Book Review: Violeta

Violeta by Isabel Allende was given to me for Christmas this year. I managed to squeeze it into January, making it my sixth read that month. I knew nothing about the book beforehand, so I went in with no expectations.
 
Violeta is an adult historical fiction following Violeta through her life from the 1920s onward in Chile. It included events American audiences would find familiar, like WWII, and less familiar, like the military coup in Chile. It was written as if it was a giant letter from Violeta to Camilo, whose relationship to Violeta becomes clear as the story progresses.
 
I enjoyed learning about 20th century Chile from this book, because I knew very little about that. Something that surprised me was that despite the distance and different histories, a lot of familiar events acted like major milestones in Violeta’s life. I liked the different events that I'd not heard about before, because I worried initially that this book would be too similar to stories of 20th century Americans that I’ve read before.
 
Something harder for me was the writing style. It had a lot more summary than scene, which matched the epistolary-like structure, but still didn’t work for me. It made the events feel too distant from me, and I had trouble understanding some of Violeta’s choices because I was so far removed from the moment. She also had awful taste in men. Warning: this book contains both physical and psychological abuse.
 
This book is for you if you are looking for female-lead historical fiction, if you want to learn about 20th century Chile, or if you want fiction with the flavor of memoir. It’s not for you if you’re looking to read deeply about specific events or real people in Chile’s history, or if you’re not in the headspace to read about an abusive relationship, drug use, or pregnancy complications.
 
 
Have you read Violeta? What about Isabel Allende’s other books? Let’s discuss in the comments!