like poetry. In this historical novel, Allende manages to blend all three. As she so often does. Her descriptions of seemingly small moments include such touching detail that they often made me feel I was sitting in the room as a witness. This book is not just a well-crafted novel. It's literature.

VIOLETA is a first person narrative, a woman writing down the story of her life as she approaches death. It's written to a specific person -- but you will need to discover who that is on your own. The book is also a story that closely follows the history of a century.

Born during the Spanish Flu Epidemic (1920), Violeta begins her life in a large extended family with great wealth, largely because her father believes economic success grows naturally out of a willingness to take great risk. Not surprisingly, the 1930s Depression hits the family hard. A dramatic change in circumstance propels Violeta into a much wider, and far less protected world.

As years pass, she experiences poverty, violence, marriage, passion, children, love affairs, tragedy, and successes and failures. All against the unfolding history of a South American country enduring repeated political repression and revolution. World War II, gangsters, drugs and hippies, addiction, abuse, and more reach into Violeta's orbit. Her priorities shift multiple times as she comes in contact with a wider variety of perspectives (Spanish-speaking elite, indigenous people, and ex-pats) and understands more about other realities surrounding her. Violeta's story is as challenging as the profound historical events impacting her loved ones, but also as dramatic and universal as the day-to-day experiences impacting EVERY woman's life (i.e. love, friendship, family).

VIOLETA is a beautiful novel from the very first page, full of three-dimensional characters exhibiting all the foibles we recognize as simply part of human nature. Don't miss VIOLETA.

I have a hard time describing Isabel Allende’s books to anyone other than saying that her writing is masterful, beautiful and transcending and Violeta doesn’t disappoint and does the same. Violeta is a beautifully written story about a woman who has lived a long life and is now telling that story to her grandson. This story spans generations and the character development is wonderful. Another 5 star rating for Isabel Allende!

The past 100 years as told through the voice of one woman whose life bears similarities to that of the author, the iconic Isabel Allende. The only reason I don't award it a full five stars is the lagging in the latter half, which tested my patience a bit. But as with all of Allende's heroines, Violeta is emblematic of her time and her history, drawing parallels between the Spanish flu and the current Covid pandemic, among other things.

I am gutted to have finished Allende’s latest, and the book was easiest the best of the year so far, and intoxicating. Violeta is so marvelous in all of her adventurous soul, and epic in her 100 year life. If only she were real, but as always, the author gives us a romantic, exotic tale, while also illustrating the darkness of the time. This book is a gem

A beautifully written book about one women’s life from 1920 to 2020. Told ta beloved grandson the story unfolds through the lens of a changing world over a century. A remarkable woman and a wonderful story.

Mixed feelings on this historical fiction novel, I liked the story and the narrative style but struggled to connect with Violeta as a main character. I did however enjoy seeing the events of that time period through her eyes as she tells her life story.

did not like book did not hold my interest would not recommend much too wordy some may like it,just not me