portrait_in_sepia_allende
2003 Longlist

Portrait in Sepia

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ABOUT
THE BOOK

A family saga set at the end of the nineteenth century in Chile that takes up and continues the story begun in Daughter of Fortune.
Recounted in the voice of a young woman in search of her roots, Portrait in Sepia is a novel about memory and family secrets. Aurora del Valle suffers a brutal trauma that shapes her character and erases from her mind all recollection of the first five years of her life. Raised by her ambitious grandmother, the regal and commanding Paulina del Valle, Aurora grows up in a privileged environment, free of the limitations that circumscribe the lives of women at that time, but tormented by horrible nightmares. When she is forced to recognise her betrayal at the hands of the man she loves, and to cope with the resulting solitude, she decides to explore the mystery of her past.

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR Isabel
Allende

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, Daughter of Fortune, Paula, and My Invented Country. Her books have been translated into more than thirty-five languages and have sold more than 65 million copies worldwide. She lives in California.

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, Daughter of Fortune, Paula, and My Invented Country. Her books have been translated into more than thirty-five languages and have sold more than 65 million copies worldwide. She lives in California.

ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Margaret
Sayers Peden

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