ISABEL ALLENDE: FURTHER READING

Biographies

Allende, Isabel, Jennifer Benjamin, and Sally Engelfried. "Magical Feminist." In Conversations with Isabel Allende, edited by John Roden, pp. 383-97. Austin, Tex.: University of Texas Press, 1999.

Interview in which Allende discusses sexuality, death, racism in both South and North America, and the importance of dreams.

Allende, Isabel, and Celia Correas Zapata. "Eva Luna." In Isabel Allende: Life and Spirits, translated by Margaret Sayers Peden, pp. 63-70. Houston, Tex.: Arte Publico Press, 2002.

Interview in which Allende shares her views about feminism, analyzes her first marriage, and explores the themes of Eva Luna.

Levine, Linda Gould. "Weaving Life into Fiction." Latin American Literary Review 30, no. 60 (July-December 2002): 1-25.

Studies the parallels between Allende's life and her works. Levine centers on the autobiographical elements in Allende's works, analyzes events that have shaped Allende's stories, and evaluates Allende's standing as a female writer and as an exiled Latin American writer.

——. "Chronology." Latin American Literary Review 30, no. 60 (July-December 2002): 26-28.

Chronology of major events in Allende's life and career.

Criticism

André, María Claudia. "Breaking through the Maze: Feminist Configurations of the Heroic Quest in Isabel Allende's Daughter of Fortune and Portrait in Sepia." Latin American Literary Review 30, no. 60 (July-December 2002): 74-90.

Exploration of the strategies that the women in Daughter of Fortune and Portrait in Sepia employ to gain control of their bodies, minds, and futures, and the techniques they use to subvert patriarchal power.

Carvalho, Susan. "Transgressions of Space and Gender in Allende's Hija de la fortuna." Letras Femeninas 27, no. 2 (fall 2001): 24-41.

Studies the female quest for identity, sexual liberation, and the spatial and emotional journey that Eliza undergoes in Daughter of Fortune.

Hart, Patricia. "Magic Feminism in Isabel Allende's The Stories of Eva Luna. "In Multicultural Literatures through Feminist/Poststructuralist Lenses, edited by Barbara Frey Waxman, pp. 103-36. Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee Press, 1993.

Outlines the recurring themes of abuse, the use of sex to leverage power, and women's quest to gain control of their bodies and destinies in The Stories of Eva Luna.

Jorgensen, Beth. "'Un punado de críticos': Navigating the Critical Readings of Isabel Allende's Work." Latin American Literary Review 30, no. 60 (July-December 2002): 128-46.

Highlights elements of Allende's works that have received little critical analysis. Included are opinions on the parallels between The House of the Spirits and Gabriel García-Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude ; judgments about Allende's use of stylized language and magic realism, and insights into the autobiographical aspects of Allende's works.

Karrer, Wolfgang. "Transformation and Transvestism in Eva Luna. "In Critical Approaches to Isabel Allende's Novels, edited by Sonia Riquelme Rojas and Edna Aguirre Rehbein, pp. 151-64. New York: Peter Lang, 1991.

Examines the role of sexuality in gender-based relationships and analyzes the balance of power between machismo men and women and the effeminate.

Lagos, Maria Ines. "Female Voices from the Borderlands: Isabel Allende's Paula and Retrato en sepia." Latin American Literary Review 30, no. 60 (July-December 2002): 112-27.

Examines the disconnectedness of exile, gender-based repression, and the strength of the bonds between mothers and daughters.

Laurila, Marketta. "Isabel Allende and the Discourse of Exile." In International Women's Writing: New Landscapes of Identity, edited by Anne E. Brown and Marjanne E. Gooze, pp. 177-86. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1995.

Examines feminist strategies that the women in The House of the Spirits use to survive and succeed in a violent, male-dominated society.

Panjabi, Kavita. "Tránsito Soto: From Periphery to Power." In Critical Approaches to Isabel Allende's Novels, edited by Sonia Riquelme Rojas and Edna Aguirre Rehbein, pp. 11-20. New York: Peter Lang, 1991.

Provides analysis of the character Tránsito Soto's self-reliance and independence in The House of the Spirits and examines her use of prostitution to gain financial security and influence in a patriarchal society.

Rivero, Eliana S. "Scheherazade Liberated: Eva Luna and Women Storytellers." In Splintering Darkness: Latin American Writers in Search of Themselves, edited by Lucia Guerra Cunningham, pp. 143-56. Pittsburgh, Penn.: Latin American Literary Review Press, 1990.

Asserts that mastery of language leads Eva, the protagonist in Eva Luna, to self-determination and personal control of "her/story."

Swanson, Philip. "Tyrants and Trash: Sex, Class and Culture in La casa de los espíritus." Bulletin of Hispanic Studies 71, no. 2 (April 1994): 217-37.

Examines traditional interpretations of feminism in The House of the Spirits, demonstrating the ways the female characters embrace the populace rather than the elite as a means of challenging political and social structures.

OTHER SOURCES FROM GALE:

Additional coverage of Allende's life and career is contained in the following sources published by the Gale Group: Authors and Artists for Young Adults, Vol. 18; Concise Dictionary of World Literary Biography, Vol. 3; Contemporary Authors, Vol. 130; Contemporary Authors, Brief Entry, Vol. 125; Contemporary Authors New Revision Series, Vols. 51, 74; Contemporary Literary Criticism, Vols. 39, 57, 97, 170; Contemporary World Writers, Ed. 2; Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vol. 145; DISCovering Authors Modules: Multicultural and Novelists; DISCovering Authors 3.0; Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century, Ed. 3; Feminist Writers; Hispanic Literature Criticism, Ed. 1; Hispanic Writers, Eds. 1, 2; Latin American Writers Supplement, Ed. 1; Literary Movements for Students, Vol. 2; Literature and Its Times, Vol. 5; Literature of Developing Nations for Students, Vol. 1; Literature Resource Center; Major 20th-Century Writers, Eds. 1, 2; Nonfiction Classics for Students, Vol. 1; Novels for Students, Vols.6,18; Reference Guide to Short Fiction, Ed. 2; Reference Guide to World Literature, Ed. 3; Short Stories for Students, Vols. 11, 16; World Literature and Its Times, Vol. 1; and World Literature Criticism Supplement.