GIOCONDA BELLI's first novel, "The Inhabited Woman," (Curbstone Press) is about a young architect whose body becomes inhabited by the soul of an Indian woman from the time of the Conquistadors. The soul urges the young woman to abandon her privileged lifestyle and join an underground movement against the dictatorship. BELLI is from an affluent Nicaraguan family. She studied English and advertising abroad, before returning to Nicaragua and joining the Sandinistas and playing a role in the overthrow of Nicaragua's dictator Somoza. Her book of poetry, "Line of Fire" won the Casa de las Americas Prize for poetry in 1979. "The Inhabited Woman" has been published in the US. Latin America, and Europe
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