This is a great book about an orphaned girl in Chile growing up with a Victorian spinster and her two brothers. When she meets her first love, she eventually follows him to California during the Gold Rush.

The story is VERY vivid in detail - getting into the culture of China, Chile, Mexico, California, England... I love the references to the rituals and medical practices of the time. Those little details are often overlooked in historical fiction, but Isabel Allende hit a homer with this one! Love it!