My Name Is Emilia del Valle

Isabel Allende returns with My Name Is Emilia del Valle, a sweeping, salt-air-scented epic that gallops from 19th-century San Francisco to the blood-streaked hills of Chile. Emilia, born to scandal and raised by stories, becomes a journalist, a novelist, and a woman ahead of her time—chasing truth through war, ink, and heartbreak with a wild and searching spirit that will captivate you from the start.

Allende’s signature lyricism is here in full bloom, though some moments feel more plot-driven than intimate. Still, Emilia’s fierce independence and the rich historical backdrop make this a deeply satisfying read. For fans of fearless heroines and fiction that educates as well as inspires, I give this book five stars!