Remarkable...a big book that can comprehend the history of a nation, and so many lives, with love
The Times

An exotic vision and a brilliant, impassioned epic
Vogue

Mesmerizing... A novel of force and charm
Washington Post

This is a novel like the novels no one seems to write anymore: thick with plot and bristling with characters who play out their lives over three generations of conflict and reconciliation. A novel to be read for its brilliant craftsmanship and its narrative of inescapable power
El Pais, Madrid

Announcing a truly great read: a novel thick and thrilling, full of fantasy, terror and wit, elaborately crafted yet serious and accurate in its historical and social observations
Die Welt, Berlin

Extraordinary... Powerful... Sharply observant, witty and eloquent
New York Times

Allende is another remarkable storyteller from a continent blessed with many such enchanters . . . Allende has an affection for her characters quite beyond politics, and an estimable ability to bring them to life
Newsday

Intensely moving. Both entertaining and deeply serious
Evening Standard

Kate Wilson 21 July 2011

Interweaving episodes of love, violence and betrayal, Isabel Allende's sprawling family saga is a novel with the power to absorb and move in equal measure. In a tale which spans generations, encompassing everything from every day domesticity to civil war espionage, this a book which renews the Latin American tradition of magic realism with dramatic clarity and flair. Allende's consummate mastery of language allows for the exploration and development of moments which are at once transcendently beautiful and deeply realistic.
Her examination of the relationship between the female members of the family makes for particularly touching reading, following the struggles and expectations of these inextricably linked women as together they attempt to navigate political and familial environments which do not always award them the value their bravery and wit deserves.
Beautiful and utterly gripping, this book moved me to tears.