The Soul of a Woman

By: Isabel Allende

Narrated by: Gisela Chípe

From the New York Times bestselling author of A Long Petal of the Sea comes “a bold exploration of womanhood, feminism, parenting, aging, love and more” (Associated Press).

“The Soul of a Woman is Isabel Allende’s most liberating book yet.”—Elle

“When I say that I was a feminist in kindergarten, I am not exaggerating,” begins Isabel Allende. As a child, she watched her mother, abandoned by her husband, provide for her three small children without “resources or voice.” Isabel became a fierce and defiant little girl, determined to fight for the life her mother couldn’t have.

As a young woman coming of age in the late 1960s, she rode the second wave of feminism. Among a tribe of like-minded female journalists, Allende for the first time felt comfortable in her own skin, as they wrote “with a knife between our teeth” about women’s issues. She has seen what the movement has accomplished in the course of her lifetime. And over the course of three passionate marriages, she has learned how to grow as a woman while having a partner, when to step away, and the rewards of embracing one’s sexuality.

So what feeds the soul of feminists—and all women—today? To be safe, to be valued, to live in peace, to have their own resources, to be connected, to have control over our bodies and lives, and above all, to be loved. On all these fronts, there is much work yet to be done, and this book, Allende hopes, will “light the torches of our daughters and granddaughters with mine. They will have to live for us, as we lived for our mothers, and carry on with the work still left to be finished.”

Critic reviews

Praise for the books of Isabel Allende

The Sum of Our Days: A Memoir

“[Isabel] Allende is a genius.”—Los Angeles Times Book Review

“[Allende] executes this epistolary memoir with the same authenticity and poetry that grace her fiction. . . . Allende is a survivor worth reading and emulating.”—The Dallas Morning News

My Invented Country: A Nostalgic Journey Through Chile

“Charming and entertaining.”—The New York Times Book Review

“A stunningly intimate memoir . . . Allende is that rare writer whose understanding of story matches her mastery of language.”—Entertainment Weekly

Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses

“Allende’s vivacity and wit are in full bloom as she makes her pronouncements. . . . Her book is filled with succinct wisdom and big laughs. . . . As always, her secret weapon is honesty.”—Publishers Weekly

“Allende teases, tempts and titillates with mesmerizing stories.”—The Washington Post

Paula: A Memoir

“Allende has an exciting life story to tell.”—Booklist

“A magician with words.”—Publishers Weekly

Part Memoir & part reflections on life & womanhood

Isabel Allende has written a book which is part memoir on how she became a feminist at 6, and part reflections on life, being a woman, a mother, daughter and grandmother, wife, ex-wife, feminism, aging, covid19, among other intimate and personal reflections. A joy to read.

Allende’s real vigor in her life is reflected in her novels

learned a feministic viewpoint on a background of a portrait of paternalism in various cultures

The woman saw

Very enjoyable book I learned a lot recommend you will enjoy Gradebook I will read it over and over again

Stunningly written

I felt everything little bit of it! Thanks to Allende for this amazing book! Gracias

must read. Empowering, raw, funny, hard. fantastic

I felt as though I was listening to the author in a soliloquy that shows who she is, as she took us on a journey from the Isabel from the the "House of the Spirits" time all the way to who she is now