Fearing the worst, Alma’s parents sent her away from Poland in 1939, as they experienced the rising threat of Nazi Germany. They sent her to her uncle’s family in San Francisco where they lived in a mansion overlooking the water, with the hope that they might be reunited again after the war.  Alma, uprooted and lonely finds a special friend in the Japanese gardener’s son, Ichimei and for a time she finds that she can forget about her parents in Poland and the life she knew there. But the war intrudes and when the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Ichimei and his family are forced into an internment camp far from San Francisco. Although the two friends try to stay in touch by correspondence, eventually the distance proves too muvh and they lose touch.

Now almost 70 years later Alma has retired from her life as an artist, business woman, socialite and philanthropist and has moved into Lark House a delightfully bohemian retirement home with eccentric and odd residents who allow Alma to blend in almost unnoticed. Irina, one of the new staff people takes an interest in Alma and soon they have established a comfortable if not affectionate relationship. Seth, Alma’s irrepressible grandson, comes to visit often as he tries to coax Alma to tell him about their family and her life for his new project- a novel. But Alma has been keeping secrets for a long time  and is resistant to Seth’s desire for more answers.   With Seth visiting more regularly, however, he notices that Alma suddenly disappears for several days every time a yellow envelope arrives in the mail. Enlisting Irina’s help, Seth tries to find out what the yellow envelopes contain, hoping they will offer some clue to the secrets he knows his grandmother is keeping.

Allende has captured the spirit of Alma with deftness and tenderness. Alma is a strong woman who has suffered incredible losses and disappointments and experienced love and joy as well. Now at the end of her life she is trying to come to terms with the cxhoices she made and the secrets she has been carrying, trying to find closure before she dies. Allende, portrays this process without sentimentality, showing us Alma’s clear sighted honesty as she looks back on her life and in doing so we can be grateful that the choices Alma had to make are no longer choices that would be required of her today. Allende is not as skillful in portraying her other supporting characters like Seth or Irina who seem less fully realized in comparison to Alma. The portions describing the round up of Japanese for internment were quite powerful, reminding us that fear exerts a powerful cost on individuals caught up in its clutches as well as to the fabric of society when it is allowed to run rampant.

While I enjoyed this book I do not think it is as well written as some of Allende’s other works.  The story, however, is quite compelling and carried me through to the end which was quite satisfying.

Brenda’s Rating: ****( 4 out of 5 Stars)

Recommend this book to: Keith, Sharon and Marian

Book Study Worthy? Yes

Read in ebook format.