Daughter of Fortune as titled in English, this book was a gift I received in the Greek translation, so I'm not sure how the English will read. I can safely assume that the English translation is equally good. Isabel Allende's writing is beautiful and the story pulls you in all the way. Set in 1843-1853, we follow Elisa Sommers born and raised in Chile by British colonists. Looking for the man she loves as well as for her personal independence, Elisa runs away and ends up in California during the gold rush. Allende's writing skills make this story more than a simple love story. She goes into depth exploring the racial and class tensions of the time, the desperate attempts to find gold by people who abandoned everything for a chance in California only to find themselves poorer and more hopeless than before. The historical facts are fascinating. Overall, I found this story to be a wonderful story of love, or better not a story of love, but a story of obsession with the idea of love until one finds what love really is and what love never was; and a story of finding oneself and having the strength to go against societal norms in order to gain personal freedom and independence. In the process, there are risks, losses, but also gains. Were the years of life Elisa Sommers lost worth it? Were the life and experiences she gained worth it? I'm not sure there is a definitive answer for that... Some things in life are not simply black and white.