Critical Approaches to Isabel Allende's Novels (American University Studies)

Since the appearance of Isabel Allende's first novel, La casa de los espíritus (The House of the Spirits) in 1982 and its subsequent translations into several languages, readers world-wide have been fascinated with her refreshing depiction of Latin American reality and the role of women in its development. The publication of De amor y de sombra (Of Love and Shadows) in 1984 and of Eva Luna (Eva Luna) in 1987 have drawn more well deserved attention from readers and critics. This timely book, explores Allende's three novels, providing much needed criticism in English and Spanish. The essays examine her novels from a broad range of perspectives, ranging from the political control to the power of words, from direct testimony to fictional story-telling, from symbolism in characters' names to the meaning of dress and attire, from the picaresque tradition to the parodic writing in contemporary Latin American Literature.