When Isabel Allende wrote her family drama in 1982, she had already left Chile and was living in exile in Venezuela. Former Chilean President Salvador Allende was ousted by a military coup Image: picture-alliance/dpa Terror and persecution sweep across the country, and the Trueba family is not spared. When a military coup removes the socialist president from power, Trueba puts his hopes in the new government - but is quickly disappointed. Nevertheless, it is the Chilean author's books that have made her world-famous - in particular, her 1982 debut novel, "The House of the Spirits." The partially autobiographical drama is about the upper-middle-class family Trueba, which suffers under the thumb of violent patriarch Esteban Trueba.
Read more: Berlin bookstore shuts down after leftist boycott An unforgettable first novel Isabel Allende in her house in Caracas in 1985 Image: VICTOR ROJAS/AFP/Getty Images She did just that, for example, during August Pinochet's military dictatorship in Chile when she spoke out for those who were politically persecuted, and continues to help others with her Isabel Allende Foundation, which seeks to empower women.Īllende turns 80 on August 2. In fact, she doesn't even consider her books to be her biggest success, but rather the love she shares with her family and the opportunities she's had to help others. "In reality, the most important things about my life happened in the secret chambers of my heart and have no place in a biography." "It is very strange to write one's biography because it is just a list of dates, events and achievements," she writes. But, as she writes on her own website, they don't tell the whole story. Those are some of the hard facts about Isabel Allende, Chile's most internationally successful writer. She has received 60 awards in 15 countries for her work, and two international film productions have been based on her novels. She has written over 25 books, which have been sold some 70 million times and translated into many languages.
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