Isabel Angelica Allende Llona is a Chilean-American writer, born on 2 August 1942. She is renowned for her works that often blend elements of magical realism with personal experiences and historical events. Her most famous novels include The House of the Spirits (1982) and City of the Beasts (2002).

Allende has been lauded as "the world's most widely read Spanish-language author." In 2004, she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and in 2010, she received Chile's National Literature Prize. In 2014, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Having become a U.S. citizen in 1993, Allende has lived in California since 1989. Her literature often pays homage to the lives of women, intertwining myth with realism. She is fluent in English and has lectured at various U.S. colleges.