Part 1, Pages 162 – 202 Summary

Isabel is beginning to lose her strength. Part of her wants to let go, and she feels out of time and place in the cold of Spain. This is making her feel somber, and so her writing turns to a somber time, that of political upheaval in Chile in the 1970's. Salvador Allende was finally elected to the presidency of Chile. However, because his margin of victory was so slim, other parties and the military could covertly plot to sabotage any potential benefits he sought to bring into being.

Tío Ramón was appointed ambassador to Argentina, so Isabel was once again separated from her parents. Isabel turns to the reforms initiated by the Popular Unity Party. The government nationalized the mining of natural resources, which had previously been owned by foreign countries. True agrarian reform began and school programs...