Born in Peru, Isabel Allende, 82, worked as a journalist and children’s writer. In 1982, she published her first adult novel, The House of the Spirits, which became an international bestseller. Her titles have been translated into 42 languages, and include a memoir for her daughter, who died at 29. Allende’s accolades include the US presidential medal of freedom and PEN Center lifetime achievement award. Her course, Magical Storytelling, is available on BBC Maestro’s online platform. She lives in California.
When were you happiest?
When my kids were little – and now, in my old age.
What is your greatest fear?
Dependency. Fascism.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Impatience and being bossy.
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Cruelty.
Aside from a property, what’s the most expensive thing you’ve ever bought?
A Tesla for my former husband. He didn’t deserve it.
Describe yourself in three words
Hard-working, creative, irreverent.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
I am so damn short!
Who would play you in the film of your life?
Probably Dustin Hoffman, but I would prefer Penélope Cruz.
Who is your celebrity crush?
It used to be Antonio Banderas. Now I am too old to fantasise about unattainable studs.
What is your most unappealing habit?
What my husband calls my clipboard: punctual, organised, pushy.
What is the worst thing anyone’s ever said to you?
“You’re a narcissist!” From someone who was a narcissist himself.
What is your guiltiest pleasure?
Erotic fantasies.
What do you owe your parents?
I got love from my mom, common sense from my stepfather, nothing from my father.
To whom would you most like to say sorry and why?
To my first husband for being unfaithful, bossy, and eventually leaving him.
What does love feel like?
Warm, sugary, fierce, protective.
after newsletter promotion
What has been your biggest disappointment?
The years I lost trying to fix my second marriage.
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
I would not leave my teenage children to follow an unworthy love. It lasted a month and scarred the family for ever.
If not yourself, who would you most like to be?
An eagle soaring in the sky.
When’s the last time you changed your mind about something significant?
July 2018, when I married my third husband, Roger, after two years of proclaiming that marriage at 76 was stupid.
What has been your closest brush with the law?
Escaping from Chile after the military coup.
How would you like to be remembered?
I will be dead, why would I care?
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Give, give, give. The more you give, the happier you are.
Tell us a joke
I am a very stable genius: Trump.
