Interview with Isabel Allende

Chilean-born author Isabel Allende may live in California, but her work has a worldly—almost otherworldly—flavor. Her books are filled with vivid female characters and morsels of magical realism, and a few have been made into movies, such as The House of the Spirits and Of Love and Shadows. As a working writer, Allende has lived in many locales: Chile as a journalist, Venezuela as a political exile, and now the United States. Along the way, she's written 17 books, including a heartbreaking memoir completed while her daughter, Paula, lay in a coma, and the fictional best-seller Daughter of Fortune.

South America will always be near and dear to Allende—she still writes all of her fiction in Spanish—but her latest novel transports readers to colonial-era Haiti and follows the story of a slave girl with moxie named Zarité. She shares with Goodreads her thoughts on Haiti and discusses the role of feminism in her writing.

Goodreads: Early reviews of Island Beneath the Sea on Goodreads repeatedly refer to Zarité as a "strong woman." History is so often told by those with power, yet Zarité has no freedom; she is enslaved by her percentage of African blood and her status as a human commodity. Why did you decide to place a young slave girl at the center of the story?

Isabel Allende: I am obsessed with the theme of freedom, especially for women. Women are abused, raped, exploited, sold; they are the poorest of the poor. They need to be strong and clear minded to overcome the multiple obstacles of their destiny. That makes for a great story! Most of my female characters are enslaved in one way or another, but until Zarité I had not written about a slave. Her case is extreme.

GR: Your books have taken readers to myriad locales, including your native Chile and your current home, the San Francisco Bay area. What moved you to write about colonial-era Haiti in Island Beneath the Sea?

IA: I had no idea I would end up writing about Haiti. I went to New Orleans a couple of times to research for my novel Zorro and fell in love with the city, its French flavor, and the African American culture. I said to myself that one day I would write a story placed in New Orleans, probably about pirates. In my research I found out that 10,000 refugees came to Louisiana in 1800, running away from the slave revolt in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (today Haiti). I was fascinated by the history of the island and the plight of the slaves.

GR: What kind of research did you conduct to represent 18th- and 19th-century Saint-Domingue, Havana, and New Orleans authentically?

IA: I read history books about the Caribbean, Haiti, Europe, and the United States. All were connected. I also read a couple of biographies of Toussaint Louverture and the wonderful trilogy by Madison Smart Bell, an expert on Haiti's history and a great writer.

GR: The Isabel Allende Foundation seeks social and economic justice for women, a cause close to your heart. Your female characters are often marginalized by their gender, yet they can be passionate, practical, and tenacious. What place does feminism hold in your storytelling?

IA: I have been a feminist long before the term reached my country, Chile. I have always been aware of gender inequality, I have always wanted to be independent. Feminism has shaped my character, my decisions, my life, my writing, and my foundation.

GR: Melissa asks, "Where do you begin a novel—with a plot idea, a character idea, or a piece of history?"

IA: It depends. Some books begin with a vague idea, like Island Beneath the Sea. My first novel, The House of the Spirits, started with characters—most of them modeled after members of my family. My second novel is based on a real crime committed by the military in times of the dictatorship in Chile (1973). Other books are historical novels, like Daughter of Fortune, which was inspired by the California Gold Rush of 1848. In others I have researched a theme, like Aphrodite, which is about aphrodisiacs, lust, and gluttony.

GR: Lyn says, "I am a fan of magical realism in fiction, and I really enjoyed The House of the Spirits. I've read several of your subsequent novels, and you haven't used this literary device to the same degree. How does it figure in your new book?"

IA: There is a lot of magic in Island Beneath the Sea. It's impossible to explain the slave revolt in Haiti without vodou and the spiritual empowerment that religion gave to the slaves. It was truly magical. In their religion they were "mounted" by the Loas. While in trance they had the power of the Loa, and that gave them incredible courage and strength. They fought with machetes against the cannons of Napoleon because they believed that for every black man in the battle there were 10,000 spirits that had risen from the Island Beneath the Sea (Paradise, Guinea, the Other World) to fight with him.

GR: Describe a typical day spent writing and any unusual writing habits. Do you still start every book on the auspicious day of January 8, when you began The House of the Spirits? Has the day's luck held for you over the years?

IA: January 8 has been a lucky day for me. I have started all my books on that day, and all of them have been well received by the readers. I write eight to ten hours a day until I have a first draft, then I can relax a little. I am very disciplined. I write in silence and solitude. I light a candle to call inspiration and the muses, and I surround myself with pictures of the people I love, dead and alive.

GR: What's next?

IA: Another novel, this time placed half in the United States and half in Chile.