Tag: audiobook

#BookReview A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabelle Allende

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A Long Petal of the SeaAbout the Book

Victor Dalmau is a young doctor when he is caught up in the Spanish Civil War, a tragedy that leaves his life – and the fate of his country – forever changed. Together with his sister-in-law, he is forced out of his beloved Barcelona and into exile in Chile. There, they find themselves enmeshed in a rich web of characters who come together in love and tragedy over the course of four generations, destined to witness the battle between freedom and repression as it plays out across the world.

Format: Audiobook (9h 46m)             Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication date: 21st January 2020  Genre: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction

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My Review

I’m almost ashamed to admit that this is the first book I’ve read by Isabel Allende mainly because she’s known for her works of magic realism which is a genre I’ve been unable to get along with. However, when I saw the description of this book, especially that it was partly set during the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath, I thought this might be my opportunity to experience her writing. I listened to the audiobook version, skilfully narrated by Edoardo Ballerini.

The book, translated by Amanda Hopkinson and Nick Caistor, vividly recreates the chaos and confusion of the Spanish Civil War and its terrible toll on Spanish citizens, tearing apart families and communities, plunging others into homelessness, poverty and hunger, and forcing many into exile. Mixing historical events with both real and fictional characters, each chapter of the book opens with an excerpt from the works of renowned Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.

The book tells the story of Victor Dalmau, a young doctor who is caught up on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War and is forced to flee to France with Roser, the wife of his brother who was killed fighting against the forces of Franco. Although I had heard of Pablo Neruda, I had no idea of his role in helping refugees from the conflict to emigrate to Chile, the country whose description as the ‘long petal of the sea’ inspires the book’s title.

There are vivid scenes aboard the SS Winnipeg, as Victor and Roser make the dangerous and uncomfortable voyage across the Atlantic, through the Panama canal, into the Pacific and their eventual arrival in Chile. There Victor pursues his ambition to become a doctor, alongside running a tavern (named Winnipeg in honour of the ship that carried them to safety), and Roser builds a career as a musician. Having entered into a ‘marriage of convenience’ in order to secure their entry into Chile, Victor and Roser pursue separate relationships whilst at the same time finding there remains a strong connection between them. Their past life in Spain is not completely left behind either despite the thousands of miles that divide them from their homeland and from people they believed lost forever.

Alongside the fIctional story of Victor and Roser’s new life in Chile, the book describes the political changes in that country from the end of the Second World War onwards, including the rise to power of Salvador Allende (a distant relative of the author), his subsequent overthrow and assassination, and the coming of the brutal Pinochet regime. I’ll admit that, at times, my attention wandered during this part of the book as it felt more like a history lesson – albeit one influenced by the author’s own heritage – than a story inspired by the characters she had created. However, the book was redeemed for me by the final section which charts, in the most powerful and emotional way possible, the final years of the lives of Victor and Roser.

Spanning decades and a number of generations, A Long Petal of the Sea is an epic family saga that vividly demonstrates the emotional turmoil and suffering caused by war but also serves as an insight into turbulent periods in the history of both Spain and Chile.

In three words: Powerful, eventful, epic

Try something similar: Those I Have Lost by Sharon Maas

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Isabel AllendeAbout the Author

Born in Peru and raised in Chile, Isabel Allende is the author of The House of the Spirits, Daughter of Fortune, Paula, My Invented Country and The Japanese Lover. Her books have been translated into more than 35 languages and have sold over 65 million copies worldwide. The Japanese Lover was an international and New York Times bestseller. She lives in California. (Photo credit: Publisher author page)

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#BookReview The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

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The Dictionary of Lost WordsAbout the Book

In 1901, the word ‘bondmaid’ was discovered missing from the Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it.

Motherless and irrepressibly curious, Esme spends her childhood in the Scriptorium, a garden shed in Oxford where her father and a team of lexicographers are gathering words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary.

Esme’s place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day, she sees a slip containing the word ‘bondmaid’ flutter to the floor unclaimed.

Over time, Esme realises that some words are considered more important than others, and that words and meanings relating to women’s experiences often go unrecorded. She begins to collect words for another dictionary: The Dictionary of Lost Words.

Format: Audiobook (11h 11m)    Publisher: Random House Audio
Publication date: 6th April 2021 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

The Dictionary of Lost Words is one of the five books on the shortlist for The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2021, the winner of which is due to be announced soon. I listened to the audiobook version, expertly narrated by Pippa Bennett-Warner.

Although the detail of how the first complete edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was compiled was fascinating, I found the pace of the story a little slow to begin with, albeit not as slow as the production of the dictionary which commenced in 1884 and wasn’t completed until 1928! However, once Esme embarks on her mission of collecting words that have been excluded or will never make it into the dictionary, and the reader is introduced to characters such as market stall holder Mabel, and actress and campaigner Tilda, the book started to come alive for me.

Esme’s devoted father can teach her the meaning of any word she comes across but can’t provide the guidance and support of the mother she lost. Instead, Esme is reliant on letters from her Aunt Editha and Lizzie, the kitchen maid at Sunnyside, to provide womanly advice. Even that doesn’t protect Esme from making a decision that will have long-term consequences.

Partly a coming of age story told from the perspective of the fictional Esme, gradually national and world events, such as the women’s suffrage movement, emerge from the background and begin to shape the lives of the characters. Later, the First World War brings both tragedy but also new opportunities.

The book raises interesting questions about the words that get included or excluded from dictionaries, about gender and social bias, and censorship.  For example, the Oxford English Dictionary‘s editor, Dr. Murray, refuses to include what he considers ‘vulgar’ words, such as the names used for parts of women’s bodies, or words ‘ordinary’ people might use whose definitions cannot be backed up by quotations from ‘authoritative’ sources.

Later, the book also addresses the treatment of the indigenous people of Australia, whose language early settlers made no attempt to learn. Interestingly, it’s an issue explored in another of the shortlisted books, A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville.  In fact, this year’s shortlist has a distinctly Australian flavour with many of the books having been published there first.

Those familiar with Oxford will recognize many of the places that feature in The Dictionary of Lost Words – the Bodleian Library, the Eagle & Child pub and the area known as Jericho. Although I enjoyed the book, particularly the latter part, and learned a lot along the way (such as the word ‘fascicle’ – look it up!), I regret I couldn’t quite share the Walter Scott Prize judges’ level of enthusiasm.

In three words: Thought-provoking, insightful, engaging

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Pip WilliamsAbout the Author

Pip was born in London, grew up in Sydney and now calls the Adelaide Hills home. She is co-author of the book Time Bomb: Work Rest and Play in Australia Today (New South Press, 2012) and in 2017 she wrote One Italian Summer, a memoir of her family’s travels in search of the good life, which was published with Affirm Press to wide acclaim. Pip has also published travel articles, book reviews, flash fiction and poetry. (Bio/photo credit: Goodreads author page)