Aphrodite

Isabel Allende was born in 1942, and is the niece of Salvador Allende, who went on to become famous as the elected President of Chile deposed in a CIA-backed coup. She worked as a journalist, playwright and children’s writer in Chile until 1974 and then in Venezuela until 1984. Her first novel for adults, ‘The House of the Spirits’, was published in Spanish in 1982, beginning life as a letter to her dying grandfather. It was an international sensation, and ever since all her books have been acclaimed and adored in numberless translations worldwide.

‘Just as the pleasures of eating can replace the pleasures of sex, so reading about food can provoke as much satisfaction as flicking through some soft porn. Isabel Allende’s charming new book aims to reconcile the two appetites, offering sensual recipes to tempt jaded palates … Not a pot-boiler; rather, a spicy word-salad … Telling stories, playing verbal games and flirting with words like shuttlecocks, these are the real turn-on for Allende. In between offering up light, well-flavoured reminiscences sauced with humour she imparts a certain amount of kitchen lore and suggests new ways to make roast chicken romantic. A delightful book, juicy with affectionately prepared vignettes that turn out well every time like an expert chef’s soufflés.’ Michèle Roberts, The Times‘In her splendid, succulent and disconcerting study of erotology and foodstuffs … [Allende’s] focus is upon pleasure … a spellbinding work, and … insistently practical’ Daily Telegraph‘The angels who inhabit Allende’s previous books here turn into alluring aromas, mystifying the air … She transports us into an altogether more agreeable place; a paradise of language’ Observer‘A book to treasure and savour’ Independent on Sunday‘A paean to living’ Scotland on Sunday