The two brothers with which the story begins, for example, are Guillem and Victor, one is bulky, manly, and a warrior, the other is skinny, romantic, and poetic. Often, that means that stereotypes come into play, or the characters themselves become emblematic of certain archetypal figures. This generational saga, carrying the reader from the 1930s right through to the early 1990s, is stacked with historical detail, though it often feels like the research takes prominence, and characters take a back seat in their own story. Though this novel does not have the magical realism of some of Allende’s other work, it retains a romantic sweep. Victor, who marries Roser platonically in order to gain passage to a ship outfitted by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, has worked as a medic in the battlefield, and the two escape to Chile to seek a better life. When the two protagonists become refugees, Roser flees across the Pyrenees whilst heavily pregnant, eventually giving birth to Victor’s brother’s son, whose father is killed in battle. Victor’s thoughtful nature allows Allende to demonstrate the challenging nature of coping with change and the extraordinary effort that people had to put forth to survive in these times.Beginning in the final year of the Spanish Civil War, when it is becoming clear to Victor Dalmau and Roser Bruguera that the Republican cause is doomed to fail, Isabel Allende’s A Long Petal of the Sea covers half a century of political and social upheavals across Spain and Chile.

When he enrolls in medical school to complete his degree after the war, “Victor knew as much as his professors about practice, but very little about theory: it was one thing to mend broken bones, and quite another to be able to identify them by name” (143). He learns his trade via action, only learning the underlying theories later. Given the times in which he lives, Victor is forced to learn medicine on the frontlines of battle.

He is a man of science who is drawn to the study of medicine. Introspective and at times, prone to sadness, Victor is somewhat shy and bookish. He is the primary lens through which the author tells the history of Spain and Chile. Through the character of Victor, Allende invites the reader to experience the Spanish Civil War, exile, the life of an immigrant, the repression of the Pinochet regime, arrest and political persecution, and belonging.

A long petal of the sea