Week 6- Free Response

Dear Isabel Allende,

I have recently finished your book Daughter of Fortune and I enjoyed it greatly! However, I do have some questions about the character Joaquin Murieta and the singsong girls.

His life is obviously a bit sketchy since it is all recorded by a reporter who has never even met him. I had the feeling while reading your book that Murieta didn't even exist. I thought this because he and his group was uncatchable and they seemed to move impossibly quickly from one town to another. Another part suggesting this made up villain was when he was supposedly killed. Their were no witnesses to say otherwise and the description of the posse was rather vague. However, I think I was proven wrong when Eliza went to see Murieta's decapitated head. When she saw it she proclaimed, "I am free" (399). I assume that this meant that Murieta's head was indeed the one of her first love. This would of course mean that Murieta was a real person. So, I'm a little bit confused about his existance.

I was also curious about the singsong girls. Was slavery really so prominent in California in the mid-1800's? Were there really Chinese slaves called the singsong girls? I have a hard time imagining the government so corrupt. I suppose I can see a little bit of slave trading occurring, but you wrote about it as if it happened in large amounts. Could the California government really ignore such a big problem? Getting beyond the trading of slaves, I was also curious about the conditions these girls lived in. Is your writing based on factual accounts? The brothels were disgusting. So many girls packed in such a small space and then brainwashed and drugged to perform! I was also taken aback at how they were then silently left to starve or be killed after they were no longer useful. Perhaps this only happened in a few places and you wrote about the worst scenario a prostitute could be in. I sure hope this is the case, because I was horrified at your account of the singsong girls.

Other than these few questions, I was incredibly pleased with your book. I would like to read more books by you, but I have heard that they are sad. Perhaps you could write another book with a happy ending like The Daughter of Fortune!

Sincerely,
Megan