Isabel Allende novels about strong women are mainly set in South America.
The young Isabelle Allende is the daughter of a Chilean diplomat. In this way she gets to know the whole world herself.
But , she is also the niece of the assassinated President of Chile Salvador Allende.
After the military coup in 1973, she moved to Venezuela.
Since 1988 she has lived in the United States.
How did Allende start writing?
In 1981 her grandfather was dying. So,she started writing him a letter.
That letter grew into a manuscript of a book : “The house with the ghosts “.
In short , the book is a chronicle of a family . It takes place over three generations.
But it all starts with Estaban Trueba.
In the beginning Estaban is of poor descent but manages to work his way up into a rich and respectful man.
As a young man he loses the great love of his life.
But, he can’t stay alone and ends up with the younger sister of his great love, the wayward Clara .
The chronicle will thus continue over three generations of strong women :
Del Valle Family Trilogy.
The House of Ghosts
Fortuna’s daughter
Portrait in sepia
It was partly through those books that she reached readers all over South America and in countries that read Spanish.
Paula her daughter
Isabel Allende has a daughter who died when she was 28 years old.
“Listen Paula, I’m going to tell you a story so you don’t feel so abandoned when you’re awake.” That’s how the story begins.
It’s a trilogy.
They are moving and moving books about the loss of her daughter.
She watches at her daughter’s bedside and tells her own life story.
Very tragic at times. Sometimes with humor.
Isabel Allende novels about strong women
Allende has written many books that intertwine love, adventure, war, racism, tyranny and crime.
A number of young people also book in the Jaguar and Eagle trilogy.
Namely :
- The City of the Beasts
- The kingdom of the golden dragon
- The forest of the pygmies
But with very strong colorful characters.
Usually with women in the lead.
The most recent book
In 2020 “Mujeres del alma mia” came out.
The soul of a women .
It is an autobiographical book by Isabel Allende about her life and her feminism.
It is currently available in Spanish and in English .
Ideal to practice your Spanish :-).
In short: Isabel Allende novels about strong women.
Isabelle Allende is rightly a widely read writer.
For me she puts the woman in the foreground.
She also shows South America in a certain way.
I really enjoyed reading her books in the early days.
The house of ghosts was pure magical realism for me.
Where the family ghosts came to life.
The trilogy about Paula was also very beautiful and moving for me.
I have read many of her books also the books for younger people on holiday in sunny Spain
Her other books continue to build on this magical realism.
For me, I don’t think they are all equally strong.
But I also enjoy reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s books.
That writer is also an example of magical realism in South America.
Which, by the way, I’ve read almost all of them.
But I also liked to read the poems of Pablo Neruda as a student.