I must admit, Isabel Allende is one of my favorite authors. She takes a moment in time with rich historical significance, inserts characters who respond to the time, and makes the reader feel they are there with them. In an epic novel covering decades we meet young Alma Balasco whose family sent her to live with a wealthy aunt in San Francisco at the time that Poland was falling to the Nazis. She becomes friendly with Ichimei, the son of her aunt’s Japanese gardener, and they fall in love as Japan attacks Pearl Harbor. There is separation due to the Japanese internment camps, as the love affair becomes affected by many elements of war and beyond. I hope you are hooked on this storyline and will read this beautiful story. 5 Stars
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