Isabel Allende - any recommendations?

[maggiethecat]

Just finished her House of the Spirits and enjoyed it. Are there any other of her books that you'd recommend?

Her book Paula about her daughter is lovely but very sad. I'd defintely recommend it.

Another one to recommend Paula. Very moving.

Paula

I haven't read Paula although I have it on my bookshelf but think I'll probably sob through it.

I loved Daughter of Fortune and Portrait in Sepia. I've also read City of the beasts which I was liked less.

I must read more by her though !

What wheelybug said! Brilliant author

Of Love And Shadows deals with coming to terms with the Pinochet period, so you might like that- her other books move away from that as a theme really. The Infinite Plan is pleasingly sprawling and has a great plot.

'Paula' is one of the best books I've ever read (and I have read A LOT!) but you will need a huge box of tissues and at least one box of heart-reviving chocolates in order to read it.

City Of The Beasts is good but it is essentially a children's book, so is much less complex than any of the others. It's the first in a series - I think there are three in total.

Her book about Chile (something like My Borrowed Country) is very interesting. Generally, I think her non-fiction is much stronger than her fiction. I couldn't get on with The Infinite Plan at all.

Will have a go at Paula. I was reading somewhere that she seems to be not highly regarded in some literary circles in Chile - shame because I found her storytelling to be riveting.

Paula is best. Keep the hankies close.

I was going to say DON'T read Paula - it makes me want to cry just thinking of it, and I would never re-read it. Perhaps I just read it at a bad time.

I love all of her fiction novels, and read them as they were released. Perhaps the best thing for you to do OP.

I loved Paula, but I also liked "Eva Luna", "My Invented Country: A Memoir" and "Daughter of Fortune"

enjoy
x

Eva Luna and the Tales of eva Luna - fabulous is really the most accurate word for them.

Paula
My imagined country
The infinite plan (sort of about her husband in the way that House of the Spirits is sort of about her)

OP i was intrigued by your comment halfway down - i can't (ahem) name any other chilean writers (apart from pablo neruda but i don't read poetry)

invented country, even

Little, neither can I. I certainly did not recognise some of the writers mentioned in the article. Part of the issue was to do with how well her books sold - perhaps she was considered not highbrow enough.