"A Long Petal of the Sea"

A Long Petal of the Sea, published 2019.

A young medical student named Victor Dalmau serves at the battle front where Spanish Republicans are fighting the fascists, inspired by "Dolores Ibarruri, appropriately known as La Pasionaria because of her ability to rouse fanatical enthusiasm among the Republicans." (A Long Petal of the Sea, p. 18).

At the defeat of the Republicans, Victor finds himself as one of thousands of refugees begging for asylum in a cruel concentration camp on the border of France; again he does his best to treat their wounds and illnesses. His release comes from the actions of Chileans who sympathize with the Spanish republicans: they overcome conservative opposition and welcome a ship full of refugees into their country. The leader of this effort is the famous poet Pablo Neruda.

Rescued with Victor is Roser Bruguera, the brave and talented woman he has married to save her and her child, the son of his brother who had died on the battlefield. Chile was an unknown place to them as they approached it after weeks at sea:

"THAT SUMMER DAY, AUGUST 4, 1939, remained forever engraved on the minds of Victor Dalmau, Roser Bruguera, and the other two thousand or more Spaniards sailing toward that long, narrow South American country that clung to the mountains so as not to topple into the sea. None of them knew anything about Chile. Years later, Neruda was to define it as a long petal of sea and wine and snow… with a belt of black and white foam, but that would not have left the migrants any the wiser. On the map, it looked slender and remote." (p. 136). 

As Victor Dalmau adapts to life in Chile, he fully assimilates into life there. He continues an acquaintance with Pablo Neruda, the poet with enormous sympathy for common people. He plays chess with Salvador Allende, who is both a doctor and a Chilean politician, eventually its far-left President. Throughout his life, Victor's wife becomes more and more remarkable, a memorable if somewhat idealized character in this wide-ranging work of literature, advising him wisely and supporting him unselfishly. The novel describes the many events of their lives and that of their son, as well as the parallel lives of a very rich family of long-established Chileans.

At sixty, after a peaceful life as a highly respected doctor in Chile, Victor Dalmau again becomes a victim of tyranny when the fascist dictator Pinochet takes over from Salvador Allende. He thus witnesses yet again the torment of political prisoners at the mercy of inhuman military officials. Victor starves with them while he tries to treat their wounds and illnesses. After eleven months in the camp, he is freed and yet again becomes a refugee, in Venezuela. Roser's advice on having to adapt to another new country: "Pain is unavoidable, but suffering is optional.” (p. 300).

Isabel Allende's A Long Petal of the Sea is a wonderful historical novel, which I enjoyed for a number of reasons: above all for how much I learned about history and for how much I admired the characterizations of many many people in Victor Dalmau's life. I love the way that these fictional characters play a serious though somewhat idealized role in historical events, especially in Spain during the Civil War of the 1930s and in Chile from 1940 until 1995. Through their experiences, the reader can share the experience of history as it happens, witnessing right and wrong, as well as making the acquaintance of various historic figures like Salvador Allende and Neruda. I enjoyed the quotations from Neruda at the start of each chapter. I also loved the author's use of food as a marker of rich people, poor people, and utterly deprived victims (blogged here).

The idealism and the horrors of the twentieth century are embodied in the entire work, as well as speaking to us now in 2020 as we seem about to repeat the mistakes of the past. Oh, please, I think as I read -- don't let us have another bout with fascist repression of humanity! Don't let another Franco or another Pinochet take over the world! Don't let democracy die!

My only reservation about the novel concerns the character of Roser Bruguera. She's too perfect! She's very intelligent and gifted, creative and able as a pianist and organizer of music, fearless and adaptable in the face of horrific circumstances, loyal to Victor and his family, dedicated to her son -- flawless. Her idealized existence may be believable in the context of the novel; however, in a way the author seems to just use Roser to advance the themes and events of the work, not to explore the human spirit or the role of women in all the events.

After I wrote the paragraphs above, I looked at the review that were published a few months ago when A Long Petal of the Sea was first published. The reviewer in the Washington Post hated the book; I think this was an outlier! The New York Times reviewer, Paula McLain, was enthusiastic:

"In 'A Long Petal of the Sea,' as in much of Allende’s fiction, there is the sense that every human life is an odyssey, and that how and where we connect creates the fabric of our existence: the source of our humanity. If what happens to us — the axis of our fate — is nearly always beyond our control, stubbornly unchangeable, we can still choose what we cleave to and fight for, refusing to be vanquished. This is true belonging, and how we build a world." (source).

In the Guardian, also a favorable view from Hephzibah Anderson:

"At this point in Allende’s long career, it’s easy to forget what a trailblazer she was, a rare female voice in a wave of Latin American literature that was overwhelmingly male. Vivid vignettes serve as reminders here, among them an opening scene in which Victor brings a smooth-cheeked young soldier back to life by massaging his heart, and another in which he feels his own break. 'It was at that moment he understood the profound meaning of that common phrase: he thought he heard the sound of glass breaking and felt that the essence of his being was pouring out until he was empty, with no memory of the past, no awareness of the present, no hope for the future,' Allende writes." (source)

Isabel Allende is one of the most famous South American authors. I've read very little of her work and hope to read some of the older works.

This review by mae sander copyright © 2020.