This novel can easily be called a comedy of errors, except it is not a comedy but a wacky adventure based on mix-ups and misunderstandings piled on top of one another.

The story begins in a snowstorm with a car accident when the distracted NYU professor Richard Bowmaster rear ends a Lexus, popping open the trunk, which is driven by Evelyn Ortega, an undocumented Guatemalan refugee/worker for a mobster’s wife. Evelyn escapes in a panic. Later on, Evelyn shows up at Richard’s door, trembling and in fright. Not understanding what Evelyn is saying, Richard calls his tenant and colleague Lucia Maraz. Lucia calms Evelyn by telling her that she, too, has been exiled from Chile. Richard’s parents have also fled the Nazis. Richard and Lucia find out that the Lexus belongs to Frank Leroy, which Evelyn has borrowed the car without permission to find the corpse in the trunk later. Feeling for Evelyn, Lucia and Frank want to help her and thus starts their adventure of mishaps and mix-ups as they drive through upstate New York through the snowstorm that lasts for days in order to get rid of the corpse.

The story goes back and forth in time as each character talks about his or her own backstory, a bit too much for my liking. If the readers are reading this from a book, they should be fine, since they can go back more easily and reread, but if they are listening to its audio version, it is a given that they’ll lose track of the story with all three very different people’s backstories and the numerous back and forth of the storytelling.

Despite all that back and forth, characterization is superb and especially Evelyn’s trials and tribulations, as she tries to make it into the United States, are eye-opening, which I am sure, what happened to Evelyn reflects the true harrowing experiences and harsh realities of the refugees. The story or the trek itself is exciting and mesmerizing added to each character’s specific experiences.

The love relationship that develops between Richard and Lucia both in their sixties adds a romantic interest to the story. The harsh lives of the two women and their beliefs in the magical and their such experiences juxtaposing with Richard’s somewhat easier life and realism makes up a sensational story with a stunning twist at the end.

I have read most of what Isabel Allende has written, and I think she uses realism in a fun way. What I mean is, I wouldn’t miss a book of hers because of her storytelling spiced with deep insights into characters and events, a sense of humor, something of magic, and at times, piercing sorrow.

living the adventures with the characters since the writing pulls the readers into the story.

Evelyn's story on the road through Central America toward the US. It was something new to me.

is Isabel Allende, the Chilean-American author. Eva Luna, The Infinite Plan, Paula, House of Spirits, Of Love and Shadows, Daughter of Fortune, Portrait in Sepia, City of the Beasts, Japanese Lover are among her novels.

It is a captivating story. Even if you may not be too enthused about some things about it, the weaving of the plot, the twist at the end, and fantastic characterization will be well worth your time.

The corpse in the trunk might be a cliche, but who the three characters are and their stories are stunning and take precedence over the corpse. Richard's story could be anybody's. I recognized Isabel Allende's personal story in Lucia's, and I found Evelyn's story to be the most powerful.

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Created May 21, 2018 at 4:31pm • Submit your own review...