The Soul of a Woman by Isabel Allende
Feminism, Biography, 174 pages
Published March 2, 2021 by Ballantine Books
From the New York Times bestselling author of A Long Petal of the Sea comes a passionate and inspiring meditation on what it means to be a woman.
"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 first wave of feminism. Among a tribe of like-minded female journalists, she for the first time felt comfortable in her own skin, as they wrote "with a knife between their teeth" about women's issues. She has seen what has been accomplished by the movement 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 do women want? To be safe, to be valued, to live in peace, to have their own resources, to be connected, to have control over their bodies and lives, and above all, to be loved. On all these fronts, there is much work to be done, and this book, Allende hopes, will "light the torch 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."
My thoughts about The Soul of a Woman ~~
(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first lines.)
First lines—"When I say that I was a feminist in kindergarten, even before the concept was known in my family, I am not exaggerating. I was born in 1942, so we're talking remote antiquity."
I've always enjoyed reading autobiographies. I enjoy getting an insight to the people I'm reading about as well as learning from the life lessons that they are sharing.
The Soul of a Woman was a very interesting read and I learned a lot about the life of Allende as well as an in depth look and explanation of feminism from her point of view. Her life wasn't always easy but she was a strong girl who turned into a strong woman who stood up for herself and those around her.
There is a lot to learn from reading The Soul of a Woman, in particular how we need to strive to be the best that we can be and to always go for what we want in life.
I received a copy of The Soul of a Woman from Goodreads and this is my honest opinion of the book.
About the author
Isabel Allende Llona is a Chilean-American novelist. Allende, who writes in the "magic realism" tradition, is considered one of the first successful women novelists in Latin America. She has written novels based in part on her own experiences, often focusing on the experiences of women, weaving myth and realism together. She has lectured and done extensive book tours and has taught literature at several US colleges. She currently resides in California with her husband. Allende adopted U.S. citizenship in 2003.
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