Violeta

Isabel Allende was born in Peru, but her parents were Chilean. She lived and worked in Chile for years but fled to Venezuela following the military coup that saw Chilean president Salvador Allende, her father’s cousin, assassinated. Allende eventually settled in the United States in the 1980s, and over the course of her life has written numerous books. Violeta, her 26th book, draws on a number of her life experiences and carries themes and ideas that Allende commonly explores in her books.

For instance, Violeta takes place in an unnamed Latin American country; however, numerous details clearly denote that it is Chile, especially the political history of the country. The rise and fall of the Socialist president in Violeta’s country in a bloody military coup mirror events surrounding Salvador Allende’s assassination and General Augusto Pinochet’s subsequent dictatorship in Chile. Similarly, Colonia Esperanza seems to reference Colonia Dignidad, a German immigrant colony in Chile run like a cult by Paul Schäfer, an escapee from post-World War II Germany. Colonia Dignidad was the site of numerous atrocities, including child sexual abuse and the torture and extermination of prisoners, seemingly sanctioned by Pinochet, similar to what takes place in Violeta at Colonia Esperanza.

Until her exile from Chile, Allende worked as a journalist; following this, she continued writing, eventually becoming a celebrated novelist. From her debut novel onward, a number of her books portray South American politics—the rise and fall of the Socialist government form the backdrop of The House of the Spirits (1982). Additionally, that book bears a special connection to Violeta; the characters exist in the same universe, with Violeta belonging to the same Del Valle family as the characters in The House of the Spirits. Allende obliquely references these characters in old family stories recounted to Violeta, revealing that Clara, one of the protagonists in Allende’s debut novel, is Violeta’s estranged aunt. The same key events in the country also affect the families in both books, such as the Valdivia earthquake of 1960 and the military coup in 1973.

Other themes commonly found in Allende’s work, such as feminism, family dynamics, and women’s issues are reflected here, too. Accordingly, Violeta arrives at a crossroads at a point in her life that sets her down the path of working for women’s rights and various issues that come under this umbrella.

In addition to appearing thematically in her books, these are issues that Allende personally cares about, as she details in one of her memoirs, The Soul of a Woman. A number of other details from her life also influence the events of Violeta. Violeta starts a foundation in her deceased daughter’s name, mirroring Allende’s own foundation, which pays tribute to her daughter, Paula, who passed away when she was 29. Just as Violeta experiences multiple romantic relationships and marriages even late in life, Allende remarried for the third time in her late seventies, something she never expected to do. Reading Violeta is, thus, enriched with context about Allende’s own life, as well as her canon of work and the themes and ideas explored there.