1987Magical Realism
Eva Luna
Isabel Allende · b. 1942 · Chile
Originally Eva Luna (Spanish) · translated by Margaret Sayers Peden
Why it matters
An orphaned storyteller narrates her own picaresque rise through an unnamed Latin American country. Allende spins the Scheherazade tale into a feminist bildungsroman: the power of storytelling as survival.
At a glance
bildungsromanpicaresquemagical realism
Difficulty 4/10fast pace336 pagesAn accessible, episodic picaresque narrated in warm, straightforward prose.
Where to go next
Isabel Allende · 1982The House of the SpiritsLvl 4Fast paced
Isabel Allende · 1984Of Love and ShadowsLvl 4Medium pace
Isabel Allende · 1994PaulaLvl 4Medium pace
Isabel Allende · 1999Daughter of FortuneLvl 4Fast paced
Gabriel García Márquez · 1967One Hundred Years of SolitudeLvl 6Medium pace
Toni Morrison · 1987BelovedLvl 8Slow burn