In the two decades since the publication of Isabel Allende's first novel, The House of the Spirits, her books have sold over fifteen million copies and appeared on best seller lists throughout the world. As a result, she is Latin America's most acclaimed woman writer -- a status she has achieved by ibuing her work with a mixture of history and fiction that both educates and entertains readers. In her overview of Allende's career, Linda Gould Levine examines Allende's success in uniting quality writing with mass appeal. Levine looks at Allende's use of a feminist agenda, her ability to combine genres as varied as the adventure story and the romance novel, and the important roles historical data and sociological insights play in framing her narratives. While most scholarship on Allende focuses on her early novels, Levine's study touches on the full catalog of Allende's work, including the memoir Paula and the recently published Portait in Sepia. Supplementing the text are an interview with Allende, a Preface, Chronology, Notes and References, Selected Bibliography, and Index. - Back cover.