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The epic and thrilling story of a woman whose life spans the most significant historical moments of the 20th century.

From 1920—during the so-called “Spanish flu”—to the 2020 pandemic, Violeta’s life will be much more than just the story of a century.

Violeta is born on a stormy day in 1920, the first daughter in a family of five boisterous brothers. From the very start, her life is marked by extraordinary events, as the aftershocks of the Great War are still being felt when the Spanish flu reaches the shores of her South American homeland, almost at the exact moment of her birth.

Thanks to her father’s foresight, the family will escape this crisis only to be faced with a new one when the Great Depression upends the elegant urban life Violeta has known so far. Her family will lose everything and be forced to retreat to a wild and remote region of the country. There, Violeta will come of age and meet her first suitor…

In a letter addressed to someone she loves above all others, Violeta reflects on devastating heartbreaks and passionate romances, moments of poverty and prosperity, terrible losses, and immense joys. Her life will be shaped by some of history’s most significant events: the fight for women’s rights, the rise and fall of tyrants, and, ultimately, not one but two pandemics.

Seen through the eyes of a woman with unforgettable passion, determination, and a sharp sense of humor that sustain her through a turbulent life, Isabel Allende once again delivers an epic, fiercely inspiring, and deeply emotional story.

Isabel Allende is one of the most widely read authors in the world, having sold more than seventy-seven million books. Born in Peru and raised in Chile, Isabel won worldwide acclaim in 1982 with the publication of her first novel, The House of the Spirits. Since then, she has authored more than twenty-six bestselling and critically acclaimed books, including Daughter of Fortune, Island Beneath the Sea, Paula, and The Wind Knows My Name.

In 1996, following the death of her daughter, Paula, Allende established a charitable foundation in her honor. The foundation has awarded grants to more than one hundred nonprofits worldwide, delivering life-changing care to hundreds of thousands of women and girls.

In 2014, President Barack Obama awarded Allende the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, and in 2018 she received the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book Foundation. Allende lives in California.