[reviews]

“Inés narrates with a clear eye and a sensitivity to native peoples that rarely lapses into anachronistic political correctness. Basing the tale on documented events of her heroine’s life, Allende crafts a swift, thrilling epic, packed with fierce battles and passionate romance.”
Publishers Weekly

“Inés is wholly a woman of her day, and Allende does not turn away from the historical record, which has her decapitating indigenous prisoners and hurling their heads over a fortress wall to terrorize their peers as well as saving lives as a gentle-handed healer. Despite its graphic violence, Inés of My Soul, like all of Allende’s novels, drips with color and sensuality. The author spent four years researching the era, incorporating knowledge not just about the history of Chile during the subjugation of its native people by the courageous and cruel Spanish, but such vital details as the kinds of food emigrants ate on the long ocean voyage and their manner of dress. The research pays off in finely detailed scenes.”
—Pamela Miller, Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St. Paul)

“Fiction about the conquistador experience in the New World can’t possibly get better than Allende’s treatment of the subject in her latest novel, which is based on the life of a real historical character.”
—Brad Hooper, Booklist (starred review)

“This fictionalized account of one of Chile’s national heroines is meticulously researched and offers a detailed account of a little-known time period in history, as an older Inés recounts her life story.”
—Kellie Gillespie, Library Journal