Violeta, Isabel Allende, author; Yareli Arizmendi, narrator
For 100 years, between 1920 and 2020, the world underwent monumental changes. The character Violeta del Valle, lived through that time, and this is the tale of all she became cognizant of during her life. It is written in the form of a lengthy letter to someone she loved deeply. The men in her life ranged from meek and timid, to excessively strong and willful, from criminal to virtuous. The women also ran the gamut from obedient housewives to independent feminists. Governments changed, and the people endured the growing pains of their different leaders, their rules and their politics. Inspired by the events in her own life, Allende has written a multigenerational novel exposing all of the warts of the world. America is not painted in a very positive light as Violeta walks the reader through her memories, in Chile, as those she loved and loved her, eventually spanned the continents, and all of their lives went off in many different directions.
Chile was infested with protesters that were unhappy with the status quo, with instigators of revolt and discontent. One group or another searched for more and more power and provided less and less independence for the citizens, as they gained more and more control over the population. Often, in what seemed the quest for more freedom, more limitations, instead, were placed upon the people. Violence and death, fear and deprivation, were the result of revolutions meant to improve lives. Dissenters simply disappeared as they were taken away without charges and silenced with abandon. Lives were lost and so was the country that had once been loved as a shining example to the world. Only the select few could thrive. Did this happen only in Chile? No, the century was certainly one of turbulence for many.
All the experiences of humanity occurred in Violeta’s time. From what some would consider her own wanton behavior to the chaste life of her grandson Camilo, life in all of its incantations played out on the pages of this novel. Violeta experienced life with several men, some whom she adored and some whom she came to dislike. With her first husband, she had no children. With her lover she had two, Nieves and Juan Martin. With her second husband she experienced true happiness. Those in her life ranged from the meek to the powerful, the intellectual to the visceral, from the emotional to the dispassionate, and all that lies in between. As readers, we witness a world in flux through the letter Violeta is writing to someone she cares deeply about. We also witness the history of her world as it is affected by life and death in all of its fury and grandeur. During her time on earth, many historic and memorable moments occurred. Some, like war and disease were tragic, and some like women’s suffrage and incredible technology were constructive, but all of the events were momentous. Allende has told the story from one pandemic to another. She has told the story of a world that grew in positive ways and retracted in negative ways, in a constant pattern of a revolving door.
Through all the years of disease, war, and other turmoil, Violeta was always able to fall back on her optimism and eventually became engaged in fighting for women’s rights and a more democratic society. Even as much was taken away during her lifetime, much more was achieved. As she witnessed a world of deprivation for those who were not privileged, she realized that much of her life was spent in ignorance of the plight of others. She became an activist for civil rights and a philanthropist for those in need. The book touches on every human behavior and every major event during her century of life, from WWI to the threat of WWIII, from the Spanish Flu to Covid 19, from economic prosperity to the Depression, from religious freedom to anti-Semitism, from the birth of the feminist movement to women’s suffrage, from the Cuban and Russian Revolutions to Woodstock, from villains to heroes, and all that occurred in between.
During her life she met heroes of sorts and villains of another sort, from her father who fell from grace to her brother’s alternate politics, to Julian Bravo, a hero in the RAF who was a scoundrel as well, to Roy Cooper, a man for hire, who had a soft, hidden heart, from the German Fabian Schmidt, a cold Veterinarian to the Norwegian Harald Fiske, a caring birdwatcher, personalities of every stripe are featured. From Josephine to Etelvino, both caretakers, from Yaima the healer, to Dr. Levy the therapist, from the slow-witted Torito to the heights of Edmund Hillary who climbed Mt Everest successfully, to charity and sacrifice to the depths of human depravity, from Latin America to America to Europe, all types of human beings are displayed in their glory and their shame.
No character in the book was one-dimensional, instead there were many facets to his or her own nature and personality. Nothing and no one was all pure or all evil. The book, a whirlwind of facts and emotion, was read by a calm narrator with a soothing voice that led the reader through the wealth of information within Violeta’s turbulent existence.