It feels way too much like Spain to them. The couple and their young son, Marcel are able to establish themselves and make a good life until Chile begins to experience civil unrest between right wing conservatives Fascists and the left wing socialists. Because Victor was a military doctor and Roser was a classical pianist, Neruda selects them for passage on the SS Winnipeg, his steamer heading to Chile. I had not been aware of this aspect of the Spanish Civil War. The readers will track Victor and Roser from war torn Spain through southern France where many of the Spanish refugees were held in French concentration camps, and some were sent to Nazi Germany as forced labor. Like many of Allende’s books, this is rich in historical detail along with fascinating characters and plots. The Dalmau family are fictional characters, but Neruda really does help Spaniards escape the cruelties of Franco by outfitting an old steamer to hold 2000 refugees. It is an epic story of the Dalmau family who survived the Spanish Civil War (barely) and thanks to the effort of Pablo Neruda were able to immigrate to Chile. Allende’s historical novel begins in Spain during it’s horrendous civil war in the 1930s’s and ends in Chile in 1994. No wonder it’s so beautiful! You can see the shape of Chile on the map below and see why Neruda calls it a long petal. Come to find out it is from a poem by my very favorite poet, Pablo Neruda. When I first saw Isabel Allende’s new book, A Long Petal of the Sea, I thought it was one of the most beautiful titles I’ve ever seen.

A long petal of sea