Migrating into Books, review
The review
Victor Dalmau and Roser Bruguera, the two main characters penciled masterfully by Isabel Allende, are the clear definition of migrants. Two Oscar destinies, two characters who fled the path of a civil war, a World Conflagration and a coup. All in a life where they had to constantly start from scratch and where they managed to rely only on themselves and on the love, be it platonic, between them.
A long petal of the sea tells the emotional story of a couple “of circumstances”, forced to survive some of the most turbulent events of the 20th century.
The Chilean writer’s novel does not lack connections with reality and historical characters, such as Pablo Neruda and his ship Winnipeg, President Salvador Allende or Elisabeth Eidenbenz.
Inspired by historical events that she herself experienced firsthand, Isabel Allende explores the emotional bonds formed during a prolonged exile, when her characters come to question whether their homeland is the mythical, irretrievable land of their youth, or that place where after long efforts and a life as a migrant they end up taking root.