News

« Headlines

Allende memoir in April

26.10.07 Alison Flood

HarperCollins has snapped up a new memoir from Isabel Allende, and will also mark a rare UK visit by the author with a fresh look for six of her major backlist titles.

The Sum of Our Days is based on Allende's journals and daily correspondence with her mother in Chile; it was acquired by Fourth Estate's editorial director Clare Reihill. It picks up from where Allende's famous memoir Paula ends, and reveals the aftermath of her daughter's death, and how she managed to survive the experience with the help of her family and friends. It will be published on 7th April 2008 as a £16.99 hardback, along with the paperback of the novel Inés of My Soul (£7.99).

Allende will be in the UK and Ireland during the week of 21st April to promote the two titles—the trip will be her first visit to the countries in seven years.

Her visit will also be marked by a shift in Harper Perennial's approach to the look of her backlist. Perennial has developed a new design for six Allende titles, which moves the books' package away from its previous Latin American magical realism flavour towards a more contemporary, women's fiction style. The company hopes the new look will bring the books—The Infinite Plan, Daughter of Fortune, Portrait in Sepia, Paula, Aphrodite and My Invented Country—to a new readership. The six titles will be published on 7th April with the fiction titles priced at £7.99 and the non-fiction ones at £8.99.

"We think of Isabel Allende as a natural and vibrant -storyteller, but she has a particular gift for memoir," said Reihill. "In The Sum of Our Days we see her daily life as a mother, wife and author as vividly as if we were her friend and confidante. It is a completely compelling and as-tonishing testament to family and friendships and the strength we derive from them."

Book HarperCollins Alison Flood Isobel Allende

See Also