Completely star struck as the writing genius of Isabel Allende. As an author she has the ability to write as a young woman struggling with identity, sexuality, then to the depths of a older wise woman to historian all while taking me with her in her words. The story of Emilia del Valle, conjured for me the power of believing in oneself to follow her dream to be a serious writer, only then to be taken on the journey of what the price is to report a brutal civil war and survive I can not express how profound Ms Allende's descriptions were of the horrors of war, and the courage of many. At times it was difficult to read of the cruelty of war, my heart also kept hope for love to endure with Eric, being reunited with her mother Molly and her kind Papo. I enjoyed the rich voices of each of the characters that Emilia met on her journey to come out the other side. Deepest thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read Ms Allende's words and story. My favorite read this year.

I had trouble getting through this book. Most of the time I was confused, but I got the general idea of the story. I had trouble until there was about 15% left and things got interesting for me. There is a ton of historical and Chilean background and Spanish that made things confusing. I did feel like I learned quite a bit on Chile’s history and culture which I enjoyed.

It was pretty gruesome and descriptive at some points that were difficult for me to read as a queasy person. However, even though I didn’t love this one, I will absolutely be reading more Isabel Allende at some point!

Historical fiction is my favorite genre and learning new things while engaged in an intelligent story is enjoyable. A story written during the last 1800's in Chile and about a strong female character who came from poverty and unusual parentage. Raised by her stepfather Emilia excels and eventually develops goals to be a writer. A badass Rory Gilmore, 1800's edition.
Headstrong Emilia del Valle is a fighter and willing to put herself into peril and danger during wartime to cover the side of the current Chilean president. Deeply developed characters, with brutal at times detail.
It's not an easy-to-read novel but it does balance war with seeking family and maybe some romance.

I love this author's writing and was excited to read this new book, especially with the beautiful cover. Unfortunately, the journalistic writing felt more like reading a history book than a heartfelt novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a great story and I loved how real history was threaded throughout this book. I feel as though I learned a little more about Chile and its history through this book. Emilia was a force to be reckoned with and I really loved her journey through this book. This was a great and different read.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books for allowing me to read and review My Name is Emilia del Valle on NetGalley.

Published: 05/06/25

Stars: 3.5

A nice read, change of scenery and historical fiction pace. I would not befriend Emilia. I didn't like her attitude or decision making. However, I liked the overall story. Emilia's stepfather and friend Eric were refreshing characters, as well as the canteen girl. I was thankful the ending was not open ended.

This was a nice way to spend a few hours, and I will look into the author's other works.

#seriesseptember
#BooksAndJams

This has been one of my most anticipated reads for quite a bit, and while it didn’t reach the expectations I had, it still offered a good historical fiction with an amazing feminism aspect.

Emilia was a strong willed, lovable character who instantly reminded me of Jo March—who I love dearly. If you’re a fan of Jo’s fire, Emilia will no doubt win you over as well. Her determination to challenge the limitations placed on women, especially during the chaos and cruelty of war, made her a character that was easy to root for. As a feminist myself, I deeply appreciated the themes of it woven through this story to prove that women are more than what society allows them to be. This book does a great job shining light onto just how underestimated women have always been.

It’s worth mentioning that I also enjoyed the slow-burn romance between Emilia and Eric; it added a little bit of a softer touch to the otherwise darker themes of war and loss.

At last, the book fell short emotionally for me. While I liked it enough to finish it and appreciate all that it offered, it didn’t leave me with any lasting thoughts or feelings—no joy, no sadness, no rage. For me, a good book is one that makes you feel, and unfortunately this one just didn’t land that much-needed punch. Because of that alone, my rating leans a little lower than I’d hoped it would.

1.4 ★

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙂𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙍𝘾!

This is the story of Emilia and it is primarily told by her, which I’m not sure worked the best since Emilia is explaining what other people are experiencing and thinking. The romantic relationship late in the book didn’t work for me either. Overall, I liked this one as historical fiction but I didn’t love it.

I was very fortunate to receive an advanced reader copy from NetGalley but all thoughts are unbiased and my own!

I’d give this 3.5 (so rounded up to 4 stars!) I found the historical fiction so fascinating and I thought looking at the perspective of war was super eye opening! I found myself especially at the end not wanting to put the book down.

However… I feel the book had a slight pacing issue (for me at least) and took me a second to feel fully invested in the characters and what was happening to them as they were on their journeys of self discovery… I felt it was a bit slow but once I was into it… I was IN IT!

And I mean my gosh her writing is just beautiful and so vivid and descriptive I can see everything happening in my mind like a movie!

Don’t think this is going to be a read for everyone, but would def recommend for my historical fiction girlies looking for something different (:

Lyrical, powerful, and deeply moving. Isabel Allende brings Emilia’s story to life with her signature blend of history, heart, and humanity. This is a tale of identity, resilience, and the strength of women across generations—told with prose that lingers long after the last page. A beautiful, unforgettable read

In this fascinating new historical fiction novel from Isabel Allende, readers follow Emilia de Valle, the daughter of an Irish nun and a Chilean aristocrat raised by her mother and professor stepfather. Independent and self-sufficient, Emilia defies society by pursuing her passion for writing pulp fiction under a male pen name before turning to journalism. Getting a job at The Daily Examiner, Emilia is paired with reporter Eric Whelan when she gets the opportunity to cover a brewing civil war in Chile, where she meets her father amidst the violence. Packed with details and absolutely fascinating, readers will love the complex relationships and depth of emotion in this new historical fiction novel. The characters are well-written and packed with details, and Emilia is a competent and strong protagonist who readers will love. The historical details and setting are a great backdrop to her willingness to defy convention, and the rest of her personality is particularly entertaining and endearing. Allende’s protagonists and characters are always well-written, and the attention to detail is absolutely fantastic, and the high stakes and shifting events and emotions will pull readers into the story. Immersive and fascinating, readers will love this brilliant new historical fiction novel and its strong-minded protagonist from Isabel Allende.

This book is probably my favorite from this author thus far and I have read several of her books. Emilia is such a good character and the story is epic. In a time when women didn’t have careers or a lot of freedom, Emilia works her way into not only a career in journalism but eventually becomes a war correspondent. When she is sent to Chile to cover the civil war there, she goes to the front lines to work with the “canteen women” and the reader gets a first hand account of this historical revolution. Emilia also finds her biological father in Chile and develops a relationship with him and eventually finds her own romantic interest.
There’s so much packed into this well written and engaging book. I loved learning about some history that I was previously unfamiliar with. And I’m always impressed with strong female characters such as Emilia. The canteen women were also admirable and intriguing. Emilia’s journey to the very remote and wild southern Chilean backcountry at the end of the book was amazing. Even the romance portion was well done and the story ended on a positive note. Very enjoyable read!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own.

Isabel Allende has written another memorable work of historical fiction. Her strong-willed, independent protagonist, Emilia Del Valle provides the reader with eye-witness accounts of war after breaking into the male-dominated career of war correspondent. Although at times I found it difficult to suspend my disbelief at the many ways Emilia escapes personal tragedy, I appreciated the authentic descriptions of people and places and recommend this novel. Thank you to Net Galley for sending me an ARC.

Are you an Isabel Allende fan? If so, just grab this book & dive in. If you are not yet, then you should read this book and dive into a wonderful world that is full of depth and wonderful characters. In San Francisco, 1866, an Irish nun is shunned because she had an affair and a child with a Chilean aristocrat. Left adrift and wanting to pursue her dream of writing, she decides to write under a men's name so she can make a living. She is a woman trying to make it in a man's world and discover who she is. Enjoy this wonderful and rich story.

I am sorry, I have been trying to read this book for a couple of months & I just cannot get into it. I like this author but this book is just not for me.

Emilia del Valle is a fiesty girl who grows into an in-your-face kinda woman. Her mother - an Irish nun - had a sufficiently intimate moment with a Chilean aristocrat to knock out Emilia with aplomb, snag another nice gentleman (sans the habit we think) who stepped into Emilia's life as her stepdad - the loveable kind. He empowers her with education and encouragement and she begins writing dime store novels with a male pseudonym and kicks off a big career in the Mission District in San Francisco.

Meanwhile she's gaining all kinds of experience (read into that what you will), wars break out in Chile and her publisher sends her to Chile to report on it - because she's Chilean and speaks the language. The fact that she's only written dime store novels doesn't faze him a bit, and doesn't stop her either - like Barkis, she's willing. Her story clearly showed a woman had to take orders or be dropped from the work force. Bottomline, even as an American woman she had no negotiating leverage, and in her case her name nailed her to a ticket headed to the war in Chile. And that's only the beginning of the book.

There were parts of Emilia's story that were uncomfortable for this reader - so much war and killing, torture, and at the end, well, I could barely continue. (But do keep on, don't quit there!). I appreciated most her love of story-telling, and her passion to get the story right and out to anyone who'd listen. I also appreciated Emilia's intense desire to be in the space and place where the events she was writing about were happening or had happened - she wanted, she needed to soak it all in.

The further in I read, the more deeply I was engaged with Emilia, even though I disagreed with her choices often. It didn't keep me from caring about what her fate was, and it wasn't clear until the end of the read how that would conclude. And here I leave you, my Bookish Friend, with my four stars tossed up into the universe in the name of Emilia del Valle!

*A sincere thank you to Isabel Allende, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.* #MyNameIsEmiliadelValle #NetGalley

This was not my favorite of Allende’s work but that’s still a high bar. It feels very true to her and her voice and is a perfectly nice next title by her.

If I could give this book more than 5 stars, I absolutely would. My Name is Emilia del Valle is a powerful, beautifully written story that stayed with me long after I turned the last page.

Isabel Allende once again delivers an unforgettable heroine. Emilia is everything I love in a main character—strong, complex, brave, and deeply human. Set in a time when women were expected to marry, raise children, and little else, Emilia defies expectations. She carves her own path as a writer and journalist, stepping boldly into spaces that were traditionally reserved for men. Her journey is not only inspiring but also deeply emotional.

This is a novel about family, love, identity, and the courage it takes to find—and be—your true self. Allende’s storytelling is rich and immersive, and her characters feel incredibly real. It’s the kind of book that reminds you why you love to read.

Highly, highly recommended to fans of historical fiction, literary fiction, and stories centered around bold women rewriting the rules.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publish Group for the opportunity to read this incredible book.

I’m in love with Isabel Allende.

I fell in love with her writing in. Latin American Boom Literature course where I read Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s 100 Years of Solitude and Allende’s The House of the Spirits back to bac. The conversation those two novels had and the way Allende looked at Latin American history from a matrilineal perspective was just incredible and I could talk for hours about it. She easily became a must read author for me, yet time and sooooo many books kept me from revisiting her work. I also may have been a little worried that nothing could match my experience reading The House of the Spirits.

This came up as an option on NetGalley and I jumped to read it. I was worried because I had seen mixed reviews, but sitting here drinking my old fashioned @rosesonadeline having just finished I already want to crawl back into this world.

Emilia Del Valle Claro is a writer and journalist in San Francisco who ventures to Chile to cover a civil war and to hopefully meet her father who impregnated her mother and disappeared never claiming Emilia. In Chile she experiences war first hand and all its dangers not just during but after. Emilia is drawn too not just by war and her father, but also to search for her roots in the land of her forefathers.

At its core this novel is an adventure story like the dime novels Emilia writes under a pseudonym. She is an adventurer, a seeker, and a wanderer. At this level the novel called to me deeply.

Tomorrow I set off for Bend to solo hike Three Sisters and Deshutes area for a few days and I get Emilia’s need to press on, to seek something greater, to prove that women are every bit as strong as men, and to understand the world and our place in it more deeply

Also Covadonga stole my heart, we don’t deserve dogs truly, and yes I know it’s a fictional dog and I stand on what I said🤣

If you like story and plot with some depth and very interesting characters told mostly in first person you should consider this book. The ending is maybe a little succinct comparatively to the rest of the story and a little convenient. That said I think it’s beautiful. Read it!

Thanks @netgalley and @ballantinebooks for my copy!

3.5 ⭐
Emilia del Valle kicks down doors, writes under a fake name, and covers civil wars like it’s nothing. Isabel Allende serves up a whirlwind of historical fiction, feminist rebellion, and romantic tension set in 19th-century Chile, but it sometimes feels like three novels crammed into one corset. Fierce voice, lush prose, and a chaotic, gorgeous backdrop keep it engaging, even if character depth occasionally gets lost in the rush. Not perfect, but bold—and sometimes bold is enough.