Mary Ellen Snodgrass

As a big fan of Isabel Allende, I was delighted to receive this book. The author did a wonderful job of categorizing subject matter that is often touched upon in Allende's work. It's a great resource of information for each book and and many of their major characters. It is also a excellent source of information about subject matter that lies within her books such as the importance of family relations and relationships. Snodgrass refers to books that these topics touch upon. The book itself encourages the reader to reflect upon the depth of Allende's work and encourages the reader to not only read books they have not read yet, but also to reread those they have read in a new light and understanding. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I highly recommend it.… (mehr)

I would have loved to have this as a resource in my University studies as a student of literature in Spanish. It would have offered a depth of insight while I was studying Allende's writings, as opposed to reading them more for pleasure. This book offers great information, that even while reading her writing for fun will enrich my understanding. All that said, this is a resource book, and not a light one at that. It does not lend itself to be read alone, but only in conjunction with Allende's works themselves.… (mehr)

I am a big fan of Isabel Allende and her books. And I love her autobiographical stories. I couldn't read the Literary Companion cover to cover; I think it is meant to read beside an Allende book. For me it was too much information I prefer to read intimate things from the person itself and not about her.
Picking the whole story apart and analyzing the plot is not always helpful to enjoy the deep and rich stories Allende is telling me. After reading her autobiographies I could understand better why she choose to write about certain things, but reading the Literary Companion did not bring her stories closer to me.… (mehr)