What to Read First: A Reader's Guide to Unfamiliar Literature
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A Good Place To Start

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The House of the Spirits 3

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Categorization is odious. There is tremendous overlap among genres. These pigeonholes are offered only as a convenience.

Isabel Allende

added by decemberthirty

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Please consider recommending where to begin reading this author, or where not to. A few words about your experiences reading this author and why you make the recommendations you do will be helpful to other users. If you are the author or have studied this author extensively, please say so.

dantesgrl January 28th, 2007 12:40 PM PST

I recommend starting with "House of Spirits":

"It's impossible to discuss The House of the Spirits without referring to the characters that people its pages. More than plot or message, we learn about human nature through the relationships between the characters. Isabel Allende tells the captivating saga of the Truebas, a group of people who live life to the fullest and remain fixed in your imagination forever. While the family's trials, tribulations and deeply felt loves are at the heart of this novel, readers also get a very clear picture of the political landscape in South America at the time."

This book sets up the following books: "Daughter of Fortune" & "Portrait in Sepia".

I was originally drawn to Isabel Allende when I discovered that she was the niece of Salvador Allende who was executed by Pinochet in a coup d'etat in the 70's. She has a love for her country and people as demonstrated through her writing, and she is definitely among my top 10 favorite contemporary authors :)

nickyturnill September 14th, 2007 05:12 AM PST

I LOVE Allende's The House of the Spirits.

Currently I've only read this and Portrait in Sepia but I have Eva Luna and Daughter of Fortune at home waiting to be read and I'll be back to update soon.

dewey_decimal February 20th, 2008 03:11 PM PST

Start with The House of the Spirits. The others are good, but this one is the best.

Biography

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entered by jcbermu, edited by editor

Name: Isabel Allende

Nationality: Chilean

Date of Birth: August 2, 1942

Journalist:

* 1964-74 in Chile:
o Women's magazine "Paula"
o Children's magazine "Mampato"

See complete bios...