Rating: 
Summary: Just great!
Review: This book follows many of the characters Allende introduced in another novel, Daughter of Fortune. I actually liked this book a little better than Daughter of Fortune, because I felt there was at least a little more mystery involved. There are many compelling characters in the book, but, unfortunately, I didn't really think that Aurora (the storyteller) was one of them. Her grandmother Paulina was infinitely more interesting. Also, I thought the title was strained. It felt like Allende just tacked a paragraph or two onto the end of the story to justify the title. Although Aurora was a photographer, I didn't feel that the title naturally sprang from the work. Rather, it was foisted upon it.
Rating:
Summary: An Incredible Interweaving of Previous Works
Review: This book is made exquisite by the author's use of magic realism, historical events, and previously introduced characters woven together to create yet another photograph, if you will, of a woman seeking the truth or her past. I have always loved Isabelle Allende's work for her attention to detail in her main characters. Although at times she uses magic realism to enhance her characters it is always very clear how each part of their life has effected them and has lead them to the place at which they (or the book) end. I have read House of Spirits, Daughter of Fortune, Eva Luna, and The Letters of Eva Luna and was amazed at the imagination Allende exibits in Portrait of Sepia. She uses her trade mark character detail and magic realism to weave together two of her earlier works in a way that captivates her readers and again leaves you wanting more. I personally adore her endings because, although they are not grand and do not necassarily tie up all the pieces, they leave the reader with the sense that the characters are not fictional people who's life ends with a happily ever after at the end of the book. Allende makes her characters believable to the extent that it seems logical that they and their impact on their world do not fit into a single work, but span different books and different stories.
Rating: 
Summary: My First Introduction To Ms. Allende!
Review: This is the first time that I've read Ms. Allende and maybe due to the fact that I've not read any of her previous titles I did not have any expectations when beginning this story and as a result found this a pleasent read. Although there were some slow parts I enjoyed the history of these two families but in the same breath found it at times difficult to follow the many different characters that were introduced. Still it was nice to be given a chance to know the various characters that make up this story and as a result given a chance to know the families. I look forward to reading Ms. Allende again in the future and recommend this book as a nice way to pass the weekend.
Rating:
Summary: Tying all the pieces together.
Review: What happened in that museum when Eliza Sommers viewed the supposed head of Joaquin Murieta? And what about the parents of Clara the Clairvoyant, what is their story? Portrait in Sepia answers both these questions and more. It also introduces us to Aurora del Valle, the granddaughter of Paulina del Valle and also Eliza Sommers. The story is told in a fashion similar to Eva Luna, with childhood memories and later discoveries forming most of its basis. I absolutely loved Daughter of Fortune and have been eagerly awaiting the sequel for years. Anyone who cannot get enough of Isabel Allende and her magical realism style of story telling will love this book. As for claims that it is not as good as the original, I would say so only in the aspect that I think I like the character of Eliza Sommers more than that of her granddaughter. However, this is a powerful book and I am grateful to the author for writing it.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful but ultimately disappointing
Review: When I finished reading 'Daughter of Fortune' I had a profound sense of letdown: the exhilarating trip through the unique character's fascinating lives was over, yet there were no resolutions to the major conflicts of the novel. I felt that the narrative had stopped abruptly, rather than concluded in any satisfactory way. I wondered if Allende had been under some sort of pressure to finish this novel and get it to publication. I awaited the publication of 'Portrait in Sepia' eagerly,I was still enamored and involved with the characters in 'Daughter of Fortune', even though 'Portrait in Sepia' is not exactly a sequel, jumping forward the backward in time, I was eager for some answers about what exactly had happened to Tao Chien, Eliza, Paulina and Severo. Finishing 'Portrait in Sepia' left me with a familiar sense of let down; though I devoured it, reading from cover to cover, bouncing back and forth from Chile to San Francisco, I finished unsatisfied. I have resolved to re-read 'House of the Spirits' for more details of the de Valle family history. My frustration at the lack of conventional plotting does nothing to dim my enthusiasm for Allende's writing, which is, as always, lyrical and magical. I am amazed that the poetry and the flow of her language survives translation time and again. As long as she continues to invent characters this vivid and three dimensional and as long as her language lilts and soars in this fashion, I will continue reading her happily. However, I hope that in future writing she might confine herself to a smaller canvas, a story that can be told whole in a single novel.
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