My Name Is Emilia del Valle

In 1866, San Francisco, Calif., Emilia del Valle was born to Molly Walsh, a young Irish nun, who was abandoned by the aristocratic Chilean man who had on one occasion taken advantage of her naivete. For years, Molly’s rage against the absconder shaped Emilia’s life; Molly often told her daughter about a Chilean inheritance that she was surely missing out on.

As a child, Emilia could not understand her mother’s rancour and the force with which it propelled her to keep Emilia cocooned and safe from life’s tragedies. When Molly married a man 20 years her senior, Emilia experienced for the first time what a loving, faithful father was like as he encouraged in her “insatiable curiosity,” a quality that became a driving force in her life. Emilia’s mother held a contrary view, that “curiosity is a liability in a woman. It leads to misfortune.” But Emilia cherished this trait: “This characteristic of mine has taken many forms over the years, but in essence it has kept me always looking around the next corner or over the horizon.”

Filled with a passion to write and the dream of becoming a novelist, Emilia begins writing pulp fiction in a dime novel format under a male pseudonym, since she knows she won’t be recognized as a female writer. When she applies for a job at the Daily Examiner, she secures a position as a columnist, again writing under a pseudonym, focusing on personal interest narratives since no woman is allowed to write news stories. That day, she meets news reporter Eric Whelan, and they become friends.

In 1891, Emilia is given an opportunity she could never have dreamed of. Civil war is brewing in Chile between government forces and the rebels. Emilia and Eric are assigned to cover the conflict, she as a columnist and he as a news reporter. Immediately, Emilia sees the opportunity to search for her father. When Molly hears of Emilia’s plans, she tries (and fails) to stop her.

In what becomes Emilia’s “Chilean odyssey,” she is caught up in the carnage of war where brother turns on brother and atrocities impossible to adequately describe torment her body and mind. As she and Eric face similar traumas, their friendship deepens and they discover love. Still, nothing goes as planned, and when Emilia embarks on a dangerous journey to discover her roots, their relationship is tested to the breaking point.

Renowned Chilean American author Isabel Allende captures in Emilia’s character the extent to which a young woman living at the end of the 19th century would go to pursue her passion to become a novelist. Allende’s narrative, which includes some sexually explicit material and a range of religious beliefs, vividly portrays the insanity and absolute waste of human life in times of civil war, and the terrible burden and shame that linger years later in a society trying to return to normalcy. Allende also subtly critiques the abuse of indigenous people throughout Chilean history and reveals how the poor are the ultimate losers in any conflict.

(Ballantine Books)