My Name is Emilia Del Valle

It’s the late 1800s and Chile is engrossed in a bloody civil war. The rich natural resources of the land, coupled with the imperialistic ambitions of the British empire, are fatal catalysts for an armed struggle that claims the lives of hundreds daily with no end in sight. Neighbors turn on one another, presidents are assassinated, and a general malaise has swept over the populace as they succumb to the whims of an authoritarian regime (sound familiar?). Yet, this bloody, tyrannical landscape serves as the backdrop for one of the most romantic tales I've read in the past year.

The story begins with Molly Walsh, a shy, pious Irish woman. Like many other Irish immigrants, she and her family leave their home country in search of something better, and land in San Francisco. Molly pursues one of the few options available to young women like her and trains to be a nun, but is soon led astray by a wealthy casanova by the name of Gonzalo Andres Del Valle. Del Valle proves to be a man like any other, no good in bed and in character and after seducing and impregnating Molly, abruptly abandons her and her baby girl, Emilia.

Fortunately for Molly, she's able to avoid the destitution that typically befalls young mothers when she meets a local school teacher who takes a keen interest in her, Don Pancho. Unlike Gonzalo, Don Pancho proves to be a man of integrity and over the next two decades, the loving family is able to carve out a modest existence.

As a child Emilia proves to be as precocious as she is morbid. When she’s not learning about U.S. history or the mysteries of the universe from her father, Don Pancho, she could be found in the corner of her room, writing stories about murder and betrayal. She makes a few bucks writing dime novels under a male pseudonym until her talents naturally lead her to become a journalist in the local paper where she finds pleasure in writing about real-life crimes instead.

While working at the paper she learns of the impending civil war in this small strip of land across the world, and after a brief, bitter argument with her parents, sets sail from San Francisco to Chile to learn more about her homeland as well as her family tree. The journey is an arduous one, but she endures and soon arrives in Iquique, a port city with a vastly complex geographic landscape as Allende describes it.

In Iquique, the insurgents had established a provisional government and set up their center of military operations. Being a port city, it had a milder climate than locations further inland, where the driest desert in the world imposed its harsh reality. This was a region of bald plains and distant mountains painted extraordinary colors by the rich minerals below their surface, hot by day, and freezing by night, a rough, inhospitable terrain. The sparse vegetation was concentrated along the coast and in the gardens cultivated with enormous effort by the foreign settlers who aimed to replicate the lifestyle enjoyed in other latitudes. (Allende 83)

While in Chile Emilia tracks down her absent father, interviews the soon to be assassinated president, and meets the love of her life, Eric Whelan. I’d love to go into the details of what ultimately unites Emilia and Eric, but I fear it would give away too much of the story, so I’ll just leave it up to you to find out. 😉

While there’s little time for either Emilia or us to breathe as we are thrown into this whirlwind of a tale, what distinguishes this one from the many of other romances I’ve come across is Allende’s craft. She writes stories that feel way more cosmic, than individualistic. Because when her characters fall in love, they are doing so against the backdrop of the most apocalyptic conditions: civil war, coup d'etat, pandemic. When life itself seems futile, these people put their stake in the ground, and fight and crawl and die for one another. Because as nations rise and fall, the bonds between people remain forever.