“The author who first achieved fame for The House of Spirits is arguably the best-selling female writer in the world. Rodden (Conversations with Isabel Allende, 2004, 1999) introduces 20 original and reprinted essays that treat the life of this relative of deposed Chilean president Salvador Allende, the historical-political contexts of her work, and critical readings of well- and lesser-known writings. Contributors discuss the magical realist style of her fiction and themes of the “feminine collective,” social justice, and writing as therapy. An interview with Allende in which she discusses her continual reinvention of herself concludes the volume, which includes a chronology of Allende’s life, list of her works, bibliography, and notes about The Paris Review (from which a perspective is provided)”