Eva Luna

Chilean author Isabel Allende has a real knack for weaving fantastic stories. My favorite book of hers is still The House of the Spirits, but Eva Luna is also excellent. The book follows Eva's life from poor beginnings to a strange influence on her country's fate. And, wow, is her life colorful! The people she meets, the decisions she makes, the life she ends up leading - the reader certainly doesn't get bored.

The story takes place in Chile and shows what life in a struggling South American nation, with both the good and the bad there for us to examine; a sort of political commentary is present somewhere in there too. It's because of all this that the book has so many layers.

Five stars - the storytelling is incredible.