7.8 /10 1 Votes
Original title Inés del alma mía Publication date 2006 Originally published 2006 Genre Historical drama | 3.9/5 Goodreads Language Spanish ISBN 978-987-566-452-4 Country Chile | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Inés of My Soul (Spanish: Inés del alma mía, 2006) is a historical novel by Chilean author Isabel Allende. The novel consists of an elderly Inés Suárez writing a memoir of her life. She narrates about her relationship with Pedro de Valdivia and the obstacles they had to overcome to conquer Chile and found the City of Santiago.
Contents
Plot
The novel relates the main facts of the life of Inés, as written to be read by her adoptive daughter Isabel.
In the first chapter, "Europe, 1500-1537", she describes her life in Plasencia, mainly her married life and affair with Juan of Málaga, in addition to her hard trip to America, motivated not only to find her husband, but also to find freedom.
In "America, 1537-1540", she relates to us her life in The Cuzco, the decadence of the Incan empire under Francisco Pizarro and the political problems that they faced. Also, she begins her relationship with Pedro de Valdivia, who develops an obsession to conquer Chile, promoted by what was told to him by the old Diego of Almagro.
In the chapters of "Trip to Chile, 1540-1541" and "Santiago of the New Extremadura, 1541-1543" relate the hard conquest of Chile, the life with Pedro of Valdivia and how the two founded the capital of the country together.
In "The Tragic Years, 1543-1549" narrates the poverty of the first years of Santiago and his back marriage with Rodrigo of Quiroga when Pedro of Valdivia goes back in an expedition to the Peru in search of more soldiers and settlers.
Finally, in the last chapter she describes the starts of the War of Chile between Spaniards and Mapuches under the orders of Lautaro and Caupolicán.
Dramatic structure
This work stands out for being faithful to the reality of the facts (Allende details the bibliography consulted for her work and that she investigated for four years of "avid readings") and by the rich romantic account that uses the author to trap to the reader. Also, it is complicated to the readers with its change of characters, since it is purportedly related by an old Inés Suárez that distracts easily and accounts in disorder some details of her life and that in reality writes heading to his daughter. It has as a big capacity to take part with the doubts of the reader to clear them, making reading less complex and easier to understand and criticise.
Characters
Allende shows Mrs. Inés like a woman with extreme courage, doing everything for the man she loves, but without shelving her purposes of honor and the anxieties to conquer new lands.
In the book, Isabel Allende gives a glimpse the hardships of the first conquistadores of the Realm of Chile and their constant mistreatment of the Mapuche people. She also describes the battles between the Mapuche and Spaniards.
Other characters of the novel are Pedro of Valdivia, Rodrigo of Quiroga, Francisco of Aguirre, Juan of Málaga, Marina Ortiz of Gaete, Juan Gómez and his wife Cecilia, Catalina (a native servant and the best friend of the leading) and Felipe (Lautaro), who at the beginning is server of Pedro of Valdivia but afterwards escapes with the Mapuche.