Reading and journaling have honestly been two of the major self care habits keeping me afloat during quarantine and the state of the world. Still, it took me a while to select our next book club read. I’m always a mood reader, and my moods have been all over the place during quarantine (for obvious reasons).
Still, I’ve missed reading with you all, chatting in the Facebook group and sharing all of our thoughts during the live shows!
I know I’m not the only one struggling to get out of their own head and focus, so I wanted to pick a book that would require a bit of attention but not be too overwhelming. It seemed like the right time to introduce a little magical realism and fablism into our reading lives!
About Eva Luna
Meet New York Times bestselling author Isabel Allende’s most enchanting creation, Eva Luna: a lover, a writer, a revolutionary, and above all a storyteller.
Eva Luna is the daughter of a professor’s assistant and a snake-bitten gardener–born poor, orphaned at an early age, and working as a servant. Eva is a naturally gifted and imaginative storyteller who meets people from all stations and walks of life. Though she has no wealth, she trades her stories like currency with people who are kind to her. In this novel, she shares the story of her own life and introduces readers to a diverse and eccentric cast of characters including the Lebanese émigré who befriends her and takes her in; her unfortunate godmother, whose brain is addled by rum and who believes in all the Catholic saints and a few of her own invention; a street urchin who grows into a petty criminal and, later, a leader in the guerrilla struggle; a celebrated transsexual entertainer who instructs her in the ways of the adult world; and a young refugee whose flight from postwar Europe will prove crucial to Eva’s fate.
As Eva tells her story, Isabel Allende conjures up a whole complex South American nation–the rich, the poor, the simple, and the sophisticated–in a novel replete with character and incident, with drama and comedy and history, with battles and passions, rebellions and reunions, a novel that celebrates the power of imagination to create a better world.
I’m really excited to read this one! Isabel Allende is such a widely celebrated author, and this will be my first time reading something of hers! I don’t want to jinx it, but I’m predicting this one will be 4 or 5 stars, just knowing my reading tastes. I hope you read along! We’ll be having the live show on Monday, August 31st at 7:00pm, right on my YouTube Channel! See you there!
You can always shop the latest bookclub reads from my BookShop.org shop — there’s a list dedicated to our bookclub picks, past and present, as well as other books I’m reading and loving!
I love Isabel Allende. I haven’t read any of her books for years. I will definitely try this one. I think her stories always seem so magical but they also have political messages. Very empowering stories.