Daughter of misfortune summary

Joaquín decides that he must travel to the United States to make his fortune. He and Eliza have been meeting clandestinely, and she mourns his decision. Feliciano and Paulina are also affected by the gold rush, but through Paulina's clever business mind, they decide to invest in a steam ship, which will provide food for the hungry masses of miners in the States. They enlist John as their captain.
Mama Fresia discovers love letters that Joaquín and Eliza have written to one another, thus exposing the secret that the young couple have been involved sexually. Eliza tells her that she will clear her name by marrying Joaquín, and, toward this goal, she must follow him to California. When Mama Fresia realizes that Eliza is pregnant, she concocts a recipe to try to abort the fetus. She is unsuccessful.
John arrives in Chile and introduces Tao Chi'en, a Chinese man who has been working for him. It is through Tao Chi'en that Eliza will be smuggled aboard another ship and taken to California. At the time, Tao does not know that Eliza is pregnant. He only knows that Eliza is in love and must be reunited with Joaquín. Tao, who is suffering the loss of his wife, fully understands Eliza's emotions. He brings her aboard and stows her in the belly of the ship in a small cargo hold.
In another flashback scene, the story of Tao Chi'en is told. He is the son of a poor healer, who eventually was forced to sell Tao to a group of traveling merchants. When the merchants discover that Tao is a healer, they sell him, in turn, to one of China's greatest acupuncturists as an apprentice. It is through this great healer that Tao receives his name as well as his education in the medicinal arts. When his master dies, Tao travels to Hong Kong, where he sets up a business. According to tradition, Tao looks for a wife who has very small feet, the sign of beauty in Chinese culture at that time. Ironically, it is because of her bound feet (which cause her health to be frail), that his wife, Lin, eventually dies. Later, during a drunken spree, Tao is kidnapped by John and taken aboard his ship.
Tao soon learns that Eliza is pregnant. She becomes seriously ill, and he must take care of her when she miscarries. He cannot be with her at all times, so he enlists the help of Azucena Placeres, a Chilean prostitute who is traveling to San Francisco to set up a business there. She helps Eliza regain her strength, and, for her efforts, Eliza gives her a jeweled necklace.
Upon arriving in San Francisco, Eliza dresses as a young boy and accompanies Tao through the town as they search for a place to stay. Although Tao was not planning on staying in San Francisco, he finds that he cannot leave Eliza. She is still too weak to fend for herself. He is not, like everyone around him, interested in finding gold. He would rather set up his medical practice. Meanwhile, back in Chile, Rose meets with Joaquín's mother and finds that he has gone to California. Rose later confides in John, asking him to search for Eliza there.

Isabel Allende's Daughter of Fortune begins with the narrator recalling the details of Eliza Sommers's arrival at the home of Rose and Jeremy Sommers. Rose and Jeremy took her in on March 15, 1832, the day celebrated as her birthday.
The Sommers live in Valparaíso, Chile. Rose and Jeremy are brother and sister. Rose takes care of household chores (with the help of Mama Fresia, a native woman who runs the kitchen) while Jeremy directs an import/export business. Rose and Jeremy's brother John is a sea captain who often visits them.
Eliza is something of a plaything for Rose, who likes to dress her in fancy clothes and provide a proper education for her. Mama Fresia, on the other hand, looks after Eliza's physical and psychological welfare. Rose teaches Eliza to play the piano and to enjoy reading. Mama Fresia teaches her to cook and to heal herself with medicinal herbs.
Jacob Todd is introduced early in the first chapter as a "charismatic redhead with the most beautiful preacher's voice." He has come to Chile on a bet, claiming that he can sell three hundred bibles. He is warmly received by the upper echelon of Chilean-British society, including Jeremy and Rose Sommers. It does not take long for Todd to fall in love with Rose, who constantly rebuffs his attentions.
As the story unfolds, Allende inserts a brief history of Chilean culture, including facts about immigration, the influence of the British Empire on society, as well as the controls placed on women, who were expected to remain largely inside the home. Agustín del Valle, a wealthy landowner, is introduced as representing the epitome of wealth, influence, and patriarchy.
Eliza enters puberty with the onset of her menstruation cycle, which Miss Rose tells her not to discuss with anyone. Jeremy, noting that Eliza is maturing, comments that "intelligence is a drawback in a woman," proffering his sentiments about the female sex in general. Rose wants to send Eliza to school, but Jeremy is against it. Rose, in retaliation, refuses to do anything in the home and locks herself away in her bedroom. Jeremy eventually submits.
Feliciano Rodríguez de Santa Cruz and the daughter of landowner Agustín del Valle, Paulina, are introduced next. Feliciano represents the newly established rich class, made so by the discovery of gold. He falls in love with Paulina, a match that her father is against. In order to prevent the two from getting together, he orders that Paulina must be taken to a faraway convent to be raised by the nuns until she comes to her senses. He also commands that her head be shaved to shame her. Todd steps in when he hears of Paulina's fate. He helps Feliciano find her. Eventually, Agustín relents, and Paulina and Feliciano are married.
Next, Todd befriends Joaquín Andieta, a very poor young man who works at Jeremy's business and preaches socialism on the side. Andieta and Todd often meet and discuss politics. Andieta believes that Todd lives "in the clouds," because he believes in a communal society. Andieta is more practical: his goal is to unionize workers and promote land reforms.
Part one closes with Todd being discovered as a fraud  and with Miss Rose trying to find an appropriate suitor for Eliza. Her attempts fail, as she introduces Eliza to Michael Steward, an English naval officer, who turns the tables on Miss Rose and falls for her. Eliza, taking matters into her own hands, falls in love with Joaquín. In a flashback scene, the story of Miss Rose's ill-fated love affair with Karl Bretzner, a Viennese tenor, who, Rose later discovers, is married and has two children, is revealed.