Isabel Allende is one of South
America's greatest novelists
Isabel Allende is one of South America's greatest novelists.
Her books have been translated into more than 27 languages and have become bestsellers around the world.
The author is the cousin of former Chilean President Salvador Allende and was forced to flee her country when Augusto Pinochet came to power in the 1970s.
Allende now lives in the United States where she enjoys joint Chilean and US citizenship.
Allende's latest book, The Sum of Our Days, reconstructs the painful days following the death of her daughter in 1992.
The memoir is based on Allende's own journals and correspondence with her mother in Chile.
Allende joins Sir David in the studio. She says she has never recovered from the death of her daughter.
Allende talks about women in South American politics and reveals she has no more personal ambitions to fulfil.
