Most Popular Books by Isabel Allende

For use in schools and libraries only. When fifteen-year-old Alexander Cold accompanies his grandmother on an expedition to find a humanoid Beast in the Amazon, he experiences ancient wonders and a supernatural world as he tries to avert disaster for the Indians.

As a girl, Clara del Valle can read fortunes, make objects move as if they had lives of their own, and predict the future. Following the mysterious death of her sister, Rosa the Beautiful, Clara is mute for nine years. When she breaks her silence, it is to announce that she will be married soon to the stern and volatile landowner Esteban Trueba. Set in an unnamed Latin American country over three generations, The House of the Spirits is a magnificent epic of a proud and passionate family, secret loves and violent revolution. ''Extraordinary... Powerful... Sharply observant, witty and eloquent'' New York Times ''Intensely moving. Both entertaining and deeply serious'' Evening Standard ''The only cause The House of the Spirits embraces is that of humanity, and it does so with such passion, humor, and wisdom that in the end it transcends politics...The result is a novel of force and charm, spaciousness and vigor'' Washington Post

Under the aegis of the Goddess of Love, Isabel Allende uses her storytelling skills brilliantly in Aphrodite to evoke the delights of food and sex. After considerable research and study, she has become an authority on aphrodisiacs, which include everything from food and drink to stories and, of course, love. Readers will find here recipes from Allende''s mother, poems, stories from ancient and foreign literatures, paintings, personal anecdotes, fascinating tidbits on the sensual art of food and its effects on amorous performance, tips on how to attract your mate and revive flagging virility, passages on the effect of smell on libido, a history of alcoholic beverages, and much more. An ode to sensuality that is an irresistible blend of memory, imagination and the senses, Aphrodite is familiar territory for readers who know her fiction.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In this “stunning” (People), “riveting” (Entertainment Weekly) historical novel, a young writer journeys to South America to uncover the truth about her father—and herself. “All of Allende’s books, My Name Is Emilia del Valle included, have the epic feel of a major Hollywood film.”—Associated Press AN NPR AND NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR In San Francisco in 1866, an Irish nun, abandoned following a torrid relationship with a Chilean aristocrat, gives birth to a daughter named Emilia del Valle. Raised by a loving stepfather, Emilia grows into an independent thinker and a self-sufficient young woman. To pursue her passion for writing, she is willing to defy societal norms. At the age of seventeen, she begins to publish pulp fiction using a man’s pen name. When these fictional worlds can no longer satisfy her sense of adventure, she turns to journalism, convincing an editor at The Daily Examiner to hire her. There she is paired with another talented reporter, Eric Whelan. As she proves herself, her restlessness returns, until an opportunity arises to cover a brewing civil war in Chile. She seizes it, as does Eric, and while there, she meets her estranged father and delves into the violent confrontation in the country where her roots lie. As she and Eric discover love, the war escalates and Emilia finds herself in extreme danger, fearing for her life and questioning her identity and her destiny. A riveting tale of self-discovery and love from one of the most masterful storytellers of our time, My Name Is Emilia del Valle introduces a character who will never let hold of your heart.

Chilenische Autorin, geb. 1942. - Die junge Aurora macht sich auf die Spuren ihrer Vergangenheit, um endlich einem quälenden Albtraum zu entkommen, der ihr Leben bestimmt. Wer waren ihre Eltern, welches Geheimnis umgibt die Jahre ihrer Kindheit?

Isabel Allende—the New York Times bestselling author whose books, including Maya’s Notebook, Island Beneath the Sea, and Zorro, have sold more than 57 million copies around the world—demonstrates her remarkable literary versatility with Ripper, an atmospheric, fast-paced mystery involving a brilliant teenage sleuth who must unmask a serial killer in San Francisco. The Jackson women, Indiana and Amanda, have always had each other. Yet, while their bond is strong, mother and daughter are as different as night and day. Indiana, a beautiful holistic healer, is a free-spirited bohemian. Long divorced from Amanda’s father, she’s reluctant to settle down with either of the men who want her—Alan, the wealthy scion of one of San Francisco’s elite families, and Ryan, an enigmatic, scarred former Navy SEAL. While her mom looks for the good in people, Amanda is fascinated by the dark side of human nature, like her father, the SFPD’s Deputy Chief of Homicide. Brilliant and introverted, the MIT-bound high school senior is a natural-born sleuth addicted to crime novels and Ripper, the online mystery game she plays with her beloved grandfather and friends around the world. When a string of strange murders occurs across the city, Amanda plunges into her own investigation, discovering, before the police do, that the deaths may be connected. But the case becomes all too personal when Indiana suddenly vanishes. Could her mother’s disappearance be linked to the serial killer? Now, with her mother’s life on the line, the young detective must solve the most complex mystery she’s ever faced before it’s too late.

Paula, nata il 22 ottobre 1963, è una ragazza felice, innamorata del marito, appassionata del suo lavoro. La sua è una vita semplice, che non ha niente a che vedere con quella di sua madre Isabel. Due donne, due destini diversi. Improvvisamente Paula si ammala di una malattia gravissima, la porfiria, che la trascina in un coma da cui non c''è ritorno. Isabel accorre al suo capezzale per cercare di trattenerla in vita, o forse per accompagnarla dolcemente verso la fine... Con la scrittura la madre-scrittrice cerca di "distrarre la morte", cerca di trovare un senso a una tale insensata tragedia: grazie alla magia della parola evoca tutti i componenti della sua esuberante e bizzarra famiglia perché circondino Paula, superando i confini individuali di vita e di morte.

Maya’s Notebook is a startling novel of suspense from New York Times bestselling author Isabel Allende. This contemporary coming-of-age story centers upon Maya Vidal, a remarkable teenager abandoned by her parents. Maya grew up in a rambling old house in Berkeley with her grandmother Nini, whose formidable strength helped her build a new life after emigrating from Chile in 1973 with a young son, and her grandfather Popo, a gentle African-American astronomer. When Popo dies, Maya goes off the rails. Along with a circle of girlfriends known as "the vampires," she turns to drugs, alcohol, and petty crime--a downward spiral that eventually leads to Las Vegas and a dangerous underworld, with Maya caught between warring forces: a gang of assassins, the police, the FBI, and Interpol. Her one chance for survival is Nini, who helps her escape to a remote island off the coast of Chile. In the care of her grandmother’s old friend, Manuel Arias, and surrounded by strange new acquaintances, Maya begins to record her story in her notebook, as she tries to make sense of her past and unravel the mysteries of her family and her own life.

En La suma de los días, Isabel Allende narra con franqueza la historia de su vida y la de su peculiar familia en California, en una casa abierta, llena de gente y de personajes literarios, y protegida por un espíritu; hijas perdidas, nietos y libros que nacen, éxitos y dolores, un viaje al mundo de las adicciones y otros a lugares remotos del mundo en busca de inspiración, junto a divorcios, encuentros, amores, separaciones, crisis de pareja y reconciliaciones. También es una historia de amor entre un hombre y una mujer maduros, que han salvado muchos escollos sin perder ni la pasión ni el humor, y de una familia moderna, desgarrada por conflictos y unida, a pesar de todo, por el cariño y la decisión de salir adelante. ENGLISH DESCRIPTION Narrated with warmth, humor, exceptional candor and wisdom, The Sum of Our Days is a portrait of a contemporary family, tied together by the love, strong will, and stubborn determination of a beloved matriarch, the indomitable New York Times bestselling author of The House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende. "An inspiring and thought-provoking work." –Denver Post Isabel Allende reconstructs the painful reality of her own life in the wake of the tragic death of her daughter, Paula. Narrated with warmth, humor, exceptional candor, and wisdom, this remarkable memoir is as exuberant and as full of life as its creator. Allende bares her soul while sharing her thoughts on love, marriage, motherhood, spirituality and religion, infidelity, addiction, and memory—and recounts stories of the wildly eccentric, strong-minded, and eclectic tribe she gathers around her and lovingly embraces as a new kind of family.

_______________ 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 _______________ On September 3, 1939, the day of the Spanish exiles'' splendid arrival in Chile, the Second World War broke out in Europe. 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, the pianist Roser, he is forced out of his beloved Barcelona and into exile. When opportunity to seek refuge arises, they board a ship chartered by the poet Pablo Neruda to Chile, the promised ''long petal of sea and wine and snow''. 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 that soars from the Spanish Civil War to the rise and fall of Pinochet, A Long Petal of the Sea is Isabel Allende at the height of her powers. _______________ ''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 ''A grand storyteller who writes with surpassing compassion and insight. Her place as an icon of world literature was secured long ago'' - Khaled Hosseini ''A novel not just for those of us who have been Allende fans for decades, but also for those who are brand new to her work: what a joy it must be to come upon Allende for the first time'' - Colum McCann ''Allende''s style is impressively Olympian and the payoff is remarkable'' - Guardian ''Epic in scope, yet intimate in execution'' - i

Isabel Allende transports us to a Latin American country in the grip of a military dictatorship, where Irene Beltran, an upperclass journalist, and Francisco Leal, a photographer son of a Marxist professor together discover a hideous crime. They also discover how far they dare go in search of the truth in a nation of terror . . . and how very much they risk. "From the Paperback edition."

Bestselling novelist Isabel Allende took readers on an unforgettable emotional journey with Paula, the profound story about the loss of her 28-year-old daughter. Now, Allende returns to the territory of family with an inspirational new memoir. The Sum of Our Days is the passionate account of a remarkable woman--mother, stepmother, grandmother, wife and lover, fiercely loyal friend and gifted writer--and of the eccentric extended family Allende created in the wake of her daughter''s death. Opening at the moment the family scatters Paula''s ashes, Allende''s story draws us immediately into her private world. She weaves an episodic narrative about the lives of the strong-minded, eclectic people she has gathered around her, constructing, in her grief, a new concept of family. But most importantly, Allende reveals something of herself that will speak to fans everywhere--the amazing stories behind her books, the superstitions that guide her writing process, her adventurous travels, the intimate moments of her marriage and the joy she gets from her children and friends. Narrated with warmth, humour, exceptional candour and wisdom, The Sum of Our Days is a portrait of a contemporary family tied together by the love, strong will and stubborn determination of a beloved matriarch, the indomitable Isabel Allend.

Die drei Romane markieren Etappen meines Lebens. Das Geisterhaus war Bewältigung meiner Erinnerung. Von Liebe und Schatten nahm mir meinen Haß und meine Wut. Eva Luna ist ein fröhliches Buch. Isabel Allende

Irène, fille de bourgeois, est la maîtresse de son fiancé de toujours, le beau capitaine Gustavo Morante. Journaliste, elle noue avec Francisco, fils d''émigrants rescapés de la guerre civile espagnole, qui travaille avec elle comme photographe, une relation d''amitié complice. Mais Irène et Francisco vont se trouver incidemment à l''origine de la révélation d''un de ces massacres politiques dont abondent les annales des dictatures d''Amérique du Sud. La répression se tourne alors contre eux... Ce qu''ils vont vivre transforme peu à peu leurs sentiments fraternels en un amour indissoluble. Passant sans cesse de l''ombre à la lumière et de l''amour à la terreur, ce second roman d''Isabel ALLENDE fait vivre des dizaines de personnages pathétiques ou burlesques et, surtout, ces inoubliables figures de mères, d''épouses, de filles, qui font de l''auteur de LA MAISON AUX ESPRITS la romancière par excellence du destin des femmes latino américaines.

''La casa de los espíritus'' narra la saga familiar de los Trueba, desde principios de siglo hasta nuestra época. Magistralmente ambientada en algún lugar de América Latina, la novela sigue paso a paso el dramático y extravagante destino de unos personajes atrapados en un entorno sorprendente y exótico.