The House Of The Spirits By Isabel Allende

Isabel Allende
One’s family is often the first source of influence he encounters, and the most memorable. Chilean author Isabel Allende shows the importance and complexity of families in her novel The House of the Spirits. Starting out as a letter to her dying grandfather, The House of the Spirits became a lengthy saga telling the story of three generations, based off Allende’s own family history. Allende’s close relatives were highly involved in the political struggles of her home country, which impacted her greatly and affected her writing. Isabel Allende was a self-reliant woman living in a country of great governmental turmoil, whose successful writing career was influenced by her family and politics.
Allende was born on August 2nd, 1942
In her six years working there, she traveled to places like Belgium and Switzerland. Allende has written for “Mampato”, a children’s magazine in 1973. She also published “Lauches y Lauchones” and “La Abuela Panchita”, both children’s stories. After her exile to Venezuela, she worked as a schoolteacher and wrote for the newspaper “El Nacional”. She began writing more when she returned to Chile, producing “El Embajador”, her first play. She even worked for Chilean public television and had two shows of her own, In 1981, Allende’s 99 year old grandfather became seriously ill. She began writing a letter to him that eventually became her first novel, The House of the Spirits (“Isabel Allende”). The novel was first published in Spain in 1982, after being rejected by a number of Latin American publishers (“The Responsibility to Tell”). Allende’s success led her to begin writing other novels, such as Of Love and Shadows (1984), Eva Luna (1985), and The Infinite Plan (1991). In 1994 she wrote Paula after her daughter’s death. Later came Aphrodite (1997), Daughter of Fortune (1999), Portrait in Sepia (2000), My Invented Country (2003), Ines My Soul (2006), and Island Beneath the Sea (2010) (“Isabel Allende”-MAS Ultra). All her work was written in her native Spanish, but has been translated into over 35 languages. She has sold over
Due to her father leaving the family, she had a mistrust of men and became very self-reliant (“Isabel Allende”). Her interactions with her grandmother sparked her imagination. Her grandmother was very interested in astrology and told her many stories, and she also let Isabel read as many books as she wanted (“Isabel Allende Biography”-Notable). One main source of influence for her bestselling novel The House of the Spirits was her dying grandfather. A letter to him became an extensive novel detailing the family history with a twist. Another life event that influenced her was the death of her daughter Paula. Paula had suffered an attack of porphyria and fell into a coma in 1991, in Madrid, Spain. Paula used to write letters to her mother about her life and her spiritual journey. Allende coped by writing letters back to her daughter while she was comatose. Paula died in a coma in 1992 and later in 1994 Allende wrote the novel Paula based on her life (“Isabel Allende-MAS Ultra”). Allende has also said that she is inspired by people who defy stereotypes and authority, those who are “unsheltered”, like prostitutes, homosexuals, and poor people (“The Responsibility to Tell”).
Allende’s upbringing and the world around her directly influenced her writing and led to her success. Her life experience is reflected back in the novels she writes, combining personal details with an imaginative storyline. The powerful woman behind the stories