'The characters both convince and fascinate. The sense of place is stunning. Lyrical and passionate, Allende describes with equal vividness women preparing a feast in a slum back yard, a small town breathless in the heat of summer, or a battalion slaughtered by night on a mountainside. Allende's writing is supremely elegant, dense, yet economical... her courtesy and tenderness towards her characters reminded me of the Pasternak of Dr Zhivago.' - Independent on Sunday. This magnificent novel tells the story of Gregory Reeves, the son of Charles, an itinerant preacher. As a boy, Gregory accepts the endless journeying and poverty which is his family's lot, never questioning the validity of his father's homespun philosophy of life - the Infinite Plan. But, as manhood approaches, Gregory finds himself increasingly possessed by a yearning to escape. Hankering after worldly wealth, he longs to break away from the barrio, the teeming Hispanic ghetto of downtown Los Angeles where his family has finally settled. Gregory's quest, so different from his father's, takes him first to the killing fields of Vietnam, and thence to law school at Berkeley from where he pitches headlong into a hedonistic pursuit of the American Dream... 'Devotees of Allende's The House of Spirits will rejoice to find again in her new novel the magical storyteller's touch that transforms life into a compelling emotional adventure, leaving one breathless. The Infinite Plan is her first novel to be set outside Latin America - in California where she now lives - but many of its characters abound in Latin American fervour. A hopeful, warm-hearted, absorbing novel, affirming life and love but not flinching from exploring the pain that inevitably accompanies both.' - Daily Mail. This 1994 Flamingo Paperback is in good condition. ISBN: 9780006546849 SKU: 1563741 This image is of the actual book.
