Elliott Bay Book Company presents:
Isabel Allende: A Long Petal of the Sea / Largo pétalo de mar
In conversation with Florangela Davila
Thu, Jan 30, 2020 at 7:30pm
- All tickets admit one person to the talk and include one book, either "A Long Petal of the Sea" OR" Largo pétalo de mar"
- Please note that Town Hall Seattle no longer has parking. Information about nearby parking: https://townhallseattle.org/plan-your-visit/location-directions-parking/
Please join us as Isabel Allende reads from and discusses her novel, A Long Petal of the Sea (Ballantine), or Largo pétalo de mar (Espanol). Each ticket admits one person to the event and includes either a copy of A Long Petal of the Sea (in English) OR a copy of Largo pétalo de mar (in the original Spanish edition). We're sorry but this event does not include a booksigning. Additional copies of both Isabel Allende's books (both in English and in Spanish) will be sold at this event.
Born in Peru and raised in Chile, Isabel Allende is the author of a number of bestselling and critically acclaimed books, including The House of the Spirits, Of Love and Shadows, Eva Luna, Paula, and In the Midst of Winter. Her books have been translated into more than forty-two languages and have sold more than seventy-four million copies worldwide. Last year, she was awarded the 2018 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters by the National Book Foundation.
Isabel Allende will appear in conversation with Seattle journalist, Florangela Davila, news director at Western Washington NPR station KNKX
. ABOUT A LONG PETAL OF THE SEA
From the New York Times bestselling author of The House of the Spirits, this epic novel spanning decades and crossing continents follows two young people as they flee the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War in search of a place to call home.
In the late 1930s, civil war grips Spain. When General Franco and his Fascists succeed in overthrowing the government, hundreds of thousands are forced to flee in a treacherous journey over the mountains to the French border. Among them is Roser, a pregnant young widow, who finds her life intertwined with that of Victor Dalmau, an army doctor and the brother of her deceased love. In order to survive, the two must unite in a marriage neither of them desires.
Together with two thousand other refugees, they embark on the SS Winnipeg, a ship chartered by the poet Pablo Neruda, to Chile: “the long petal of sea and wine and snow.” As unlikely partners, they embrace exile as the rest of Europe erupts in world war. Starting over on a new continent, their trials are just beginning, and over the course of their lives, they will face trial after trial. But they will also find joy as they patiently await the day when they will be exiles no more. Through it all, their hope of returning to Spain keeps them going. Destined to witness the battle between freedom and repression as it plays out across the world, Roser and Victor will find that home might have been closer than they thought all along.
A masterful work of historical fiction about hope, exile, and belonging, A Long Petal of the Sea shows Isabel Allende at the height of her powers.
Advance praise for A Long Petal of the Sea
“Both an intimate look at the relationship between one man and one woman and an epic story of love, war, family, and the search for home, this gorgeous novel, like all the best novels, transports the reader to another time and place, and also sheds light on the way we live now. Isabel Allende is a legend and this might be her finest book yet.”—J. Courtney Sullivan, author of Saints for All Occasions
“This is a novel not just for those of us who have been Allende fans for decades, but also for those who are brand-new to her work: What a joy it must be to come upon Allende for the first time. She knows that all stories are love stories, and the greatest love stories are told by time.”—Colum McCann, National Book Award–winning author of Let the Great World Spin.
