(#gifted @bloomsburypublishing) A sweeping epic that traverses continents and decades, A Long Petal of the Sea starts with the Spanish Civil War and ends with the end of Pinochet’s regime in Chile, where Victor and Roser have fled on the SS Winnipeg, commissioned by celebrated poet Pablo Neruda.

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I had no idea that Neruda did this, saving the lives of over 2000 Spanish immigrants, who then started new lives in Chile. Allende’s story is closely based on real facts, as she was in close contact with the real life Victor who recounted many of his memories to her. It’s a remarkable story, but (and this is going to sound like a weird criticism) it’s easy to tell that there’s a lot of fact among the fiction.

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This of course is brilliant for learning something new and hearing the life story of incredible people, but it always makes me feel a bit like I’m reading a textbook. I had the same issue with Lisa See’s Island of Sea Women: amazing women, loved their story, but the execution was off.

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I noticed while skimming some reviews on Goodreads that a lot of the reviews written in Spanish or Italian were 4 or 5 stars, while the majority of English ones hovered at around 3. Nothing wrong with a good solid 3, right? But there’s just something missing, and I think Spanish and Italian are both such beautiful languages that even a textbook would seem a lot more appealing in them! Amanda Hopkinson’s and Nick Caistor’s rendition into English is faithful but it can’t replicate the flowing beauty of Spanish and the story suffers slightly for it. This is not a slight to them - English just isn’t as nice as Spanish, so the lesson is, let’s all learn Spanish!

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Now I feel like my review is all doom and gloom when actually there is a lot of good in this novel. There are great characters (Roser was my favourite!) and an important discussion of how immigration enriches a country, especially important at a time when the media would have you believe nothing good can come of it. I will always enjoy reading Allende’s depictions of Chile too, and she always celebrates love and friendship in an undeniably beautiful way.