This is the first book I have read by Allende. One of my sisters is a huge fan of her work and I thought I would give it a try. This book was interesting, I think maybe she hasn't quite got the male perspective she was writing from down to a tee. The book weaves the tale of a family, the father leads the family on travels preaching what seems like some sort of new age spirituality. They eventually settle in a poor Mexican barrio after he falls ill.
The book is told in two perspectives, firstly a third person detailing events and secondly from the thoughts of the main character, Gregory. There is a very clear patterns of him chasing money and becoming an 'evil' person and then chasing love and becoming a 'good' person, I found this comparison slightly stereotypical, especially because he worked as a lawyer in the chasing of the money learning the tricks of the trade in a corporate law firm. The whole thing just didn't quite ring true for me, well that facet of the plot anyway.
There's also a strong element of how past experience can affect a person over time. Gregory who has grown up poor finds himself wanting to be rich, and in a turnaround finding how much he wastes money on things which get him nothing. His sister, plagued by memories of sexual abuse by her father in childhood coats herself in layers of food and dedicates her life to caring for children.
All in all it was a good book, and I'd be interested to read more by Allende. The characters were the least believable for me, the storyline was good, kept me interested in reading the book.
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