City of the Beasts

Format:	Paperback 416 pages

In stock

Usually despatched within 24 hours

RRP £8.99

£6.69

You save: £2.30

Delivered FREE
in the UK

Add to wish list

About this book
Bookseller reviews
Customer reviews

Synopsis

An ecological romance with a pulsing heart, equal parts Rider Haggard and Chico Buarque -- one of the world's greatest and most beloved storytellers broadens her style and reach with a Amazonian adventure story which will appeal to all ages Fifteen-year-old Alexander Cold has the chance to take the trip of a lifetime. With his mother in hospital, too ill to look after him, Alex is sent out to his grandmother Kate -- a fearless reporter with blue eyes 'as sharp as daggers' points'. Kate is about to embark on an expedition to the dangerous, remote world of the Amazon rainforest, but rather than change her plans, she simply takes Alex along with her. They set off with their team -- including a local guide and his daughter Nadia, with her wild, curly hair and skin the colour of honey -- in search of a fabled headhunting tribe and a legendary, marauding creature known to locals only as 'the Beast', only to find out much, much more about the mysteries of the jungle and its inhabitants. In a novel rich in adventure, magic and spirit, internationally-celebrated novelist Isabel Allende takes readers of all ages on a voyage of discovery and wonder, deep into the heart of the Amazon.

Book details

Published
24/05/2003

Publisher
Flamingo

ISBN
9780007146376

Publisher and industry reviews

Jacket review

Praise for Isabel Allende: 'A magical storyteller' Daily Mail 'Allende's writing is so vivid we hear the sounds, see the bright birds, smell and even taste the soft fruit.' The Times 'A wonderful, seemingly effortless storyteller; you feel yourself sink into the folds of her narrative with an almost childlike certainty that you're going to hear a good story well told.' Irish Independent 'Her prose is rich and magical, her characters vivid. She mixes violence and horror, love and humour, with more than a touch of genius.' Mary Wesley praise for Daughter of Fortune: "A dazzling, sweeping story." MAIL ON SUNDAY "Romance, passion and adventure fuel Allende's new novel. With an old-fashioned narrative drive and a warm-hearted heroine, it wins you over." SUNDAY EXPRESS "Memory and imagination and myth weave their spells... Allende creates world upon world in dazzling descriptive prose." INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY "Within the lush sweep of this tale of the heart, there is a message that love is transient and illusory, that it is the beginning of a journey of self-discovery, not the end. Daughter of Fortune takes us from high-class soirees to brothels, revolutionary meetings and opium dens; it introduces a cast of colourful characters and the story remains fresh and original." TLS

UK Kirkus review

Alexander Cold is 15, and happy with his orderly life. As we learn in the first chapter, 'He had simple plans for the future. He planned to be a famous musician, have two children and live near the mountains.' But when his father arranges to take his mother to Texas for the cancer treatment that may save her life, Alex's life is thrown into turmoil. While his two sisters are sent to stay with their maternal grandmother, he is packed off to Grandma Kate, his father's mother, in New York. Kate is as unlike a stereotypical grandmother as it is possible to be. With short grey hair and blue eyes 'as sharp as daggers' points', she's an intrepid, award-winning reporter who is about to embark upon a dangerous expedition to the Amazon rainforest to try to track down a mythical and terrifying creature that preys on humans. Alex has no choice but to join her, and once they reach the remote depths of the forest his concerns about eating unfamiliar food or wearing dirty clothes become overshadowed by the possibility that he and Kate may be facing death. The threat to their lives is threefold: from their travelling companions, from a mysterious forest-dwelling tribe who can fade into the mist, seemingly at will, and from the Beast itself. Their hope of salvation is the common sense of their guide, Cesar Santos, and his beautiful daughter, Nadia, but after Alex and Nadia are kidnapped by the tribe, the children must fend for themselves in an unfamiliar world of magic and spirits. Allende's famed magic-realist style finds its full expression in this beautiful story that can be enjoyed on more than one level: as an adventure story for those of all ages, and as a powerful message about the plight of indigenous peoples in the rainforest. Her language is as vivid as ever, and if the emphasis is very much on magic rather than realism, it only adds to the overall charm. (Kirkus UK)

About the author

Isabel Allende

isabel allende was born in 1942, the cousin of Salvador Allende, who went on to become famous as the elected President of Chile deposed in a CIA-backed coup. She worked as a journalist, playwright and children's writer in Chile until 1974 and then in Venezuela until 1984. Her first novel for adults, The House of the Spirits, was published in Spanish in 1982, beginning life as a letter to her dying grandfather. It was an international sensation, and ever since all her books have been acclaimed and adored in numberless translations worldwide.