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| Edition: | Harper Perennial Modern Classics (Paperback) |
| Author: | Isabel Allende |
| Published: | June 2008 |
| Pages: | 432 |
| ISBN 10: | 0061565334 |
| New: | $4.75 (50) |
| Used: | $0.95 (73) |
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Daughter of Fortune (original Spanish title Hija de la fortuna) is a novel by Isabel Allende, and was chosen as an Oprah's Book Club selection in February 2000. Isabel Allende says "of her female protagonist in Daughter of Fortune, Eliza, that she might well represent who the author might have been in another life." "Allende spent seven years of research on this, her fifth novel, which she says is a story of a young woman's search for self-knowledge." "Allende also believes that the novel reflects her own struggle to define the role of feminism in her life." Allende also wrote a sequel to Daughter of Fortune entitled Portrait in Sepia which follows Eliza Sommers' grand-daughter.
Plot summary
This takes place in 1840s Chile. Eliza Sommers is a young Chilean girl raised and educated by English Anglican siblings Victorian spinster Rose and strict Jeremy Sommers, and their sailor brother John Sommers, who were colonists living in the port of Valparaiso, ever since they found her on their doorstep, and taught in the art of cooking by the Mapuche Indian Mama Fresia. Over most of Part 1, we read about her origins and upbringing, and her maturity. Eliza falls in love with Joaquin Andieta, a young Chilean man who was concerned about his mother, living in poverty. The young couple have an affair, ultimately resulting in Eliza getting pregnant. Soon, news of gold being discovered in California reaches Chile, and Joaquin goes out to California in search of a fortune. Wanting to follow her lover, Eliza goes to California, with the help of her Chinese zhong yi (physician) friend, Tao Chi'en, in the bowels of a ship headed by a Dutch Lutheran captain, Vincent Katz.
In the beginning of Part 2, we read about Tao's past, from his early life in poverty, to his apprenticeship to a master acupuncturist, and his ill-fated marriage to Lin, a young and pretty, but frail girl who dies after a brief marriage. Lin's spirit later comes in to help her widowed husband at crucial points for Tao in later parts of the book. During the journey to California, Eliza, due to her pregnancy, is frail and sick, and later suffers a miscarriage. As soon as Eliza and Tao set foot in San Francisco, due to there being all men, Eliza wears a Chinese boy's cheongsam. Eliza earns money by selling some Chilean snacks and Tao becomes a successful zhong yi. Tao, after seeing the greed and brothels in San Francisco, loses most of his faith in America. Eliza then sets on her journey to find Joaquin, using a male cowboy's disguise and the moniker Elias Andieta, and claiming to be Joaquin's brother. Meanwhile in Valparaiso, Rose and Jeremy are shocked to find that Eliza has disappeared. When John comes and asks about her whereabouts, Rose reveals a well-kept, shocking secret about him: John is Eliza's father, having had her with an unnamed Chilean woman. Having the feeling that his daughter went to California, John sets sail for San Francisco.
Part 3 finds Eliza broke after still trying to search for Joaquin, she occasionly sends letters to Tao describing what she sees in her journey. Although she has fallen out of love with Joaquin,she cannot stop journeying. In an outskirt town, Eliza meets up with Joe Bonecrusher's travelling caraven of prostitutes and ends up travelling with them as cook and piano player. The members of the caravan believe Eliza to be a homosexual man,a disguise which she takes up much to the frustration of Babalu,the caravan's bodyguard. Eliza stays with the group during the winter as they settle in a small town. During this time, Tao moves to San Francisco to save up money to move back to China. He surprises himself when he realises he misses Eliza's company and is consoled when he begins receiving her letters. John Sommers in his search for Eliza, comes across Jacob Todd, an old suitor of Rose's who is now a journalist known as Jacob Freemont. Freemont promises that he will look out for any sign of Eliza. Freemont writes articles about the famous bandit Joaquin Murieta, whose description matches Eliza's lover. Tao comes and finds Eliza at Joe Bonecrusher's and Eliza comes back to San Francisco with him. They set up a network to help young Chinese prostitutes escape and rehabilitate with the help of friends. Eventually Jacob Freemont is able to pass word to the Sommers that Eliza is alive,who was previously thought dead. Tao and Eliza live together and eventually form a relationship. At the end of the novel, Joaquin Murieta is shot dead and his preserved head is showcased in San Francisco. Eliza and Tao go to see if the man was really Joaquin Andieta.
