Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende

Daughter of Fortune is about a Chilean girl who follows her heart to San Francisco during the gold rush. Main storyline is interesting but what's even better is the stuff that goes on around her, the gold rush and its affect on San Francisco, Sacramento and everything in between. Originally written in Spanish it is beautifully translated. I'm looking forward to another one of her books, Portrait in Sepia where she uses some of the characters (and timeframe) introduced in this book.