Isabel Allende
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Isabel Angélica Allende Llona (; born in
Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...
, 2 August 1942) is a Chilean writer. Allende, whose works sometimes contain aspects of the genre
magical realism Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to: * Magical (horse) Magical (foaled 18 May 2015) is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who excelled over middle distances and was rated in the top twenty racehorses in the world in 2018 and ...
, is known for novels such as ''
The House of the Spirits ''The House of the Spirits'' ( es, La casa de los espíritus, 1982) is the debut novel of Isabel Allende. The novel was rejected by several Spanish-language publishers before being published in Buenos Aires in 1982. It became an instant best-se ...
'' (''La casa de los espíritus'', 1982) and ''
City of the Beasts ''City of the Beasts'' ( es, La ciudad de las bestias) is the first young adult novel by Chilean-American writer Isabel Allende. Published in 2002, the story is set in the Amazon rainforest. The novel was translated by Margaret Sayers Peden ...
'' (''La ciudad de las bestias'', 2002), which have been commercially successful. Allende has been called "the world's most widely read Spanish-language author." In 2004, Allende was inducted into the
American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...
, and in 2010, she received Chile's National Literature Prize. President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
awarded her the 2014
Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merito ...
. Allende's novels are often based upon her personal experience and historical events and pay homage to the lives of women, while weaving together elements of myth and realism. She has lectured and toured many U.S. colleges to teach literature. Fluent in English, Allende was granted United States citizenship in 1993, having lived in California since 1989, first with her American husband (from whom she is now divorced).


Personal life

Allende was born in
Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...
,
Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...
, the daughter of Francisca Llona Barros called "Doña Panchita" (the daughter of Agustín Llona Cuevas and Isabel Barros Moreira, of Portuguese descent) and Tomás Allende, who was at the time a second secretary at the Chilean embassy. Her father was a first cousin of
Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (, , ; 26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 3 November 1970 until his death on 11 September 1973. He was the fir ...
, President of Chile from 1970 to 1973."Review: The undefeated: A life in writing: Often compared to Gabriel García Márquez, Isabel Allende is more interested in telling stories about her own life, her difficult upbringing, marriage, and her daughter's death.'"Aida Edemariam. ''
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'' (London) p. 11. 28 April 200
Isabel Allende website
/ref> In 1945, after Tomás left them, Isabel's mother relocated with her three children to
Santiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital (political), capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated Regions of Chile, region, t ...
, where they lived until 1953. In 1953 Allende's mother married Ramón Huidobro and the family moved often. Huidobro was a diplomat appointed to Bolivia and Beirut. In
La Paz La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities ...
,
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, Allende attended an American private school; and in Beirut, Lebanon, she attended an English private school. The family returned to Chile in 1958, where Allende was also briefly home-schooled. In her youth, she read widely, particularly the works of
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
. In 1970, Salvador Allende appointed Huidobro as ambassador to Argentina. While living in Chile, Allende finished her secondary studies and met engineering student Miguel Frías whom she married in 1962. They had two children, a son and a daughter. Reportedly, "Allende married early, into an Anglophile family and a kind of double life: at home she was the obedient wife and mother of two; in public she became, after a spell translating
Barbara Cartland Dame Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland, (9 July 1901 – 21 May 2000) published as Barbara Cartland was an English writer, known as the Queen of Romance, who published both contemporary and historical romance novels, the latter set primarily duri ...
, a moderately well-known TV personality, a dramatist and a journalist on a feminist magazine." From 1959 to 1965, Allende worked with the United Nations
Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...
in Santiago, then in
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, and elsewhere in Europe. For a short time in Chile, she also had a job translating romance novels from English to Spanish. However, she was fired for making unauthorized changes to the dialogue of the heroines to make them sound more intelligent, as well as altering the
Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
ending to allow the heroines to find more independence and do good in the world. Allende's and Frías's daughter Paula was born in 1963; she died in 1992. In 1966, Allende again returned to Chile, where her son Nicolás was born that year.


Exile in Venezuela

In 1973, Salvador Allende was overthrown in a coup led by General
Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...
. Isabel found herself arranging safe passage for people on the "wanted lists", which she continued to do until her mother and stepfather narrowly escaped assassination. When she herself was added to the list and began receiving death threats, she fled to
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
, where she stayed for 13 years. It was during this time that Allende wrote her debut novel ''The House of the Spirits'' (1982). Allende has stated that her move from Chile made her a serious writer: "I don’t think I would be a writer if I had stayed in Chile. I would be trapped in the chores, in the family, in the person that people expected me to be." Allende believed that, being female in a patriarchal family, she was not expected to be a "liberated" person. Her history of oppression and liberation is thematically found in much of her fiction, where women contest the ideals of patriarchal leaders. In Venezuela she was a columnist for '' El Nacional'', a major national newspaper. In 1978, she began a temporary separation from Miguel Frías. She lived in Spain for two months, then returned to her marriage.


Later life

She divorced her first husband, Miguel Frías, in 1987. During a visit to California on a book tour in 1988, Allende met her second husband, California attorney and novelist William C. "Willie" Gordon. They married in July 1988. In 1994, she was awarded the Gabriela Mistral Order of Merit, the first woman to receive this honor. Allende resides in
San Rafael, California San Rafael ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Raphael (archangel), St. Raphael", ) is a city and the county seat of Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), ...
. Most of her family lives nearby, with her son, his second wife, and her grandchildren just down the hill, in the house she and her second husband vacated. She separated from Gordon in April 2015. In 2006 she was one of the eight flag bearers at the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. She presented the talk ''Tales of Passion'' at
TED TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depa ...
2007. In 2008, Allende received the honorary degree
Doctor of Humane Letters The degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (; DHumLitt; DHL; or LHD) is an honorary degree awarded to those who have distinguished themselves through humanitarian and philanthropic contributions to society. The criteria for awarding the degree differ ...
from
San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...
for her "distinguished contributions as a literary artist and humanitarian." In 2014, Allende received the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
for her contributions to literature. In 2019 she married Roger Cukras, a lawyer from New York. Although not as openly political as some of her contemporary writers, she expressed contempt for
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
and his policies following his election in 2016, and she later endorsed Democrat Joe Biden during the
2020 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: **C ...
. She has also regularly defended the record of her father's cousin, Salvador Allende.


Foundation

Allende started the Isabel Allende Foundation on 9 December 1996, in honor of her daughter,
Paula Frías Allende Paula Frías Allende (22 October 1963 – 6 December 1992) was an educator and humanitarian who was the daughter of Chilean-American author Isabel Allende. Her grandfather was first cousin to Salvador Allende, President of Chile from 1970 to 19 ...
, who fell into a coma after complications of the disease
porphyria Porphyria is a group of liver disorders in which substances called porphyrins build up in the body, negatively affecting the skin or nervous system. The types that affect the nervous system are also known as acute porphyria, as symptoms are ra ...
led to her hospitalization. Paula was 29 years old when she died in 1992. The foundation is "dedicated to supporting programs that promote and preserve the fundamental rights of women and children to be empowered and protected."''The list 101 top leaders of the Latino community in the U.S; Cover story.'' Allen, Kerri; Miller, Corina; Socorro, Dalia; Stewart, Graeme. ''Latino Leaders'' p. 24(27) Vol. 8, No. 4 . 1 June 2007.


Career

Beginning in 1967, Allende was on the editorial staff of ''Paula'' magazine and the children's magazine from 1969 to 1974, where she later became the editor. She published two children's stories, "La Abuela Panchita" and "Lauchas y Lauchones", as well as a collection of articles, ''Civilice a Su Troglodita''. She also worked in Chilean television production for channels 7 and 13 from 1970 to 1974. As a journalist, she once sought an interview with poet
Pablo Neruda Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto (12 July 1904 – 23 September 1973), better known by his pen name and, later, legal name Pablo Neruda (; ), was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Nerud ...
. Neruda agreed to the interview, and he told her that she had too much imagination to be a journalist and should be a novelist instead. He also advised her to compile her satirical columns in book form. She did so, and this became her first published book. In 1973, Allende's play ''El Embajador'' played in
Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
a few months before she was forced to flee the country due to the coup. During her time in
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
, Allende was a freelance journalist for '' El Nacional'' in
Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...
from 1976 to 1983 and an administrator of the Marrocco School in Caracas from 1979 to 1983. In 1981, while in Caracas, Allende received a phone call informing her that her 99-year-old grandfather was near death, and she sat down to write him a letter, hoping to thereby "keep him alive, at least in spirit." The letter evolved into a book, ''
The House of the Spirits ''The House of the Spirits'' ( es, La casa de los espíritus, 1982) is the debut novel of Isabel Allende. The novel was rejected by several Spanish-language publishers before being published in Buenos Aires in 1982. It became an instant best-se ...
'' (1982); this work intended to exorcise the ghosts of the
Pinochet dictatorship Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...
. The book was rejected by numerous Latin American publishers, but eventually published in
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
. The book soon ran to more than two dozen editions in Spanish and was translated into a score of languages. Allende was compared to
Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one ...
as an author in the style known as
magical realism Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to: * Magical (horse) (foaled 2015), Irish Thoroughbred racehorse * "Magical" (song), released in 1985 by John Parr * '' Magical: Disney's New Nighttime Spectacular of Magical Celebrations'', ...
. Although Allende is often cited as a practitioner of magical realism, her works also display elements of post-Boom literature. Allende also holds to a very strict writing routine. She writes on a computer, working Monday to Saturday, 09:00 to 19:00 "I always start on 8 January", Allende stated; "a tradition she began in 1981 with the letter she wrote to her dying grandfather that would become ''The House of the Spirits''." Allende's book ''Paula'' (1995) is a memoir of her childhood in Santiago and the years she spent in exile. It is written as an anguished letter to her daughter. In 1991 an error in Paula's medication resulted in severe brain damage, leaving her in a persistent vegetative state. Allende spent months at Paula's bedside before learning that a hospital mishap had caused the brain damage. Allende had Paula moved to a hospital in California where she died on 6 December 1992. Allende's novels have been translated into more than 40 languages and sold about 74 million copies. Her 2008 book, ''The Sum of Our Days'', is a memoir. It focuses on her life with her family, which includes her grown son, Nicolás; second husband, William Gordon; and several grandchildren. A novel set in
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
, ''
Island Beneath the Sea ''Island Beneath the Sea'' ( es, La Isla Bajo el Mar) is a 2009 novel by Chilean author Isabel Allende. It was first published in the United States by HarperCollins.Alexandra Alter, ''Isabel Allende on Superstition and Memory'', The Wall Street J ...
'', was published in 2010. In 2011 came ''
El cuaderno de Maya Isabel Angélica Allende Llona (; born in Lima, 2 August 1942) is a Chileans, Chilean writer. Allende, whose works sometimes contain aspects of the genre magic realism, magical realism, is known for novels such as ''The House of the Spirits'' ...
'' (''Maya's Notebook''), in which the setting alternates between
Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...
, and Chiloé in Chile, as well as
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
,
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
.


Reception

''Latino Leaders Magazine'' called her a "literary legend" in a 2007 article naming her the third most influential Latino leader in the world. Her work has drawn some negative criticism. In an article published in ''Entre paréntesis'',
Roberto Bolaño Roberto Bolaño Ávalos (; 28 April 1953 – 15 July 2003) was a Chilean novelist, short-story writer, poet and essayist. In 1999, Bolaño won the Rómulo Gallegos Prize for his novel ''Los detectives salvajes'' (''The Savage Detectives' ...
called Allende's literature anemic, comparing it to "a person on his deathbed," and later called her "a writing machine, not a writer". Literary critic
Harold Bloom Harold Bloom (July 11, 1930 – October 14, 2019) was an American literary critic and the Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. In 2017, Bloom was described as "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking wor ...
said that Allende only "reflects a determinate period, and that afterwards everybody will have forgotten her".Los éxitos y las críticas
'' Clarín''. 9 February 2003

Novelist Gonzalo Contreras said that "she commits a grave error, to confuse commercial success with literary quality". Allende said to ''El Clarín'' that she recognizes that she has not always received good reviews in Chile, stating that Chilean intellectuals "detest" her. However, she disagrees with these assessments: It has been said that "Allende's impact on Latin American and world literature cannot be overestimated." The ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' called Allende "a genius", and she has received many international awards, including the
Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize or Gish Prize is given annually to "a man or woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind's enjoyment and understanding of life." It is among the most prestigious and on ...
, granted to writers "who have contributed to the beauty of the world".


Awards

* Novel of the Year (Chile, 1983) * ''Panorama Literario'' (Chile, 1983) * Author of the Year (Germany, 1984) * Book of the Year (Germany, 1984) * ''Grand Prix d'Evasion'' (France, 1984) * ''Grand Prix de la Radio Télévision Belge'' (Point de Mire, 1985) * Best Novel (Mexico, 1985) * Colima Literary Prize (Mexico, 1986) * Quality Paperback Book Club New Voice (United States; 1986 nominee) * Author of the Year (Germany, 1986) * ''XV Premio Internazionale I Migliori Dell'Anno'' (Italy, 1987) * ''Premio Mulheres a la Mejor Novela Extranjera'' (Portugal, 1987) * ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' Book Prize nominee (United States, 1987) * Library Journal's Best Book (United States, 1988) * Before Columbus Foundation Award (United States, 1989) * ''Orden al Mérito Docente y Cultural''
Gabriela Mistral Lucila Godoy Alcayaga (; 7 April 1889 – 10 January 1957), known by her pseudonym Gabriela Mistral (), was a Chilean poet-diplomat, educator and humanist. In 1945 she became the first Latin American author to receive a Nobel Prize in Lite ...
(Chile, 1990) * XLI Bancarella Literary Prize (Italy, 1993) * Independent Foreign Fiction Award (England, June–July 1993) * Brandeis University Major Book Collection Award (United States, 1993) * Feminist of the Year Award, The Feminist; Majority Foundation (United States, 1994) * Chevalier des Artes et des Lettres distinction (France, 1994) * Critics' Choice (United States, 1996) * Books to Remember, American Library Assoc. (United States, 1996) * Hispanic Heritage Award in Literature (United States, 1996). * ''Malaparte Amici di Capri'' (Italy, 1998) * ''Donna Citta Di Roma'' (Italy, 1998) *
Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize or Gish Prize is given annually to "a man or woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind's enjoyment and understanding of life." It is among the most prestigious and on ...
(United States, 1998) * Sara Lee Foundation (United States, 1998) * ''Premio Iberoamericano de Letras
José Donoso José Manuel Donoso Yáñez (5 October 1924 – 7 December 1996), known as José Donoso, was a Chilean writer, journalist and professor. He lived most of his life in Chile, although he spent many years in self-imposed exile in Mexico, the United ...
'',
University of Talca The University of Talca ( es, Universidad de Talca) is a Chilean university located in the cities of Talca, Curicó, Linares, Santa Cruz and Santiago. Its headquarters and largest campus are located in the city of Talca. It is part of the Chilea ...
(Chile, 2003) * ''Premio Honoris Causa, Università di Trento en "lingue e letteratura moderne euroamericane"'' (Trento, Italy, May 2007) *
Chilean National Prize for Literature {{Use dmy dates, date=October 2020 In Chile, the National Prize for Literature ''(Premio Nacional de Literatura)'' was created by Law No. 7,368 during the presidency of Juan Antonio Ríos on 8 November 1942. It consists of a lump-sum monetary prize ...
(Chile, 2010) *
Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction (formerly the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction and Library of Congress Lifetime Achievement Award for the Writing of Fiction) is an annual book award presented by the Librarian ...
(USA, 2010) *
Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award The Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award is a Danish literary award established in 2010. It is awarded every other year to a living author whose work resembles Hans Christian Andersen. It is one of the biggest literary prizes in the world wit ...
(Denmark, 2012) *
Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merito ...
(United States, 2014) *
Anisfield-Wolf Book Award The Anisfield-Wolf Book Award is an American literary award dedicated to honoring written works that make important contributions to the understanding of racism and the appreciation of the rich diversity of human culture. Established in 1935 by Clev ...
: Lifetime Achievement (United States, 2017) *
BBC 100 Women ''100 Women'' is a BBC multi-format series established in 2013. The annual series examines the role of women in the 21st century and has included events in London and Mexico. Announcement of the list is the start of an international "BBC's women ...
(United Kingdom, 2018) * National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters (United States, 2018) *Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.) from
Whittier College Whittier College (Whittier Academy (1887–1901)) is a private liberal arts college in Whittier, California. It is a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and, as of fall 2022, had approximately 1,300 (undergraduate and graduate) students. It was ...
.


Works


Fiction

* ''
The House of the Spirits ''The House of the Spirits'' ( es, La casa de los espíritus, 1982) is the debut novel of Isabel Allende. The novel was rejected by several Spanish-language publishers before being published in Buenos Aires in 1982. It became an instant best-se ...
'' (1982) ''La casa de los espíritus'' * ''
The Porcelain Fat Lady ''The Porcelain Fat Lady'' ( es, La gorda de porcelana) is a children's story by the Chilean writer Isabel Allende. Style The story is told by a firstly unknown person. The person itself knows the story so perfectly and detailed since the protag ...
'' (1984) ''La gorda de porcelana'' * '' Of Love and Shadows'' (1985) ''De amor y de sombra'' * ''
Eva Luna ''Eva Luna'' is a novel written by Chilean novelist Isabel Allende in 1987 and translated from Spanish to English by Margaret Sayers Peden. Eva Luna takes us into the life of the eponymous protagonist, an orphan who grows up in an unidentified ...
'' (1987) ''Eva Luna'' * ''Two Words'' (1989) ''Dos Palabras'' * ''
The Stories of Eva Luna ''The Stories of Eva Luna'' ( es, Cuentos de Eva Luna) is a collection of Spanish-language short stories by the Chilean-American writer Isabel Allende. It consists of stories told by the title character of Allende's earlier novel ''Eva Luna''. Th ...
'' (1989) ''Cuentos de Eva Luna'' * '' The Infinite Plan'' (1991) ''El plan infinito'' * ''
Daughter of Fortune ''Daughter of Fortune'' ( es, Hija de la fortuna) is a novel by Isabel Allende, and was chosen as an Oprah's Book Club selection in February 2000. It was published first in Spanish by Plaza & Janés in 1998. Isabel Allende says "of her female pr ...
'' (1999) ''Hija de la fortuna'' * '' Portrait in Sepia'' (2000) ''Retrato en sepia'' * ''
City of the Beasts ''City of the Beasts'' ( es, La ciudad de las bestias) is the first young adult novel by Chilean-American writer Isabel Allende. Published in 2002, the story is set in the Amazon rainforest. The novel was translated by Margaret Sayers Peden ...
'' (2002) ''La ciudad de las bestias'' * ''
Kingdom of the Golden Dragon ''Kingdom of the Golden Dragon'' ( es, El Reino del Dragón de Oro) is a 2004 book by Chilean writer Isabel Allende. It is the sequel to ''City of the Beasts ''City of the Beasts'' ( es, La ciudad de las bestias) is the first young adult nove ...
'' (2004) ''El reino del dragón de oro'' * ''
Zorro Zorro (Spanish language, Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp magazine, pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed a ...
'' (2005) ''El Zorro: Comienza la leyenda'' * ''
Forest of the Pygmies ''Forest of the Pygmies'' ( es, El Bosque de los Pigmeos) is a 2004 novel by Chilean novelist Isabel Allende and a sequel to ''City of the Beasts'' and ''Kingdom of the Golden Dragon''. Plot summary Kate Cold, an ''International Geographic'' repor ...
'' (2005) ''El bosque de los pigmeos'' * '' Ines of My Soul'' (2006) ''Inés del alma mía'' * ''
Island Beneath the Sea ''Island Beneath the Sea'' ( es, La Isla Bajo el Mar) is a 2009 novel by Chilean author Isabel Allende. It was first published in the United States by HarperCollins.Alexandra Alter, ''Isabel Allende on Superstition and Memory'', The Wall Street J ...
'' (2010) ''La isla bajo el mar'' * ''Maya's Notebook'' (2011) ''El Cuaderno de Maya'' * ''Ripper'' (2014) ''El juego de Ripper '' * ''
The Japanese Lover The Japanese Lover is the eighteenth book by Chilean author Isabel Allende. It was published in 2015 and tells the story of a wartime love story between a Polish woman and a Japanese American in the aftermath of the Nazi Invasion of Poland in ...
'' (2015) ''El amante japonés'' * '' In the Midst of Winter'' (2017) ''Más allá del invierno'' * '' A Long Petal of the Sea'' (2019) ''Largo pétalo de mar'' * '' Violeta'' (2022)


Nonfiction

* '' Paula'' (1994) ''Paula'' * ''Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses'' (1998) ''Afrodita'' * ''My Invented Country: A Memoir'' (2003) ''Mi país inventado'' * ''The Sum of Our Days'' (2007) ''La suma de los días'' * ''The Soul of a Woman'' (2021) ''Mujeres del alma mía''


References


Sources

* Main, Mary. ''Isabel Allende, Award-Winning Latin American Author''. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Pub., 2005. – * Bautista Gutierrez, Gloria, and Norma Corrales-Martin. ''Pinceladas Literarias Hispanoamericanas''. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2004.


External links

* (English and Spanish)
Isabel Allende at the international literature festival berlin

Isabel Allende Foundation
(English and Spanish) * * * *
Isabel Allende
recorded at the Library of Congress for the Hispanic Division's audio literary archive on {{DEFAULTSORT:Allende, Isabel Magic realism writers Hispanic and Latino American novelists
Isabel Isabel is a female name of Spanish origin. Isabelle is a name that is similar, but it is of French origin. It originates as the medieval Spanish form of '' Elisabeth'' (ultimately Hebrew ''Elisheva''), Arising in the 12th century, it became popul ...
Chilean speculative fiction writers Chilean feminists Chilean memoirists Chilean women novelists Women memoirists 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American novelists American women novelists Writers from San Rafael, California Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters National Prize for Literature (Chile) winners Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Liceo Javiera Carrera alumni Chilean agnostics Chilean people of Basque descent Chilean people of Spanish descent Chilean emigrants to the United States Former Roman Catholics Naturalized citizens of Chile People with acquired American citizenship People from Lima 1942 births Living people 20th-century Chilean novelists American Book Award winners BBC 100 Women American Spanish-language writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century Chilean women writers 21st-century Chilean novelists 21st-century Chilean women writers