Finished Su 7/15/18
This is one of my trade paperbacks. No notation of when I bought the book and this is the first time through it. I really loved the story and it was very fine representation of Historical Fiction.
1830's- 1840's; Valparaiso, Chile/ Canton, China/ California, USA during the California Gold Rush.
Main Situations and Characters:
The Sommers family of Chile. Conduct themselves as 19th century English. John- boisterous sea captain; his brother, Jeremy. He stays at home as 'the head of the house'. Rose- their sister. The family matriarch.
Eliza Sommers- she was abandoned on the doorstep of The Sommers. She was wrapped in a sweater that, late in the novel, is revealed that it was made by Rose. She remembers that she gave the sweater to John, so the child is actually his.
Eliza falls in love with a worker at Jeremy's business. At 16 she leaves Chile to find this man, Joaquin Andieta, who has fled to join the California Gold Rush.
Rose had a failed love affair with an Italian opera star and this warped her outlook on love and relationships. Eliza's live mirrors this behavior.
She's pregnant and loses the baby during the ship voyage.
Tao Chi'en- this is a central character that gets Eliza on the ship and nurses her through the voyage. He is a kind of 'folk physician' from Canton. A lot of his back story is developed in the first third of the book.
This is the link to the page on wikipedia and it's a good wrap-up of the book:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daughter_of_Fortune
A wide ranging and deep novel, but well worth the effort. I'd read more by this author, and for historical fiction, it can't be beat.
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