DescriptionIsabel Allende is a famous South American writer. Her novels include The House of the Spirits, which was later made into a motion picture and later again made into a movie starring Russell Crowe. Allende, who also pens the popular children’s books for which she is known, is well known for her dark, twisted urban fantasy. In her stories, she mixes elements of fantasy with scientific fact, often using creatures from science fiction movies such as aliens and dragons as major characters. However, Allende has been praised for her realistic approach to the fantastical subject matter, and her use of Spanish in the title of her work has led to a translation of her books into that language, and her own romantic interpretation of Spanish myths and folklore.
Career Isabel Allende was a professional dancer before writing, but left to pursue another line of work when her dancing career came to an abrupt halt. She took to writing in her free time, writing under a pen name called Nelly Roque in homage to her favorite dancer, Enid Blyton. As she wrote, she discovered that the more she wrote, the better she could describe the world that she found herself in, and this led her to spend more time studying mythology, ancient traditions and all related subjects. As her knowledge and enthusiasm grew, so did her readership, and she began to write under the pen name Allende after moving on to fantasy and science fiction. Her first collection of short stories was entitled The Courtship of Miles Standish and was published in 1950.
Role in literature In 1960, her major publication was the play Don Quixote, with John intervening between the good knight and the bad one. After reading it, Allende put together her thoughts into a seven-part epic cycle, which she called The Princess of Mars. Although this play never won any prestigious prizes, nor was it ever screened on Broadway, it was well received by critics, who considered it far more worthy of a Theatre production than a movie. Later in life, she became active in political activism, and was a delegate for the Anti-Vietnam War Movement. Finally, in 1977 she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, which she attributed to her heavy workload and depression.