Born:
August 2, 1942
Isabel
was born in Lima, Peru, but she moved to Chili when she was three
years old. When Isabel was a young girl she lived with her mother
and grandparents after her parents divorced. Allende graduated from
a private high school at the young age of 16 and married her first
husband at 19.
Isabel
became a secretary and then a journalist. She fled from Chili and
moved to Venequela after her Uncle Salvador Allende, president of
Chile, was assassinated. While Isabel was living in exile she had
trouble finding work so she wrote her first novel The House of
the Spirits, which was based on her own family and the politics
of Chile. The books she has written since then, usually focus on the
lives of women and her own experiences. She currently lives with her
American husband in California.
Learn
more about Isabel at the following websites: