Del Valle comes into the world on a stormy day in 1920, the first girl in a family with five sons. From the start, her life is marked by extraordinary events -- the ripples of the Great War are still being felt, even as the Spanish flu arrives on the shores of her South American homeland, followed by the Great Depression. Her family must say goodbye to their genteel lifestyle and retreat to a wild and beautiful but remote part of the country. There she will come of age, and her first suitor will come calling. 

Violeta's story will encompass devastating heartbreak and passionate love, poverty and wealth, terrible loss and immense joy. Her life is shaped by some of the most important events of history: the fight for women's rights, the rise and fall of tyrants, and two destructive pandemics. Through the eyes of a woman whose heart, determination, and sense of humor carry her through a lifetime of upheaval, Isabel Allende tells a story both fiercely inspiring and deeply emotional.