Violeta

Allende is prolific: her earliest works might be considered modern classics, yet her recent releases feel fresh. This sweeping epic begins on a stormy day in 1920. The titular heroine is born in the midst of the Spanish Flu—and tumultuous times have just begun for her family. Told in epistolary form, this novel almost reads like a juicy autobiography, following Violeta’s love affairs, heartbreaks, and responses to historical events. If you’ve never read any Allende, you can absolutely start here, then work your way back to see how she’s influenced the historical fiction genre.