Note by JRB: I greatly enjoy the novels of Isabel Allende. So it's a pleasure to learn that she is now a Marin County neighbor. I'm delighted that she has a new book, The Japanese Lover, due out next week. But the best reason for including the following short and absorbing text in Reckonings is that her responses to every single question asked in the interview are so full of life renewed and enlarged, after, as she says, "a very bad year, a year of losses and sorrow." Such redemption is not "magical realism" of the kind she and Gabriel Garcia Marquez are known for, but in another sense the term is a snug expression of all she says here. And the kind of transformation of which she speaks, known at whatever age, is always cause for learning and celebration.
The Liberation of Isabel Allende: An Interview
The Chilean-American author’s novel ‘The Japanese Lover’ comes out in English next week
by Jennifer Maloney
The Wall Street Journal
Oct. 30, 2015
How did you come up with the idea for this novel?
The idea came from a conversation with a friend walking in the streets of New York. She told me that her mother, who was in her 80s, had had a Japanese gardener that had been her best friend for more than 40 years. And I said, “OK, maybe they were lovers.” She said, “No, why would you think that?” Of course I thought that! But the truth is that that was just an excuse to start exploring themes that have been in my mind recently. I see people around me my age and they are dealing with very old or dying parents. The theme of aging, of death, of letting go, of memory, is very present right now in my life. Plus the theme of romantic and passionate love. Is that possible at any age? Or is it a privilege of the young?
There is a hint of magic and ghosts in this book, but just a hint. Where has the magic gone in your work?
It depends on the book. There are stories that are magical per se, and other stories that simply don’t fit in the mold of magic realism. Magic realism is not like salt and pepper that you can sprinkle everywhere.
What has surprised you about getting older?
I have had a very bad year, a year of losses and sorrow. But I feel liberated, I feel free, I feel full of energy. And I know myself so much better. I have more self-confidence. I can write in a very relaxed mood because I know that I can do it. I’ve written 22 books. And only recently I have the feeling that I don’t need to make a big effort. Let it flow. Just relax. Smile. Drink tea. And it will happen. And so that’s wonderful.
Have you ever thought about writing in English?
No. I can write a speech or an article for a magazine, but I cannot write fiction. Fiction happens in the womb. It’s like counting, like praying, like cursing, like making love. You do it in your own language.
Alma has purged her life of most possessions and social obligations. Have you felt a similar impulse?
Yes, absolutely. I used to be surrounded by piles of books that I knew I was never going to read again. And then one day I decided that that was stupid. So I started this habit of giving them away once a year. I also give away my clothes, my shoes. I used to live in a large house with my husband and then when we separated I bought a little house where everything is very contained. The idea of throwing overboard everything that you don’t need is wonderful.
What don’t you have time for anymore?
I don’t have time for cocktail parties. I’m very short. So in a cocktail party I only see nostrils. The shrimp that other people are eating fall on my clothes. I don’t have time for small talk.
What’s left on your bucket list?
Ooh! A Japanese lover. [Laughs] Or maybe not Japanese. I don’t mind what ethnicity he might have.
What is your most cherished possession?
I’ve been corresponding with my mother all my life. We were separated when I was 15 and we have corresponded, writing to each other every single day. Now we email each other but I print the letters. I have a closet with years and years of letters. I know that my mother will probably die before I do but I will be able to open a letter from her every day for the rest of my life.
This novel feels spare, pared down. Were you trying to evoke the idea of minimalism?
I think it just came naturally because of the process I have been going through. I had to let go of many things last year and this year. I had to let go of my beloved dog that I had had for 15 years. Then my agent, who was like a mother to me. And then moving to a small house, letting go of the material stuff. And that process has been painful and necessary.
What does it mean to you to be a storyteller?
It means that I’m a good listener. I was born with a good ear for stories. And because I have been always a foreigner all my life, I have to ask things that other people take for granted because I don’t understand what’s going on. In asking those questions, I get the good stories.
You’ve done a crime novel, magical realism, realism, memoir. Is there another genre you would like to try?
I used to say I wanted to write an erotic novel but I have to wait until my mother dies. And my mother is immortal, she doesn’t die. By the time she dies, I don’t think I will have the energy to write anything erotic.
Maybe she would forgive you.
I know she wouldn’t. She would not.