My Name Is Emilia del Valle

"I wish I could be more like Emilia del Valle! She doesn’t let the fact that she’s a woman (in late 19th century San Franciso) stop her from first becoming an author – and then a war correspondent. Deciding to explore her Chilean roots, Emilia plunges headlong into Chile’s civil war, travels with the troops and manages to fall in love. Yet she never loses her sense of who she is and what she wants. The book immersed me in history I didn’t know and gave me someone I could really root for."