Isabel Allende Biography

Quick Facts

NAME: Isabel Allende
OCCUPATION: Journalist, Author
BIRTH DATE: August 02, 1942 (Age: 69)
PLACE OF BIRTH: Lima, Peru
ZODIAC SIGN: Leo

Best Known For

Isabel Allende is a Chilean writer, famous for the novel The House of Spirits, often weaving together elements of myth and realism.

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Isabel Allende

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Synopsis

Isabel Allende is a Chilean writer, famous for the novels The House of Spirits and City of the Beasts. She often weaves together elements of myth and realism, or what is known as "magic realist." Her novels are sometimes based on her own childhood and life experiences. She is the niece and goddaughter of Salvador Allende,

Synopsis

the former president of Chile who was assassinated in 1973.

Writer and novelist. Born in Lima, Peru, on August 2, 1942. The niece and goddaughter of Salvador Allende, the former president of Chile, she started her writing career as a journalist.

Several months after her uncle's assassination and the overthrow of Chile's coalition government in 1973, Allende left Chile and found refuge in Venezuela. Her first novel, The House of the Spirits (1985), which arose directly out of her exile, became a worldwide bestseller and critical success. Some of her works include Of Love and Shadows (1987), The Infinite Plan (1993), Daughter of Fortune (1999), and Zorro (2005). Allende's work is written in the style of magic realism, which uses fantasy and myth to override time and place.

Allende wrote her first book for young adults, City of Beasts, at the urging of her three grandchildren, which was published in 2002. Her next books for young readers Kingdom of the Golden Dragon (2003) and Forest of the Pygmies (2005) soon followed. Along with fiction, Allende also delved into her own life with several memoirs including Paula (1995) and My Invented Country: A Nostalgic Journey Through Chile (2003).