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Isabel Allende: 'I have a foot here and a foot in some spirit world' Isabel Allende: 'I have a foot here and a foot in some spirit world'
(5 months later)
Chilean-American writer Isabel Allende worked as a journalist and broadcaster before the 1973 military coup forced her and her family to flee the country. She eventually settled in San Francisco. Her hugely successful first novel, The House of the Spirits (1982), began as a letter to her dying grandfather. Among the 19 books she has published are memoirs such as Paula and My Invented Country and a trilogy of novels for young adults. Her latest novel is Maya's Notebook.Chilean-American writer Isabel Allende worked as a journalist and broadcaster before the 1973 military coup forced her and her family to flee the country. She eventually settled in San Francisco. Her hugely successful first novel, The House of the Spirits (1982), began as a letter to her dying grandfather. Among the 19 books she has published are memoirs such as Paula and My Invented Country and a trilogy of novels for young adults. Her latest novel is Maya's Notebook.
Maya's Notebook is a coming-of-age novel, one which reflects Maya's childhood in California, her turbulent teenage years and exile to the remote Chilean archipelago of Chiloé. What drew you to this genre?
I have written a lot of family sagas, historical novels and memoirs, so it is a departure from all my other books. When I started writing it, my six grandchildren had become teenagers and I realised they were exposed to a world that I never was. Through the internet they could be approached by a pervert, see pornography, experience violence in movies and video games, buy drugs and alcohol. Analysing the world they were living in and the dangers they were facing, I came up with a story.		Maya's Notebook is a coming-of-age novel, one which reflects Maya's childhood in California, her turbulent teenage years and exile to the remote Chilean archipelago of Chiloé. What drew you to this genre?
I have written a lot of family sagas, historical novels and memoirs, so it is a departure from all my other books. When I started writing it, my six grandchildren had become teenagers and I realised they were exposed to a world that I never was. Through the internet they could be approached by a pervert, see pornography, experience violence in movies and video games, buy drugs and alcohol. Analysing the world they were living in and the dangers they were facing, I came up with a story.
Have any of your grandchildren suffered as a result of these dangers?
My youngest granddaughter was a risk-taker. Fortunately she survived, but she could have been Maya. The things that happened to Maya could have happened to her. The parts of the novel about the criminal underworld and taking drugs reflect my life more closely because my husband, Willie, has three biological children, my stepchildren, and two of them have already died because of drugs. The other one has spent half his life in prison and in rehab.		Have any of your grandchildren suffered as a result of these dangers?
My youngest granddaughter was a risk-taker. Fortunately she survived, but she could have been Maya. The things that happened to Maya could have happened to her. The parts of the novel about the criminal underworld and taking drugs reflect my life more closely because my husband, Willie, has three biological children, my stepchildren, and two of them have already died because of drugs. The other one has spent half his life in prison and in rehab.
Maya is eventually able to recover from her time as a drug and alcohol addict…
But she has only been in the hell of drugs and homelessness for a few months. The fact that she is rescued almost as soon as it happens saves her. If she had stayed there for longer I do not think she would have been able to be saved.		Maya is eventually able to recover from her time as a drug and alcohol addict…
But she has only been in the hell of drugs and homelessness for a few months. The fact that she is rescued almost as soon as it happens saves her. If she had stayed there for longer I do not think she would have been able to be saved.
Did you intend this novel to be a cautionary tale?
I never try to give a message in my books. It's about living with characters long enough to hear their voices and let them tell me the story. Sometimes I would love to have a happy ending and it doesn't happen because the character or the story leads me in another direction.		Did you intend this novel to be a cautionary tale?
I never try to give a message in my books. It's about living with characters long enough to hear their voices and let them tell me the story. Sometimes I would love to have a happy ending and it doesn't happen because the character or the story leads me in another direction.
Sounds like writing for you is a bit like getting on a rollercoaster.
Absolutely, you can't control it! I can't control life for my grandchildren, so how could I control a story? Sometimes I try to force something and after working and working on that chapter I realise that I am swimming against the current. I will never get there. So I have to let go of whatever previous idea I had about it and let the characters decide.		Sounds like writing for you is a bit like getting on a rollercoaster.
Absolutely, you can't control it! I can't control life for my grandchildren, so how could I control a story? Sometimes I try to force something and after working and working on that chapter I realise that I am swimming against the current. I will never get there. So I have to let go of whatever previous idea I had about it and let the characters decide.
Why do you reveal your life in your writing?
I don't mind telling everything because nothing has happened to me that is unique. I feel that telling my secrets makes me less vulnerable. What would make me vulnerable are the secrets I keep. And in sharing I feel strong, connected, and I get a wonderful response from the readers, because they feel that their stories are there too.		Why do you reveal your life in your writing?
I don't mind telling everything because nothing has happened to me that is unique. I feel that telling my secrets makes me less vulnerable. What would make me vulnerable are the secrets I keep. And in sharing I feel strong, connected, and I get a wonderful response from the readers, because they feel that their stories are there too.
Is their response important to you?
Yes – I get thousands of letters, and they give me a feeling of how each book is perceived. Often I think I have written about a certain theme, but by reading the letters or reviews I realise that everybody sees the book differently. It also depends on the country – when I did publicity in Spain everybody focused on the time when Maya is in Las Vegas, drugs and prostitution and homelessness, because it is a very present problem in Spain today.		Is their response important to you?
Yes – I get thousands of letters, and they give me a feeling of how each book is perceived. Often I think I have written about a certain theme, but by reading the letters or reviews I realise that everybody sees the book differently. It also depends on the country – when I did publicity in Spain everybody focused on the time when Maya is in Las Vegas, drugs and prostitution and homelessness, because it is a very present problem in Spain today.
In many of your novels the spiritual side of life is given equal weight to factual events. Why do you choose to do this?
Because that is the way my life is. I have a foot here and a foot in some spirit world. There are many more layers to reality and that permeates my life and my writing in a very natural way. I don't even think about it. In this novel Maya can see her grandfather's ghost. It's not that I see ghosts, but I think there is a spiritual dimension to reality where my daughter Paula is. She died 20 years ago but I feel her presence with me constantly.		In many of your novels the spiritual side of life is given equal weight to factual events. Why do you choose to do this?
Because that is the way my life is. I have a foot here and a foot in some spirit world. There are many more layers to reality and that permeates my life and my writing in a very natural way. I don't even think about it. In this novel Maya can see her grandfather's ghost. It's not that I see ghosts, but I think there is a spiritual dimension to reality where my daughter Paula is. She died 20 years ago but I feel her presence with me constantly.
You are such a prolific writer and have a tough writing schedule. Do you ever get tired?
I have just turned 70 and I do get tired! Before I had unending energy but now I'm taking my time and not writing as intensively as I did before. I can't publish a book a year, that's crazy, but on the other hand this is the only thing I can do, because I don't know how to do anything else, and at my age I am unemployable! Who would give me a job? Nobody. So I need to be active and write.		You are such a prolific writer and have a tough writing schedule. Do you ever get tired?
I have just turned 70 and I do get tired! Before I had unending energy but now I'm taking my time and not writing as intensively as I did before. I can't publish a book a year, that's crazy, but on the other hand this is the only thing I can do, because I don't know how to do anything else, and at my age I am unemployable! Who would give me a job? Nobody. So I need to be active and write.
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