This week’s recommendation comes from Megan Settle, English Language Acquisition Instructor for RISE, which recently moved into the renovated North East Branch Library.

She chose “A Long Petal of the Sea/Largo Pétalo del Mar” by Isabel Allende.

“‘A Long Petal of the Sea’ is another stunning work of historical fiction by Isabel Allende,” Megan said. “This story about displacement and a chance alliance is based off a real and unexpected friend that Allende made herself over 40 years ago. Víctor Dalmau, exiled from Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War, is named after someone that Allende once met while she was in exile herself in Venezuela. She kept his compelling story for over 40 years, once sharing about the real Víctor in an NPR interview, “In extreme circumstances, like war… the best and worst of human beings emerges.” (NPR 2020).

The book is available through the North East Branch Library in English print, audiobook CD, downloadable audiobook, and eBook.