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Born in Lima, Peru, her Chilean diplomat father and her mother divorced and she lived with her mother and grandparents. She worked first as a secretary and then as a journalist in print, on television and in movie documentaries.
After the overthrow and assassination in 1973 of her uncle, Salvador Allende, president of Chile, Isabel Allende and her husband and children left for safety in Venezuela.
It was in her exile that she began to write The House of the Spirits, her first novel, which was based on her own family and the politics of Chile.
She continued to produce novels based in part on her own experience, often focusing on the experience of women, weaving myth and realism together. She has lectured and done extensive book tours, and has taught literature at colleges in Virginia, New Jersey and California.
Her 1995 work, Paula, is based on the extended coma and death of her daughter in 1992.
She was divorced from her first husband, Miguel Frías, an engineer. In 1988, she married William Gordon, a lawyer.
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 'A powerful love story spanning generations... Full of ambition and humanity' Sunday Times 'One of the strongest and most affecting works in Allende's long career' New York Times Book Review Victor Dalmau is a young doctor when he is caught up in the Spanish Civil War, a tragedy that leaves his life - and the fate of his country - forever changed. Together with his sister-in-law, he is forced out of his beloved Barcelona and into exile in Chile. There, they find themselves enmeshed in a rich web of characters who come together in love and tragedy over the course of four generations, destined to witness the battle between freedom and repression as it plays out across the world. 'A masterful work of historical fiction about hope, exile and belonging' Independent Online 'A defiantly warm and funny novel, by somebody who has earned the right to argue that love and optimism can survive whatever history might throw at us' Daily Telegraph 'Allende's style is impressively Olympian and the payoff is remarkable' Guardian
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 'A powerful love story spanning generations... Full of ambition and humanity' Sunday Times 'One of the strongest and most affecting works in Allende's long career' New York Times Book Review Victor Dalmau is a young doctor when he is caught up in the Spanish Civil War, a tragedy that leaves his life - and the fate of his country - forever changed. Together with his sister-in-law, he is forced out of his beloved Barcelona and into exile in Chile. There, they find themselves enmeshed in a rich web of characters who come together in love and tragedy over the course of four generations, destined to witness the battle between freedom and repression as it plays out across the world. 'A masterful work of historical fiction about hope, exile and belonging' Independent Online 'A defiantly warm and funny novel, by somebody who has earned the right to argue that love and optimism can survive whatever history might throw at us' Daily Telegraph 'Allende's style is impressively Olympian and the payoff is remarkable' Guardian
The wise, warm, defiant new book from literary legend Isabel Allende - a meditation on power, feminism and what it means to be a woman An Independent, Guardian and Grazia Highlight for 2021 When I say that I was a feminist in kindergarten, I am not exaggerating. As a child, Isabel Allende watched her mother, abandoned by her husband, provide for her three small children. As a young woman coming of age in the late 1960s, she rode the first wave of feminism. She has seen what has been accomplished by the movement in the course of her lifetime. And over the course of three marriages, she has learned how to grow as a woman while having a partner, when to step away, and the rewards of embracing one's sexuality. So what do women want? To be safe, to be valued, to live in peace, to have their own resources, to be connected, to have control over their bodies and lives, and above all, to be loved. On all these fronts, there is much work to be done, and this book, Allende hopes, will 'light the torch of our daughters and granddaughters with mine. They will have to live for us, as we lived for our mothers, and carry on with the work still left to be finished.'
**THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER** **The captivating new novel from the multi-million-bestselling author of The House of the Spirits and The Japanese Lover** 'In some of the most beautiful passages in the novel, Allende explores the gentle but redemptive depths of mature love and the paths it can take . . . Allende has an unflashy wisdom to offer, a maturity that illuminates her storytelling . . . it pursues an age-old question: how to live a full life and find meaning, not just survive or endure one's past' Financial Times on In the Midst of Winter New York Times bestseller Isabel Allende returns with a beautifully crafted, multi-generational novel of struggle, endurance and friendship against the odds. Amid the biggest Brooklyn snowstorm in living memory, an unexpected friendship blossoms between three people thrown together by circumstance. Richard Bowmaster, a lonely university professor in his sixties, hits the car driven by Evelyn Ortega, a young, undocumented migrant from Guatemala. But what at first seems an inconvenience takes an unforeseen and darker turn when Evelyn comes to him and his neighbour Lucia Maraz, desperately seeking help. Sweeping from present-day Brooklyn to Guatemala to turbulent 1970s Chile and Brazil, and woven with Isabel Allende's trademark humanity, passion and storytelling verve, In the Midst of Winter is a mesmerizing and unforgettable tale. Praise for Isabel Allende: 'Isabel Allende is a master storyteller. When it comes to love Isabel writes from the heart to the heart and I feel all the richer for having been touched by her' Santa Montefiore 'If Allende's life depended on her narrative gifts, she'd not only survive, but reign' Los Angeles Times 'Isabel Allende is the most romantic of writers and The Japanese Lover is a novel of high romance and lush sensuality, unashamedly about the enduring power of love and ending on a note of grace' The Times 'Lush storytelling, with a liberal dusting of South American magical realism and a multi-gener ational narrative sweep' Financial Times 'Internationally beloved Allende, as effervescent in her compassion, social concerns, and profound joy in storytelling as ever, brings both humor and intensity to this madcap, soulful and transporting tale of three survivors who share their traumatic pasts ... Allende has a rare and precious gift for simultaneously challenging and entrancing readers' Booklist, starred review 'Grief and loss are transformed into healing friendship in this fantastic novel ... A suspenseful, icy adventure. Filled with Allende's signature lyricism and ingenious plotting, the book delves wonderfully into what it means to respect, protect, and love' Publishers Weekly 'This winter's tale has something to melt each frozen heart' Kirkus Reviews
**The remarkable novel from the multi-million-bestselling author of The House of the Spirits and The Japanese Lover** Meet the unforgettable Eva Luna: a lover, a writer, a revolutionary and above all, a storyteller. Eva Luna is the daughter of a professor's assistant and a snake-bitten gardener - born poor, orphaned at an early age and working as a servant. Eva is a naturally gifted and imaginative storyteller who meets people from all walks of life. Though she has no wealth, she trades her stories like currency with people who are kind to her. As she shares her stories, she introduces an eccentric cast of characters: the Lebanese emigre who takes her in, her Catholic godmother who believes in saints, a street urchin who grows up to be the leader of the guerrilla struggle, a celebrated trans cabaret star and a young refugee whose flight from postwar Europe will change Eva's life forever. As Eva tells her story, Isabel Allende brings to life a complex South American country - the rich, the poor, the sophisticated - in a novel that celebrates the power of imagination and storytelling. Praise for Isabel Allende's Eva Luna: 'Vibrant, colourful characters; the ordinary fused with the grotesque; a Latin American setting, tropical this time; vivid, elegant narrative. The narrator, Eva Luna, is herself a story-teller in the Allende tradition' Guardian 'An evident affection for words, compassion for the oppressed and the inarticulate, the daring ambition to draw cross-sections of whole societies . . . Allende's work glows' New York Times 'Sumptuous . . . a tale that spans forty years and moves from a surreal jungle to a modern-day urban capital where even the most apolitical are driven to risky anti-government activities' Chicago Tribune 'Allende rearranges reality with a blend of memories, mysticism and imagination' The Philadelphia Inquirer 'A remarkable novel, one in which a cascade of stories tumbled out before the reader, stories vivid and passionate and human' Washington Post 'Magnificent . . . Allende is a prodigious fabulist, weaving extraordinary tales' Publishers Weekly
**The moving novel from the multi-million-bestselling author of The House of the Spirits and The Japanese Lover** Irene Beltran is a force to be reckoned with. As a magazine journalist - an unusual profession for a woman with her privileged upbringing - she is constantly challenging the oppressive regime. Her investigative partner is photographer Francisco Leal, the son of impoverished Spanish Marxist emigres. They are an inseparable team, and - despite Irene's engagement to an army captain - form a passionate connection. When an assignment leads them to uncover an unspeakable crime, they are determined to reveal the truth in a national overrun by terror and violence. Together they will risk everything for justice - and ultimately to embrace the passion that binds them. Praise for Isabel Allende's Of Love and Shadows: '[Allende] can just as deftly depict loving tenderness as convey the high fire of eroticism. And when you've successfully mingled sex and politics with a noble cause, how can you go wrong? New York Times Book Review 'Allende is a born storyteller' Chicago Tribune 'The people in Of Love and Shadows are real, their triumphs and defeats are so faithful to the truth of human existence, that we see the world in miniature. This is precisely what fiction should do' Washington Post 'We are by turns enchanted and entertained . . . Allende has married the world of magic and political evil most credibly' LA Times Book Review
This collection of poetry by over fifty Latin American Women spans an entire century and is a seminal work in Latin American translation.
**THE NEW YORK TIMES?BESTSELLER** The captivating new novel from the multi-million-bestselling author of The House of the Spirits and The Japanese Lover. NowtheNew York Timesbestseller.New York TimesbestsellerIsabel Allende returns with a beautifully crafted,multi-generational novelofstruggle, endurance and friendship against the odds. Amid the biggestBrooklyn snowstorm in living memory, an unexpected friendship blossomsbetween three people thrown together by circumstance. Richard Bowmaster,a lonely university professorin his sixties,hits the car driven byEvelyn Ortega,a young, undocumented migrant from Guatemala. But what at first seems aninconvenience takes an unforeseen and darker turn when Evelyn comes tohim and his neighbour Lucia Maraz, desperatelyseeking help. Sweeping frompresent-day Brooklyn to Guatemala to turbulent 1970s Chile and Brazil, and woven with Isabel Allendes trademark humanity, passion and storytelling verve, In the Midst of Winteris a mesmerizing and unforgettable taleread for you by Dennis Boutsikaris, Alma Cuervo and Jasmine Cephas Jones.
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