Isabel Allende’s new novel, The Hour Before Dawn, continues the story of The House of the Spirits 44 years after the earlier book was published. The novel, which has won the 2026 Planeta Prize, returns to the characters and events left behind in 1982 and is being released in bookstores today, according to the supplied report.
The story follows Alba after she is freed from imprisonment and torture under the regime. She must confront family losses, the disappearance of the man she loves, an uncertain pregnancy and continued persecution. While supernatural elements remain, the book shifts toward a more grounded portrayal of dictatorship, repression, class inequality and solidarity.
Allende said the idea for a continuation had been with her for a long time but became more urgent as democracies faced renewed threats from authoritarianism. “Be careful with the far right and the far left,” she said. “Authoritarianism does not solve problems; it makes them worse.” She added that democratic change is possible, while change under a dictatorship can take decades.
The Chilean author also described widening differences in knowledge, resources and opportunity, and said artificial intelligence could contribute to that divide. She argued that inequality should still be challenged, even if a fully equal society has historically proved difficult to achieve.
The Planeta award marks a publishing change for Allende, who had released her previous books with Plaza & Janés. She described the move not as a break with her past but as “an exploration of the future,” and said her agent and the publishers would handle any agreements about her back catalogue.
Allende said she has written for nearly half a century for the pleasure of telling stories, describing writing as a way of life rather than a series of challenges.
Sources: El País Cultura.