Allende won the one-million-euro prize for “La hora antes del alba”, a sequel to her 1982 debut, “La casa de los espíritus”. The ceremony took place on the award’s 75th anniversary.
Barcelona hosted the ceremony on 15 October 2026, with Spain’s king and queen presiding. Isabel Allende, 84, received the one-million-euro Premio Planeta from King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia. Her novel, “La hora antes del alba”, was chosen from 1,424 submissions and made the final nine.
The book continues the story of “La casa de los espíritus”, Allende’s first novel, published in 1982. Its central character is Alba, the granddaughter of Clara. Imprisoned and tortured under a dictatorship in a country inspired by Chile, Alba returns to the family home while pregnant.
The novel examines political repression and memory. It also follows Alba’s recovery and the ties between biological relatives and the families people build for themselves. Allende described the book as bringing the literary world of “La casa de los espíritus” to a close.
Allende entered the competition under the working title “Los que faltan”, using the pseudonym Luz Ventura. The jury called the book historical fiction about a family struggling to survive in a turbulent country. Its story returns to the world Allende began building 44 years ago in “La casa de los espíritus”, a novel spanning four generations of women.
Her books have sold tens of millions of copies and been translated into fifty languages. After the award, Allende is moving from her current publisher, Plaza & Janés, to the Planeta group. Sergio Vila-Sanjuan, editor-in-chief of the Cultura/s supplement and a publishing specialist, analyses her career and the connection between the two novels.
