Living abroad since the 1973 coup that deposed her uncle, President Salvador Allende Gossens, Isabel Allende, who has lived in California for many years, is among the most notable contemporary Chilean writers. Allende's fiction is distinguished by its fusion of traditional realism with political (including feminist) concerns. Her first and best-known novel, The House of Spirits (1982, tr. 1985), which reflects the influence of Gabriel García Márquez, tells the story of a Chilean family over three generations. Allende's fiction also includes Of Love and Shadows (1984, tr. 1987); Eva Luna (1987, tr. 1988); The Infinite Plan (1991, tr. 1993), her first work set in the United States; Daughter of Fortune (1998, tr. 1999); and Portrait in Sepia (2001, tr. 2001).
Bibliography:
See her memoirs, Paula (1994, tr. 1995) and Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses (1997, tr. 1998); studies by W. Zinsser (1989) and P. Hart (1989).
