Concubines, queens inspire writers Isabel Allende, Gioconda Belli

“Chilean author Isabel Allende’s’82 best-seller “House of Spirits” helped generate a wave of Latin American literature featuring heroines who dared cross geographic, political and social boundaries.

Now, the grande dame of Latina lit, whose books have been translated into 27 languages, is going back - way back - to the 16th century.

Her latest novel, “Ines of My Soul,” tells the tale of a real life Spanish seamstress, Ines Suarez, who wielded the sword as well as the needle, beheading her enemies, pulling arrows from soldiers’ flesh, divining water in the desert and captivating the heart of Chilean conqueror Pedro de Valdivia.”

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