Books by Isabel Allende

Allende wrote this book as a way of reconnecting with the world after the death of her daughter. An infectious celebration of life, lust, and food, it provides recipes for aphrodisiacs, as well as poems, stories, personal anecdotes, and tips on how to attract a mate.

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 foodand 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.

"Alexander Cold, Nadia Santos, and Kate Cold head to Africa on assignment and discover a hidden world of corruption and slavery in the final installment of Isabel AllendeÆs adventure trilogy for young readers."

Alexander Cold is about to join his fearless grandmother on the trip of a lifetime.An International Geographic expedition is headed to the dangerous, remote wilds of South America on a mission to document the legendary Yeti of the Amazon known as the Beast.

But there are many secrets hidden in the unexplored wilderness, as Alex and his friend Nadia soon discover. Drawing on the strength of their spirit guides, both young people are led on a thrilling and unforgettable journey to the ultimate discovery ...

The lively and talkative Allende discusses such topics as Latin American politics, feminism, her family past and present, and her writing.

Short stories in Allende's celebrated magical-realist mode.

Short stories in Allende's celebrated magical-realist mode.

Raised in the British colony of Valparaiso, Chile, after being abandoned as a baby, a pregnant Eliza follows her lover, Joaquin Andieta, to California at the height of the Gold Rush and finds adventure and adversity on her road to independence and love. Reprint.

In a Latin American country under a military dictatorship, Irene Beltran, an upper-class journalist, and Francisco Leal, the photographer son of a Marxist professor, discover a hideous crime.

Meet the unforgettable Eva Luna--lover, writer, revolutionary, and story teller. "Sumptuous . . . Eva Luna is a tale that spans forty years, and moves from a surreal jungle to a modern day urban capital where even the most apolitical are driven to risky anti-government activities."--Chicago Tribune

An exotic dance that beguiles and entices... The enchanted and enchanting account of a contemporary Scheherazade, a wide-eyed American teller-of-tales who triumphs over harsh reality through the creative power of her own imagination...

The final installment of Isabel Allende's celebrated trilogy
continues the journeys of Jaguar and Eagle -- and the transformation of
an extraordinary friendship.

Alexander Cold knows all too well his grandmother Kate is never far from an adventure. When International Geographic commissions her to write an article about the first elephant-led safaris in Africa, they head -- with Nadia Santos and the magazine's photography crew -- to the blazing red plains of Kenya. Days into the tour, a Catholic missionary approaches their camp in search of his companions who have mysteriously disappeared. Kate, Alexander, Nadia, and their team, agreeing to aid the rescue, enlist the help of a local pilot to lead them to the swampy forest of Ngoubé. There they discover a clan of Pygmies who unveil a harsh and surprising world of corruption, slavery, and poaching.

Alexander and Nadia, entrusting the magical strengths of Jaguar and Eagle, their totemic animal spirits, launch a spectacular and precarious struggle to restore freedom and return leadership to its rightful hands.

Performed by Blair Brown

Originally going to Africa to write an article for her magazine, Kate teams up with Nadia Santos who leads her new companion on a search for some missing missionaries--and ends up in a dark forest occupied by Pygmies and their slaves where their own lives may now be at stake. Reprint.

In 1843, a baby is left on the doorstep of Rose Sommers and her brother Jeremy, who live in the British colony of Valparaiso, Chile. Rose names the baby Eliza and raises her as part of the family. When Eliza falls in love with Joaquin Andieta, one of Jeremy's delivery boys, news of the gold in California has just reached Chile. Joaquin, caught up in the popular fever, sets out to make a fortune up north, leaving behind Eliza, now pregnant with his child. Spirited and with a mind of her own, Eliza leaves her home in Valparaiso and undertakes a dangerous sea voyage to San Francisco in search of her lover. What she finds instead is adversity and adventure and, through her own resourcefulness, an even more momentous journey to independence and freedom. When she finally hears news of Joaquin, Eliza must decide who her true love really is. A classic story from one of the foremost and beloved storytellers of our time; Daughter of Fortune proves again Allende's ability to "hold the world spellbound with her tales" (Miami Herald).

A best seller and critical success all over the world, The House of the Spirits is the magnificent epic of the Trueba family -- their loves, their ambitions, their spiritual quests, their relations with one another, and their participation in the history of their times, a history that becomes destiny and overtakes them all.

We begin -- at the turn of the century, in an unnamed South American country -- in the childhood home of the woman who will be the mother and grandmother of the clan, Clara del Valle. A warm-hearted, hypersensitive girl, Clara has distinguished herself from an early age with her telepathic abilities -- she 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, the fabled Rosa the Beautiful, Clara has been mute for nine years, resisting all attempts to make her speak. When she breaks her silence, it is to announce that she will be married soon.

Her husband-to-be is Esteban Trueba, a stern, willful man, given to fits of rage and haunted by a profound loneliness. At the age of thirty-five, he has returned to the capital from his country estate to visit his dying mother and to find a wife. (He was Rosa's fiance, and her death has marked him as deeply as it has Clara.) This is the man Clara has foreseen -- has summoned -- to be her husband; Esteban, in turn, will conceive a passion for Clara that will last the rest of his long and rancorous life.

We go with this couple as they move into the extravagant house he builds for her, a structure that everyone calls "the big house on the corner," which is soon populated with Clara's spiritualist friends, the artists she sponsors, the charity cases she takes an interest in, with Esteban's political cronies, and, above all, with the Trueba children...their daughter, Blanca, a practical, self-effacing girl who will, to the fury of her father, form a lifelong liaison with the son of his foreman...the twins, Jaime and Nicolas, the former a solitary, taciturn boy who becomes a doctor to the poor and unfortunate; the latter a playboy, a dabbler in Eastern religions and mystical disciplines...and, in the third generation, the child Alba, Blanca's daughter (the family does not recognize the real father for years, so great is Esteban's anger), a child who is fondled and indulged and instructed by them all.

For all their good fortune, their natural (and supernatural) talents, and their powerful attachments to one another, the inhabitants of "the big house on the corner" are not immune to the larger forces of the world. And, as the twentieth century beats on...as Esteban becomes more strident in his opposition to Communism...as Jaime becomes the friend and confidant of the Socialist leader known as the Candidate...as Alba falls in love with a student radical...the Truebas become actors -- and victims -- in a tragic series of events that gives The House of the Spirits a deeper resonance and meaning.

It is the supreme achievement of this splendid novel that we feel ourselves members of this large, passionate (and sometimes exasperating) family, that we become attached to them as if they were our own. That this is the author's first novel makes it all the more extraordinary. The House of the Spirits marks the appearance of a major, international writer.

An anthology of international photographs, paintings, poems, fictional stories, songs, and essays by 105 young women from fifty-seven countries evinces the spirit and energy of the world's first post-globalization generation.

From an internationally best-selling author, a captivating novel chronicles the brave deeds and passionate loves of a spirited woman, Inés Suárez, who journeyed to the New World in search of her husband and, as the companion of Pedro de Valdivia, helped to found the nation of Chile. 30,000 first printing.

Isabel Allende uses the real-life account of a fascinating woman, Ines Suarez, as the basis for her rich historical novel. Suarez was the lone woman to accompany the Conquistadors to the New World. She came in search of her missing husband, but eventually became mistress to Don Pedro de Valdivia, the conqueror of Chile. In Allende's epic and passionate account, Valdivia and Suarez have dreams of a Christian utopia that are undone by their drive for glory.

Selling more than 65,000 copies and topping bestseller lists around the world--including Spain, Germany, Italy, and Latin America--this novel tells the engrossing story of one man's quest for love and for his soul.

This immensely popular, lushly romantic epic tale of an orphaned girl who rises from rags to riches is one of Allende's richest fantasies, reinforcing her reputation as one of Latin America's best storytellers and a celebrated writer in both the feminist and magical-realist traditions.

Not many months have passed since teenager Alexander Cold followed his bold grandmother into the heart of the Amazon to uncover its legendary Beast. This time, reporter Kate Cold escorts her grandson and his closest friend, Nadia, along with the photographers from International Geographic on a journey to another remote niche of the world in the Himalayas. The team's task is to locate its fabled golden dragon, a sacred statue and priceless oracle that can foretell the future of the kingdom.

In their scramble to reach the statue before it is destroyed by the greed of an outsider, Alexander and Nadia must use the transcendent power of their totemic animal spirits -- Jaguar and Eagle. With the aid of a sage Buddhist monk, his young royal disciple, and a fierce tribe of Yeti warriors, Alexander and Nadia fight to protect the holy rule of the golden dragon.

Isabel Allende once again leads readers on a fantastical voyage of suspense, magic, and awe-inspiring adventure in this riveting follow-up to City of the Beasts.

Performed by Blair Brown

Not many months have passed since teenager Alexander Cold followed his bold grandmother into the heart of the Amazon to uncover its legendary Beast. This time, reporter Kate Cold escorts her grandson and his closest friend, Nadia, along with the photographers from International Geographic, on a journey to another remote niche of the world. Entering a forbidden sovereignty tucked in the frosty peaks of the Himalayas, the team's task is to locate its fabled Golden Dragon, a sacred statue and priceless oracle that can foretell the future of the kingdom.

In their scramble to reach the statue before it is destroyed by the greed of an outsider, Alexander and Nadia must use the transcendent power of their totemic animal spirits -- Jaguar and Eagle. With the aid of a sage Buddhist monk, his young royal disciple, and a fierce tribe of Yeti warriors, Alexander and Nadia fight to protect the holy rule of the Golden Dragon.

Isabel Allende once again leads readers on a fantastical voyage of suspense, magic, and awe-inspiring adventure in this riveting follow-up to City of the Beasts.

"EXTRAORDINARY. . . . Powerful. . . . Sharply observant, witty and eloquent."--Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, New York Times

The little man was methodical, punctual, and strict until the day he entered an antique store and bought a porcelain figurine of a fat woman.

Alexander Cold, un joven de quince años, tiene la oportunidad de hacer el viaje de su vida. Dejando atrás a su familia y a su madre enferma, Alexander Cold se embarca con su temeraria abuela, reportera de International Geographic, en una peligrosa expedición al Amazonas. Su misión y la de sus compañeros de viaje -- entre otros, un célebre antropólogo, un guía local y su hija Nadia, y un doctor -- es documentar al legendario Yeti del Amazonas, más conocido, como "La Bestia."

En el mundo oculto de la impenetrable selva tropical, Alexander descubre mucho más de lo que jamás se hubiese imaginado. Con la fuerza del jaguar, el animal tótem elegido por Alexander, y el águila, la guía espiritual de Nadia, ambos jóvenes se dejan guiar por la invisible gente de la neblina en una apasionante e inolvidable aventura que los Ileva al descubrimiento de ...

En una deslumbrante novela de aventuras, la célebre escritora, Isabel Allende, Ileva a sus lectores por el misterioso sendero, de dos búsquedas personales en un viaje épico, Deno de realismo magico, al corazon del Amazonas.

A sequel to her beloved best-selling book Paula, Isabel Allende's passionate new memoir is the inspirational story of a remarkable woman--mother, step-mother, grandmother, wife and lover, fiercely loyal friend, and dedicated writer--and of the unusual extended family Allende creates after the tragic loss of her daughter Paula.

Here is an eclectic compendium of the finest short fiction of the last 150 years, featuring works by Isabelle Allende, Ambrose Bierce, Raymond Chandler, Joseph Conrad, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Aldous Huxley, Joyce Carol Oates, Philip Roth, Paul Theroux, and others.

El primer recuerdo que Isabel Allende tiene de Chile es el de una casa que nunca conoció: la "casa grande y vieja" de la calle Cueto, donde nació su madre. Esta casa, evocada por su abuelo con tanta frecuencia que Isabel cree haber vivido allí, se convierte en la protagonista de su primera novela La Casa de los Espíritus. Dicha obra vuelve a aparecer al comienzo de las fascinantes y seductoras memorias, Mi País Inventado, que ahora nos ofrece esta talentosa escritora.

Los asiduos lectores de Allende reconocerán inmediatamente a los miembros de esta familia chilena --abuelos, bisabuelos, tías, tíos y amigos--, personajes de carácter mítico que pueblan este magnífico libro. A su vez, es un retrato inolvidable de la idiosincrasia del pueblo chileno, su historia violenta y su espíritu indomable. Aunque Isabel afirma haber sido una extranjera en su propio país --"Nunca encajé en ningún sitio, ni en mi familia, ni en mi clase social ni en la religión que se me confirió"--lleva consigo hasta hoy la marca de la política y la magia de su tierra natal. En Mi País Inventado explora el papel de la memoria y la nostalgia que le ayudaron a dar forma a su vida y a sus libros.

Dos acontecimientos vitales alteran la peripatética narrativa de este libro: el golpe militar y la

From the acclaimed photographer of Chronicle Books' bestselling Fathers and Daughters comes a companion collection of 60 duotone portraits and poignant essays exploring the complex and compelling relationship between mothers and sons. Among those featured are Virginia Kelley Clinton and Bill Clinton, Leah Adler and Stephen Spielberg, Jamaica Kincaid and Harold Shawn, and Isabel Allende and Nicholas Frias.

Isabel Allende evokes the magnificent landscapes of her country; a charming, idiosyncratic Chilean people with a violent history and an indomitable spirit, and the politics, religion, myth, and magic of her homeland that she carries with her even today.

The book circles around two life-changing moments. The assassination of her uncle Salvador Allende Gossens on September 11, 1973, sent her into exile and transformed her into a literary writer. And the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, on her adopted homeland, the United States, brought forth an overdue acknowledgment that Allende had indeed left home. My Invented Country, mimicking the workings of memory itself, ranges back and forth across that distance between past and present lives. It speaks compellingly to immigrants and to all of us who try to retain a coherent inner life in a world full of contradictions.

Although she claims to have been an outsider in her native land -- "I never fit in anywhere, not into my family, my social class, or the religion fate bestowed on me" -- Isabel Allende carries with her even today the mark of the politics, myth, and magic of her homeland, Chile. In My Invented Country she explores the role of memory and nostalgia in shaping her life, her books, and that most intimate connection to her place of origin.

The military coup and violent death of her uncle, Salvador Allende Gossens, on September 11, 1973, sent her into exile and transformed her into a writer. The terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 on her newly adopted homeland, the U.S., brought fourth from Allende an overdue acknowledgment that she had indeed left home. My Invented Country speaks compellingly to all of us who try to retain a coherent inner life and a sense of humor in a world full of contradictions.

Novelist Isabel Allende writes about Chile, her homeland, including her childhood there as the niece of Salvador Allende, the country's geography, Chilean food, the divisions between the classes, the influence of the Church, and the way nostalgia for her country has influenced her writing.

Irene Beltran, a reporter for a women's magazine in a Latin American country, and Francisco Leal, a photographer and a clandestine worker in the resistance, uncover a hideous crime that challenges the official terrorism of their country's military dictatorship.

Five novelists examine the correlation between their writing and their sense of social responsibility, emphasizing how good political fiction deepens the reader's awareness of the urgency of modern society.

This autobiography from best-selling writer Isabel Allende begins in December 1991, during a period when Allende's daughter Paula became gravely ill and fell into a coma. The author began her account during the long hours at the hospital and decided to record the story of her family for her unconscious daughter in an attempt to "bring [her] back to life." As in her novels, Allende conjures up the magical and questions the gods. There are anecdotes of her youthful years, Chile's physical and political landscape, the military coup of 1973, and her family's exile.

The story of a man's struggle to survive and rise above his past in the barrio and the Vietnam War. This is Isabel Allende's first novel set in America.

In this sequel to DAUGHTER OF FORTUNE, Aurora del Valle, who belongs to a large and colorful Chilean family, looks back on the 30 years of her life and the events leading up to her birth, covering the years 1862 to 1910. In the process she provides a history of her family--including her beautiful mother, her Chinese grandfather, and her eccentric and obese grandmother Paulina.

El Reino del Dragón de Oro

No han transcurrido muchos meses desde que el joven Alexander Cold se internara con su abuela en el corazón del Amazonas en busca de su legendaria Bestia. En esta ocasión, la reportera Kate Cold acompaña a su nieto y a la mejor amiga de él, Nadia, junto con los fotógrafos de International Geographic, en un viaje a otro remoto rincón del mundo. La misión del equipo es adentrarse en un reino prohibido, oculto en los picos helados del Himalaya, y localizar el legendario dragón de oro, una estatua sagrada y oráculo invaluable capaz de presagiar el futuro del reino.

En su carrera para llegar a la estatua antes de que sea destruida por la avaricia de un intruso, Alexander y Nadia deben usar el poder ilimitado de sus espíritus animales totémicos: Jaguar y Águila. Con la ayuda de un sabio monje budista y su joven discípulo real, y de una feroz tribu de guerreros Yeti, Alexander y Nadia luchan intrépidamente para proteger el sagrado reinado del dragón dorado.

Una vez más, Isabel Allende guía a los lectores en un fabuloso viaje colmado de suspenso, magia y asombrosas aventuras en esta fascinante continuación de La Ciudad de las Bestias.

A finales del siglo XIX en Chile, Aurora del Valle sufre de un trauma brutal que borra de su mente los primeros cinco años de su vida. Criada por su ambiciosa abuela, Paulina del Valle, crece en un ambiente privilegiado, pero se ve atormentada por horribles pesadillas. Cuando debe afrontar la traición del hombre que ama, y la soledad, decide explorar el misterio de su pasado.

Celia Correas de Zapata, an internationally recognized expert in the field of Latin American fiction written by women, has collected stories by thirty-one authors from fourteen countries, translated into English by such renowned scholars and writers as Gregory Rabassa and Margaret Sayers Peden. Contributors include Dora Alonso, Rosario Ferré, Elena Poniatowska, Ana Lydia Vega, and Luisa Valenzuela. The resulting book is a literary tour de force, stories written by women in this hemisphere that speak to cultures throughout the world. In her Foreword, Isabel Allende states, “This anthology is so valuable; it lays open the emotions of writers who, in turn, speak for others still shrouded in silence.”

Short stories in Allende's celebrated magical-realist mode.

A narrative memoir of the author's life in the wake of her daughter's tragic death describes the idiosyncratic network of friends she has gathered around herself and the realizations she has formed about such topics as love, parenthood, and addiction. Simultaneous.

A narrative memoir of the author's life in the wake of her daughter's tragic death describes the idiosyncratic network of friends she has gathered around herself and the realizations she has formed about such topics as love, parenthood, and addiction. Reprint. 100,000 first printing.

This anthology gathers an astonishing range of work dating from the turn of the century and continuing through the present. Both well-know writers, such as Gabriel Mistral and Rosario Ferre and those who are lesser-known are among the more than 50 poets included.

Researchers, teachers, and authors discuss the nature of creativity and the creative process with New Dimensions Radio host Michael Toms.

The dashing revolutionary wonder known as Zorro, a longtime legend and a staple of 1950s television, is brought to literary life in Isabel Allende's tale. Born Diego de la Vega, Zorro (which means "fox" in Spanish) resolves early in his life to take the side of the indigenous people in his native California, and to defend them to the death against the European invaders. His adventures as he pursues this goal involve a solid Spanish education that only intensifies his resolve, a secret society dedicated to ending oppression, a terrifying capture by pirates, and a duel to the death.

¿Quién no conoce al Zorro, el astuto y travieso enmascarado? Lo que no sabíamos -- de cómo surgió el héroe -- se resuelve en estas páginas, quenos revelan el misterio de su doble personalidad. Aquí re-encontramos a su amigo Bernardo, su corcel, Tornado, su prodigioso látigo, la Z con que firma sus hazañas y mucho más.

Nacido en 1795 en la California hispana, Diego de la Vega está atrapado entre dos mundos. Su padre es un heroico militar convertido en próspero hacendado, su madre es una valiente guerrera indígena y su abuela materna es la sabia chamán de su tribu. Del primero, Diego aprende las virtudes de un hidalgo, desde esgrima hasta el arte de hacerse obedecer, mientras su madre y su abuela lo inician en las tradiciones indígenas y el conocimiento de la naturaleza y la magia. Junto a su inseparable amigo Bernardo vive aventuras enla niñez y se da cuenta de las injusticias que soportan los indios a mano de los colonos europeos.

Diego se hace hombre en Barcelona, donde su padre lo manda a estudiar, justamente cuando España, ocupada por las tropas de Napoleón, soporta una cruenta guerra. Le toca de todo, desde duelos a muerte hasta enamorarse a primera vista, enrolarse en una sociedad secreta, huir con una tribu de gitanos, ser secuestrado por piratas y, sobre todo, enfrentarse al hombre que habrá de ser su peor enemigo. Por ultimo regresa a California a reclamar la hacienda donde nació e impartir justicia, luchando por los indefensos. Así, entre el Viejo y el Nuevo Mundo se forma el carácter del más legendario y romántico de los heroes.