Books in Order
Isabel Allende Books in Order
About Isabel Allende
Isabel Allende (born 1942, Lima, Peru, raised in Chile) is one of the most widely read Spanish-language authors in the world and the bestselling Latin American writer alive. She began her career as a journalist in Chile before the 1973 coup sent her into exile. Her debut novel The House of the Spirits (1982) — written as a letter to her dying grandfather — became a cornerstone of magical realism and Latin American literature. She has since written over twenty novels, memoirs, and books for young adults. Allende is known for centering women's lives and voices, weaving political history with the supernatural, and writing with sensual, lyrical prose. She became an American citizen in 1993.
Start with The House of the Spirits. Her debut novel remains her masterwork — one of the great novels of the 20th century.
Major Novels
The House of the Spirits
1982
Start hereFour generations of the Trueba family in an unnamed Latin American country, from the 1920s to the Pinochet coup. Her masterwork.
Get this book →Of Love and Shadows
1984
A journalist and a photographer uncover a government massacre in a dictatorship.
Get this book →Eva Luna
1987
A storyteller's life in an unnamed Latin American country — one of her most beloved novels.
Get this book →The Stories of Eva Luna
1991
Twenty-three stories narrated by Eva Luna — a standalone companion to the novel.
Get this book →The Infinite Plan
1991
Her first novel set in the United States. A Californian odyssey from the 1950s to the 1980s.
Get this book →Daughter of Fortune
1999
A Chilean woman follows her lover to the California Gold Rush.
Get this book →The Japanese Lover
2015
Three generations, WWII internment camps, and a love story spanning decades.
Get this book →A Long Petal of the Sea
2019
Chilean refugees flee the Spanish Civil War. Based on the ship Winnipeg that Pablo Neruda chartered.
Get this book →Violeta
2022
A woman's life spanning 100 years — from the 1920 flu pandemic to COVID-19.
Get this book →Frequently Asked Questions
What order should I read Isabel Allende books?
Start with The House of the Spirits. After that, her books are largely standalone and can be read in any order. Daughter of Fortune and Portrait in Sepia are connected and work best in order.
Is The House of the Spirits magical realism?
Yes — it is one of the defining texts of magical realism alongside García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. Supernatural events — clairvoyance, telekinesis, ghosts — are presented as matter-of-fact alongside the political history of 20th-century Chile.
Is Isabel Allende's work related to Salvador Allende?
Yes — Isabel Allende is the niece of Salvador Allende, the Chilean president who was killed in the 1973 US-backed coup. This history is central to her life and work, particularly The House of the Spirits.