Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende

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Isabel Allende’s biography describes her as a “novelist, feminist and philanthropist.” Allende is Chilean and her novels are based on historical events woven with original narratives that not only educate the reader but entertain. Her protagonists are strong, but gentle woman who seek their own identity.

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For this project I have adapted the novel Daughter of Fortune (1998) based on a film production.  It is a period production set between 1832 and 1854 in Valparaiso, Chile, China and San Francisco, California during the Gold Rush. My designs have been developed with historical accuracy. I have aimed to create my costume using natural dyes, hand woven textiles and hand sewn to reflect the technologies of the period.

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The Mapuche indigenous people created their own textiles from spinning and weaving the fleece of  alpaca and sheep having been introduced by the Spanish. They created their dyes from plants and other natural resources which inspired me to develop my designs using natural dyes. I have also developed my own fabrics using various weaving techniques such as inkle and card weaving, and felting.

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The protagonist of this novel is Eliza Sommers, a foundling left at the door of British siblings Rose and Jeremy Sommers, in Valparaiso, Chile. Eliza's childhood is influenced by the Mapuche myths and traditions of Mama Fresia and the aristocratic lifestyle of the Sommers.

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The skills she has learnt from both help her survive as pregnant, she stows away on a ship, aided by a Chinese man Tao Chi-en, bound for San Francisco to find her first love. As a woman she cannot travel un-accompanied so disguises herself as a man. Finally, as a foundling, a ward of the Sommers and as a man she discovers her contentment in her own identity, when she then removes the assumed personas to be herself.