49 pages • 1 hour read
Isabel Allende, Transl. Margaret Sayers PedenA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Content Warning: This section contains discussion of murder, infant loss, and genital mutilation. It also mentions anti-trans and anti-gay bias.
Lukas Carlé’s hanged body is discovered in the woods by the village postman. His death is ruled a suicide, but word soon spreads that he was murdered by five of his students. Frau Carlé is relieved, but Rolf is plagued by guilt because he wanted to be the one to kill his father. He falls gravely ill, prompting Frau Carlé to send him to South America to live with his Aunt Burgel and Uncle Rupert in the small village of La Colonia. La Colonia was founded in the 19th century, when 80 European families were shipped to South America with the intention of creating “a perfect society [. . .] regulated by sound Christian principles” (98). Its inhabitants are uniformly blonde and blue-eyed, and none of them speak Spanish.
On arriving in La Colonia, Rolf’s health is quickly restored. He initially tries to live a stoic and rational life, but a consensual incestuous relationship with both of his cousins opens his mind to pleasure. Though Rolf enjoys La Colonia, he knows it is an artificial society far removed from the rest of South America.
By these authors
A Long Petal of the Sea
A Long Petal of the Sea
Isabel Allende
And of Clay Are We Created
And of Clay Are We Created
Isabel Allende
City of the Beasts
City of the Beasts
Isabel Allende
Daughter Of Fortune
Daughter Of Fortune
Isabel Allende
In the Midst of Winter
In the Midst of Winter
Isabel Allende
Island Beneath the Sea
Island Beneath the Sea
Isabel Allende
Maya's Notebook: A Novel
Maya's Notebook: A Novel
Isabel Allende
Of Love and Shadows
Of Love and Shadows
Isabel Allende
Paula
Paula
Isabel Allende
Portrait in Sepia
Portrait in Sepia
Isabel Allende
Ripper
Ripper
Isabel Allende
The House of the Spirits
The House of the Spirits
Isabel Allende
The Japanese Lover
The Japanese Lover
Isabel Allende
The Stories of Eva Luna
The Stories of Eva Luna
Isabel Allende
The Wind Knows My Name
The Wind Knows My Name
Isabel Allende
Two Words
Two Words
Isabel Allende
Violeta
Violeta
Isabel Allende
Zorro
Zorro
Isabel Allende
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection
View Collection