The Soul of a Woman – by Isabel Allende – independent book review – Non-fiction

Part autobiography and part feminist treatise, THE SOUL OF A WOMAN is unlike the novels of Isabel Allende that I have read. It’s much more the personal reflection of an older woman looking back at her own life and the current world that surrounds us. Awarded four stars on Goodreads.

There is lots to learn about what the author’s has lived through, including:

• the traditional values held by her parents and grandparents,

• the violence associated with Chile’s repressive political history,

• her early determination to achieve financial independence through her writing,

• two divorces and the death of her much-loved daughter, Paula,

• and finally, at the age of 82, a reflective review of her own success, lifelong commitment to feminism, and contentment in her senior years.

At the same time, there is much in the book that can be universally applied to the lives of women in all strata of society. Particularly our skills, interests, and priorities.

I didn’t find the writing as lyrical as Allende’s novels. THE SOUL OF A WOMAN is more straightforward, even didactic. Her arguments in favor of making women fully equal to men (around the world) are persuasive and read, in many places, like she’s delivering a political speech. I happen to agree with her so that made it easier for me to enjoy the book. If I hadn’t, I might have stopped reading.

It’s a relatively short book (175 pages) but quite powerful. As she explains near the end of the book, Allende wrote his one in 2020, near the beginning of the global pandemic. And it’s clear that timing influenced the book — since she writes about the opportunity we will all have when the pandemic ends. A fresh chance to remake a better world. Of course now, three years later, it doesn’t appear to me that gender equality has been targeted as an important worldwide goal. In fact, you could well argue many countries are in a period of regression where women have less control, rather than more.

Nevertheless, I recommend the book for its reasoned arguments, for its optimism, and for the image Allende offers of a world populated by equals.

More about Isabel Allende.

You may be interested in my reviews of other books by Allende:

VIOLETA

THE WIND KNOWS MY NAME

ISLAND BENEATH THE SEA

A LONG PETAL TO THE SEA

THE JAPANESE LOVER

IN THE MIDST OF WINTER