Isabel Allende

Isabel Allende is a Chilean writer, living in The United States, with a lot of success worldwide. She is not the daughter of former Chilean President Salvador Allende as some might believe, but rather the daughter of a cousin of his (a mistake easy to make, since Salvador Allende does have a daughter named Isabel Allende, a senator in Chile).

She has written a lot of books, but in this wiki, only The House of the Spirits has a page. Which is a shame, because her books are entertaining for the right audience.

Which brings us to the sensitive topic. Due to some Hype Backlash and the concept of True Art for some people, she is very much a Love It or Hate It author. The press has lauded her many times, but people like critic Harold Bloom or fellow writer Roberto Bolano have bashed her numerous times. In her native country, the vitriol is ten times more accentuated.

So, you know the rule we use here: when you add something, be as neutral as you can.

Works written by Isabel Allende include:

Fiction Books

All of these are novels unless stated.

The House of the Spirits (1982)
The Porcelain Fat Lady (1984), a children story-book
Of Love and Shadows (1985)
Eva Luna (1987) Eva Luna
Two Words (1989)
The Stories of Eva Luna (1989), a book of short stories in the 'verse of Eva Luna.
The Infinite Plan (1991)
Daughter of Fortune (1999)
Portrait in Sepia (2000)
City of the Beasts (2002), a Young Adult novel
Kingdom of the Golden Dragon (2004) a Young Adult novel, continuation of City of the Beasts
Zorro (2005)
Forest of the Pygmies (2005) a Young Adult novel, the final of the City of the Beasts saga.
Ines of My Soul (2006)
Island Beneath the Sea (2010)
Maya's Notebook (2011), a Young Adult novel
Ripper (2014)
The Japanese Lover (2015)
In the Midst of Winter (2017)

Nonfiction

Paula (1994): a memoir of her life and a partial biography of her daughter Paula, written when Paula was in an induced coma caused by a medical error during a porphyria crisis. Allende intended to give the writings to her daughter when she awake, as she was informed that people could come from a coma with mild amnesia until it was revealed that Paula actually was in a vegetative stage with irreparable brain damage. It eventually was published and dedicated to her after her death.
Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses (1998): third part memoir, third part cookbook, third part reflection on the nature of aphrodisiacs and its relationship with Food Porn.
My Invented Country: A Memoir (2003): A second memoir, this one more focused in her own life during the early Pinochet years and her exile to Venezuela.
The Sum of Our Days: A Memoir (2008): A third memoir, this one is more of a continuation of the events told in Paula and My Invented Country, updating us on what went on Allende's life until the year of its publication.

Isabel Allende provides examples of the following tropes:

Everything Sounds Sexier in French: in Aphrodite, Allende points out how more often than not the only thing needed to make a dish aphrodisiac is to give it a French name.
Madwoman in the Attic: these tend to appear ion her works. One of them is Hortensia from The Stories of Eva Luna.
My Hair Came Out Green: She apparently had such an experience back in The Sixties when trying to bleach her hair. She used the experience as an inspiration for Rosa in The House of the Spirits.
No Such Thing as Bad Publicity: Allende's approach to the controversies surrounding her books.
Roman à Clef: Is not a secret that many of her books, particularly the earliest ones, are straight out ripped out from her family anecdotes and life experiences. Her memoirs even clarify from where she took what to write about.

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