Inés of My Soul

by Isabel Allende

Translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden

A real historical figure, Inés Suarez came to Chile with the Conquistadors in 1540, helping to claim the territory for Spain and to found the first Spanish settlement in Santiago. In this remarkable novel, Isabel Allende – one of the world's most spellbinding storytellers – re-imagines Inés's life and that of the two men who become her lover and husband respectively.

Based on actual historical events, Inés of My Soul evokes the conflict and drama of the Conquistadors' arrival in Chile, as well as helping restore the reputation of Ines, a powerful woman long neglected by history and a patriarchal society. It also finds Allende returning to territory beloved of her and her readers – imaginative historical fiction, evocatively told – and to the familiar landscape of her native country.

The novel gives Ines the recognition and glory that are rightfully hers; but more than that it is an epic tale of love and conquest, lyrically written and enchantingly told by a writer at the peak of her powers.

(From Publisher)

Isabel Allende was born in 1942, and is the niece of Salvador Allende, who went on to become famous as the elected President of Chile deposed in a CIA-backed coup. She worked as a journalist, playwright and children’s writer in Chile until 1974 and then in Venezuela until 1984. Her first novel for adults, The House of the Spirits, was published in Spanish in 1982, beginning life as a letter to her dying grandfather. It was an international sensation, and ever since all her books have been acclaimed and adored in numberless translations worldwide