Eva Luna by Isabel Allende is an example of a novel that depicts a great variety of women characters that come together in their struggle to survive in a politically torn and male-dominated country. Good!.
Eva Luna was my introduction into the world of Isabel Allende's novels and I have to admit that in the beginning I had to struggle with the stereotype of "romantic pulp novels- to get myself through the first twenty-five - thirty pages (Wilson). I think that a reader, in this case me, starts to appreciate a novel as soon as he or she finds something in this work that speaks only to her. For me, such a segment of the novel was the variety of characters of women depicted by Allende throughout the story. The personal and social struggle of these women was of great interest to me particularly because of a time frame in which the story took place - the first half of the twentieth century. It was not only a period of active introduction of such political ideas as world social revolution and communism in Russia, and Nazism in Germany, it was also a stage when even in the western world women did not enjoy complete freedom.
The figures that seem the most interesting to me were La Senora, Mimi, and, of course, Eva Luna (I hope I was allowed to include Mimi in this list). I think that in the lives of these three women the struggle for personal and social success and fulfillment took especially dramatic character on the background of political chaos, financial hardships, and society controlled by men.
La Senora's character fascinates me with its strength of survival instincts, eternal youth, creativity, and restlessness. She is a kind of a woman that will adapt to any situation to make the best if it and still will not lose her feminine charm. She is more of a survivor than many men. .
The first introduction to La Senora and her life style is possible due to Huberto Naranjo who brings Eva into her apartment in order to save Eva from the hardships of living in the street.