Gilbert Cruz

From The New York Times, this is The Interview. I'm Gilbert Cruz. I'm guest hosting this week, filling in for Lulu. If you don't know me, I'm the editor of The New York Times Book Review and the host of The Book Review podcast. And I'm very happy to be getting the chance to talk with author Isabel Allende.

From The New York Times, this is The Interview. I'm Gilbert Cruz. I'm guest hosting this week, filling in for Lulu. If you don't know me, I'm the editor of The New York Times Book Review and the host of The Book Review podcast. And I'm very happy to be getting the chance to talk with author Isabel Allende.

At 82, Allende is one of the world's most beloved and best-selling Spanish-language authors. Her work has been translated into more than 40 languages and 80 million copies of her books have been sold around the world. Allende's newest book is called My Name is Emilia del Valle, and it's about a dark period in Chilean history, the 1891 Chilean Civil War.

At 82, Allende is one of the world's most beloved and best-selling Spanish-language authors. Her work has been translated into more than 40 languages and 80 million copies of her books have been sold around the world. Allende's newest book is called My Name is Emilia del Valle, and it's about a dark period in Chilean history, the 1891 Chilean Civil War.

Like so much of Allende's work, it's a story about women in tough spots who figure out a way through. It's not that far off from Allende's own story. She was raised in Chile, but in 1973, when she was 31 and working as a journalist with two small children, her life was upended forever.

Like so much of Allende's work, it's a story about women in tough spots who figure out a way through. It's not that far off from Allende's own story. She was raised in Chile, but in 1973, when she was 31 and working as a journalist with two small children, her life was upended forever.

It was then that a military coup pushed out the democratically elected president, Salvador Allende, who was her cousin. She fled to Venezuela, where she wrote her first book, The House of the Spirits, which evolved from a letter she had started to her dying grandfather. That book became a runaway bestseller, and it remains one of her best-known works. She moved to the U.S.

It was then that a military coup pushed out the democratically elected president, Salvador Allende, who was her cousin. She fled to Venezuela, where she wrote her first book, The House of the Spirits, which evolved from a letter she had started to her dying grandfather. That book became a runaway bestseller, and it remains one of her best-known works. She moved to the U.S.

in the late 1980s, where she has been writing steadily ever since. Here is my conversation with Isabel Allende.

in the late 1980s, where she has been writing steadily ever since. Here is my conversation with Isabel Allende.

Un poquito.

Un poquito.

Please, it is my great shame.

Please, it is my great shame.

Whenever I go back to see family in Puerto Rico, they give me the business all the time.

Whenever I go back to see family in Puerto Rico, they give me the business all the time.

I obviously want to talk to you about your new book, about your personal history, and of course about writing and creativity. And I think for you, all of these things intertwine in many of your books, and they certainly do in your new novel. This is a book that is set in the 1890s. Your main character, heads down to witness the Chilean civil war that is happening there.

I obviously want to talk to you about your new book, about your personal history, and of course about writing and creativity. And I think for you, all of these things intertwine in many of your books, and they certainly do in your new novel. This is a book that is set in the 1890s. Your main character, heads down to witness the Chilean civil war that is happening there.

And I'm wondering what was going through your mind when you said, this is the time period, this is the event, and this is what I want my character to see.

And I'm wondering what was going through your mind when you said, this is the time period, this is the event, and this is what I want my character to see.