The Stories of Eva Luna

The Stories of Eva Luna (Spanish: Cuentos de Eva Luna, 1989) is a collection of Spanish-language short stories by the Chilean-American writer Isabel Allende. It consists of stories told by the title character of Allende's earlier novel Eva Luna. The literary critic Barbara Mujica wrote: "The Chilean author presents her stories through the age-old device used by Scheherazade: the narrator tells them to her lover to entertain him. Like the famous Arabic tales, these stories combine fantasy with biting social satire and psychological insight."

Contents

• Two Words ("Dos palabras")
• Wicked Girl ("Niña perversa")
• Clarisa ("Clarisa")
• Toad's Mouth ("Boca de sapo")
• The Gold of Tomas Vargas ("El oro de Tomás Vargas")
• If You Touched My Heart ("Si me tocaras el corazón")
• Gift for a Sweetheart ("Regalo para una novia")
• Tosca ("Tosca")
• Walimai ("Walimai")
• Ester Lucero ("Ester Lucero")
• Simple Maria ("María la boba")
• Our Secret ("Lo más olvidado del olvido")
• The Little Heidelberg ("El pequeño Heidelberg")
• The Judge's Wife ("La mujer del juez")
• The Road North ("Un camino hacia el Norte")
• The Schoolteacher's Guest ("El huésped de la maestra")
• The Proper Respect ("Con todo el respeto debido")
• Interminable Life ("Vida interminable")
• A Discreet Miracle ("Un discreto milagro")
• Revenge ("Una venganza")
• Letters of Betrayed Love ("Cartas de amor traicionado")
• Phantom Palace ("El palacio imaginado")
• And of Clay Are We Created ("De barro estamos hechos")

Theatrical adaptations

In 1997, Wicked Girl, Tosca, and Revenge were adapted by choreographer Della Davidson for a dance titled Night Stories: The Eva Luna Project First Cycle. The dance was first performed at the Theater Artaud in San Francisco, California.

Letters of Betrayed Love was adapted by Eleanor Alberga and premiered with the title The Letters of One Betrayed on 10 February 2009 at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London.

Revenge - about a woman who spent years planning revenge on a man who had raped her - became the basis of an opera titled Dulce Rosa. The adaptation was made by librettist Richard Sparks and composer Lee Holdridgem, and the first production was performed by the Los Angeles Opera, conducted by Plácido Domingo. Uruguayan soprano María Eugenia Antúnez sang the title role. The opera premiered on 19 May 2013 at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica, California.