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Ines of My Soul: A Novel | 
| Author: Isabel Allende
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $2.47
You Save: $12.48 (83%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  46 reviews
Sales Rank: 18798
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.1 x 1.2
ISBN: 0061161543
Dewey Decimal Number: 863.64
EAN: 9780061161544
ASIN: 0061161543
Publication Date: September 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
In the early years of the conquest of the Americas, Ines Suarez, a seamstress condemned to a life of toil, flees Spain to seek adventure in the New World. As Ines makes her way to Chile, she begins a fiery romance with Pedro de Valdivia, war hero and field marshal to the famed Francisco Pizarro. Together the lovers will build the new city of Santiago, and they will wage war against the indigenous Chileans—a bloody struggle that will change Ines and Valdivia forever, inexorably pulling each of them toward separate destinies. Ines of My Soul is a work of breathtaking scope that masterfully dramatizes the known events of Ines Suarez's life, crafting them into a novel rich with the narrative brilliance and passion readers have come to expect from Isabel Allende.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 41 more reviews...
 Ines of my soul. September 27, 2008
This is one of the inferior novels that I have read of Isabel Allende. I could not finish it to the end. The protagonist is a strong female character set on an arduous journey with conquistadors and natives,from Peru to Chile. The part of coursing that distance was tedious reading which had to be skimmed.
Isabel's novel is not alltogether credible July 31, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Allende's imagination took incredible leaps based on non-historical documents to describe some South American early civilizations as extremely cruel and corrupt (Incas) while others were described as peaceful and loving (Mapuches). Probably untrue en both counts, based of textbooks. The book was wordy and tedious and could not even get to the end, somewhat boring.
Blah July 6, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Ines of My Soul is blandly written (or translated? or both? I'm not sure), and its plot extremely contrived. I enjoyed the history lesson, but that's not what you want your novel to feel like. And it suffers from that really obnoxious phenomenon where historical novels focus on ideas and details specifically of interest to and which reflect the values of the modern reader. Bleh.
 A Fabulous Read May 25, 2008
I don't think I've had a book read to me since grammar school. I had resisted books on CD since I believed that I had an inadequate attention span, but a long commute and the expense of the Teaching Company classes made me reevaluate my stand. I decided to start with the "A"s, so picked up Ines of My Soul, written by Isabel Allende. And I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Ines Suarez is newly widowed and near death as she tells her story to her husband's daughter. A young woman in the early 16th century Spain, she follows her wastrel husband to the New World to find that he had already died. She initially settles in Peru, where she becomes the lover of the married Pedro de Valdivia. Ines accompanies Valdivia to Chile, which Valdivia hopes to conquer for Spain. However, the trip is perilous and the natives unwilling to allow the Spaniards to settle in their territory. The conquest led to years of brutal warfare between the peoples. In Santiago, Ines becomes a leading citizen as an advisor, nurse, and cook. She also knows how to use a sword, using one to great effect during an early battle with the Indians.
Ines of My Soul is historical fiction, based on the true story of the founding of Chile. The story was so engrossing that several times I found myself in the car, at home after a long day at work, unwilling to end the story. The characters were interesting and believable, such that I felt that I knew Ines and her family. Ines is more or less a true Spaniard, who believes that the Christianization of the Indians is essential, and she fails to see how the conquest of South America is disastrous to the native populations. That the natives are essentially enslaved to the Spaniards seems almost natural to her. That said, she is horrified by the treatment of the Indians by the conquistadors, who rape and murder Indians at will. Whether a reader should suspend moral judgment will, of course, be up to the reader. I found it hard at times to do so. It certainly inspired some contemplation about the conquest of the new world.
The book was read by Blair Brown, who did an excellent job of developing Ines' voice. I highly recommend the CD, and suspect that the book is also a great read.
 Superb book May 21, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a historical novel, very well researched and wonderful. Typical of Isabel Allende style, it transports you to a long gone time, full of of truthful Latin-American flavour.
Five stars!
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