Infinite Plan

Isabel Allende was born in 1942, and is the niece of Salvador Allende, who went on to become famous as the elected President of Chile deposed in a CIA-backed coup. She worked as a journalist, playwright and children’s writer in Chile until 1974 and then in Venezuela until 1984. Her first novel for adults, ‘The House of the Spirits’, was published in Spanish in 1982, beginning life as a letter to her dying grandfather. It was an international sensation, and ever since all her books have been acclaimed and adored in numberless translations worldwide.

‘The characters both convince and fascinate. The sense of place is stunning. Lyrical and passionate, Allende describes with equal vividness women preparing a feast in a slum back yard, a small town breathless in the heat of summer, or a battalion slaughtered by night on a mountainside. Allende’s writing is supremely elegant.’ Independent on Sunday‘Devotees of Allende’s The House of the Spirits will rejoice to find again in her new novel the magical storyteller’s touch that transforms life into a compelling emotional adventure, leaving one breathless. A hopeful, warm-hearted, absorbing novel.’ Daily Mail