This is another good novel by one of my favorite authors. It doesn't surpass my favorite (Portrait in Sepia) but it ranks with her better books. Troubled nineteen year old Maya Vidal is given the task of keeping a journal. She prefers to call it a notebook. In it she recounts the events in her life that led up to her living on the Chilean island of Chiloe, hiding out from the police and criminals who are searching for her. Maya was raised in Berkeley by her unconventional grandparents, Nini and Popo. After the death of her beloved Popo Maya's life goes off the rails. Eventually she is homeless, drug addicted and on the run from the members of an international counterfeit ring in Las Vegas. Her gritty life on the street contrasts with her life in the small island village her grandmother sends her to after rehab. Allende doesn't pull any punches in describing the seamier side of Maya's life and the parts that take place in Chile are reminiscent of her earlier novels.
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