I finished it. See, I'm not such a loser book-club-participant after all. All I needed was a nice, long vacation.
I really loved Daughter of Fortune, for a few reasons I think. First, I've realized that I love historical fiction. This counts, right? I've never really studied the California Gold Rush in depth, & it was fascinating to learn about the thousands of people that literally came from all over the world to claim their fortunes, & especially, to start afresh. I was also surprised about the massive amounts of racism that existed between so many different groups. Call me naive, but I just hadn't thought about all of the possibilities before, & just wasn't aware that there was this very real, very massive web of judgment between people. Broadly speaking, that's just really sad. The Civil Rights movement in the United States is such a tiny piece of the puzzle.
Anyway.
Secondly - I closed the book & felt like I had experienced a lifetime with a group of people, that I'd really come to know them as they grew, developed & changed, as their paths crissed & crossed. I felt the same way when I finished East of Eden a few summers ago. I became quite attached to the characters & felt their emotions almost as if they were my own (which explains why I was so depressed after finishing reading The Road).
Finally - I love strong, independent female protagonists. I really, really liked Eliza. While I was frustrated that she wasn't more self aware at her falling in love so passionately with the idea of love, I appreciated the fact that she independent enough to go after what she wanted, on her own in a time when so much less was expected of women.
Rose's story made me sad. Actually, much of the story made me sad. The information we discover about John... Such an amazing opportunity was missed, although I suppose we don't know the rest of the story.
Is any one else finished? Can I keep going? Because I have thoughts (not so profound, but thoughts nonetheless) on Tao & Eliza. And Joaquin. But I'll wait.
2 comments:
I finished it yesterday.
I liked it. I loved learning about the Goldrush. Reminded me of 4th grade. In california, 4th graders (at least then) studied the gold rush. It was fun...and memorable. we even panned for gold in a river!
I have to admit that I felt a little disappointed in the end. I wanted more. I wanted more closure. I get what the author was doing and I even appreciate it...but I wanted to know more! I wanted to learn more of Joaquin and I wish he and Eliza had a chance to meet...even briefly. Even though she was in love with idea of love, I wanted them to encounter one another... I wonder if he ever knew she was looking for him... would that have changed anything? The fact he left her in the first place, suggests no.
I did appreciate how real it was though (the love story). Because most romantic stories are probably more like that...maybe not as extreme, but the whole idea of falling in love with love...
The end has me thinking that Rose and Eliza will reconcile, which was nice.
California was crazy. Interesting to think that without the Gold Rush, the West Coast would't be settled until later. Or perhaps even been kept as part of Mexico.
And the mormon cameos in the novel were kind of fun.
I liked it. I like how the characters found not necessarily what the were looking for, but what they needed (except maybe jeremy.)
I sort of felt the same way about the end. I actually flipped through the last pages in the book thinking, "wait, there's got to be more." But I'm okay that there wasn't.
I want to learn more about the Mormon references. I don't know ANYTHING about all of that. I'm sure there are some interesting stories though.
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