First Impression Friday will be a meme where you talk about a book that you JUST STARTED! Maybe you’re only a chapter or two in, maybe a little farther. Based on this sampling of your current read, give a few impressions and predict what you’ll think by the end.

Synopsis:

Set in a country of arbitrary arrests, sudden disappearances and summary executions, Isabel Allende’s magical novel tells of the passionate affair of two people prepared to risk everything for the sake of justice and truth: Irene  Beltrán, a reporter, comes from a wealthy background; Francisco Leal, a young photographer secretly engaged in undermining the military dictatorship, is strongly attracted by her beauty. It does not matter that her fiancé is an army captain: each time Francisco accompanies her on a magazine assignment, he falls more deeply in love with her.

When they go to investigate the mysterious case of Evangelina Ranquileo, a girl suffering from spectacular fits which are rumoured to have miraculous powers, the arrival of soldiers adds a sinister aspect to the mystery. And then Evangelina disappears. Irene and Francisco, in trying to trace her and indict the Junta, become engulfed in a vortex of terror and violence.

Happy weekend everyone! For the members of the Christian faith, Happy Palm Sunday. The Holy Week is about to commence. I pray for everyone’s well-being. Anyway, this is supposed to be a Friday post but I was out of it for the past two days. Nevertheless, I hope that everyone ended their work week on a high note; a new work week is about to start tomorrow. Here in the Philippines, it is going to be a short working week as Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are traditional holidays. I hope the coming week will go well for everyone. I hope that everyone’s weekend was free of worries. I hope that the weekend provided you a reprieve and that you all spent it pursuing the things that you are passionate about. As we slowly transition to a new quarter, I hope that the rest of the year will shower everyone with good news, blessings, and happiness. More importantly, I hope everyone will be healthy, physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Today also happens to be the second to the last Sunday of March. How time flies. Regardless, I hope the last week of the month will go well for everyone. Reading-wise, I originally planned to dedicate March to reading works of Japanese literature; I was supposed to travel there this week but I canceled at the last minute due to some complications. Instead, I resolved to read works of female writers to commemorate Women’s History Month. The last time I hosted an all-women book month was back in March 2022. Without design, I ended my February reading journey by reading four works by female writers in a row so I have already established some sort of reading momentum going into March. This journey has brought me to different parts of the world. My current read, Isabel Allende’s Of Love and Shadows, has transported me to South America.

It was through must-read lists that I first came across the Chilean writer. Her debut novel and magnum opus, The House of the Spirits was a familiar presence in such lists. It also happened to be the first novel by Allende that I read. It was such an amazing reading journey I resolved to read more of her works. Of Love and Shadows is my fifth novel by Allende and just the second from the earlier phase of her literary career. I guess I have to establish this one because her writing seems to be characterized by two phases, at least from the books I have read so far. I find her more recent works – A Long Petal of the Sea, Violeta, and The Wind Knows My Name – less steeped in magical realism than Of Love and Shadows and The House of the Spirits. Nevertheless, all but The Wind Knows My Name are bound by the same element: Chile, Allende’s home country.

Anyway, I have long been looking forward to Of Love and Shadows because it was also listed as one of the 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. It was originally published in Spanish in 1984 as De amor y de sombra and is Allende’s sophomore novel. Just like her debut novel, Of Love and Shadows is set in an unnamed country. However, it is not rocket science to figure out that the novel was set in Chile. At the heart of the story was magazine editor Irene Beltrán. She was born into an affluent family and was engaged to Army Captain Gustavo Morante. Her life, as she knew it, started to unravel with her encounter with photographer Francisco Leal. Leal has a degree in psychology but he was unable to put it to good use, hence, his shift to photography to earn himself a living as a journalist.

The crux of the story was when Irene and Francisco traveled to the countryside to cover the supernatural powers of Evangelina Ranquileo, a farmgirl living near the village of Los Riscos. Evangelina has always been believed by her mother, Digna, to have been switched at birth. A bout of sickness slowly evolved into the supernatural and people from different parts of the region started to flock to the Ranquileo home in the hopes of her healing them from their maladies. When Irene and Francisco arrived at the Ranquileo home, they found that the army had arrived too. Evangelina’s brother Pradelio, who works in the military, has told his superior Lieutenant Juan de Dios Ramirez, about his sister’s abilities. Believing it to be a hoax, the lieutenant and his corpse gatecrashed the Ranquileo home. Their aim was to scare Evangelina only to witness her supernatural power.  

In the following sequences, Evangelina was taken into custody by the military. She would not be heard from again, at least to the part where I made it. I am already halfway through the story which follows Irene and Francisco finding traces of Evangelina. The recognition for me was immediate. Allende was again painting a portrait of the authoritarian regime in her nation. The dictator’s tentacles were everywhere. A gathering of more than three people is immediately intervened by the police or the military. Locals have also learned to be discrete about what they say because it is the “basis for survival.” The literary shadows of fascism haunted Irene and Francisco everywhere they went. For Irene, the extent of violence and death that pervaded her country was an eye-opener. Growing up in the comforts of affluence shielded her from these atrocities.

Irene was at a crossroads as she was starting to see through the smokescreen. She was even starting to question her relationship with her fiance; she was delaying her marriage although her mother was pressuring her to seal the deal. Logically, the proximity of Francisco and Irene will lead to something romantic. But, of course, that plays second fiddle to the shadows lurking at every corner of the country. I foresee that this is going to be a searing portrait of the dictatorship and how it altered the lives of Chileans. This is why I pointed out what I deem as the two phases of Allende’s career: her earlier works were vivid portraits of her home country during one of its darkest phases. I could also be wrong considering that this is just the second of her earlier works that I read.

As always, I am curious how Allende will tie all of the novel’s various elements together. The novel’s historical contexts are drawing me in. Will love overcome the shadows? Or will the shadows envelope the beacon of love? How about you fellow reader? What book or books are you going to take with you this weekend? I hope you get to enjoy whatever you are reading right now. Happy weekend!