Victor and Roser’s marriage begins as one of convenience, not love.

Originally Catalonian Spanish, Victor and Roser become Chilean. Their story explains what it means to belong to family and community. Ultimately, the pair return to Chile, where they have made their home when the political atmosphere allows it. Both times, reactionary forces overturned democratically elected leaders via force, and Victor and Roser stood with democracy. Exiled from Spain in 1939, Victor and Roser are again exiled from their home in Chile years later. Through their relationship, Victor and Roser expose the true meaning of love, as their love for each other strengthens throughout their lives. ( From the publisher.Beginning in the last years of the Spanish Civil War, the novel uses the characters Victor Dalmau and Roser Bruguera to depict the pain of war and exile and the hope of new beginnings. 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.Ī 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. Through it all, their hope of returning to Spain keeps them going. But they will also find joy as they patiently await the day when they will be exiles no more. Starting over on a new continent, their trials are just beginning, and over the course of their lives, they will face trial after trial. 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. In order to survive, the two must unite in a marriage neither of them desires.

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.Īmong 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 the late 1930s, civil war grips Spain. Allende's 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.

A long petal of the sea