MEXICO CITY (AP) 鈥� A bloody civil war and the tragic death by suicide of an ousted president served as inspiration for new novel, 鈥淢y Name is Emilia del Valle.鈥�
The story centers on Emilia del Valle, a young Californian journalist who is dispatched to Chile to report on the confrontation between congressmen and those loyal to President Jos茅 Manuel Balmaceda in 1891.
鈥淚 was always curious about that civil war,鈥� Allende, 82, said in a video interview. 鈥淢ore Chileans died there than in the four years of the war against Peru and Bolivia and they killed each other like beasts.鈥�
From her home in Belvedere, California, the Chilean-American writer said that Balmaceda's fate in Chile echoes that of her uncle, President Salvador Allende, in 1973; both were progressive leaders, faced fierce resistance from the right and Congress and died by suicide.
Salvador Allende killed himself during , which established a 17-year dictatorship and left more than 40,000 victims.
To tell the story of Balmaceda in the book 鈥� available in English on Tuesday, with a Spanish edition following on May 20 鈥� Allende was interested in a character who was neither a congressman nor a member of the government, so Emilia del Valle emerged, a curious and adventurous 25-year-old. Fluent in Spanish with Chilean roots from her biological father (born out of wedlock), Emilia travels to Chile to report on the war 鈥� but also to find her roots.
鈥淒espite everything that happens to her, she falls in love with the country,鈥� said Allende, who once again intertwines California and Chile in her narrative. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very easy for me to write about Chile, even though I haven鈥檛 lived there for so many years."
On the battlefield, Emilia meets Angelita Ayalef, a Mapuche woman who is part of the so-called 鈥渃antineras鈥� (bartenders), women who followed the army to feed and cure soldiers, among other functions.
鈥淲hen doing research for a book, what matters are the questions,鈥� Allende said. 鈥淲ho were these women, the cantineras? History doesn鈥檛 give them a voice, they don鈥檛 have personality, there are no names, but they fulfilled a function equal to that of the soldier, and they died like soldiers.鈥�
鈥楾wice as much effort as any man鈥�
Growing up with an Irish Catholic mother and a stepfather of Mexican descent, Emilia is no stranger to religion and carries a Virgin of Guadalupe medal with her all the time. Emilia affectionately calls her stepfather Papo.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a tribute to my own stepfather, I didn鈥檛 know my father either, like Emilia, but I had a fantastic stepfather and so this is a tribute to him,鈥� Allende said.
With love but brutal honesty, Papo says to Emilia: 鈥淩emember, princess, that you will have to make twice as much effort as any man to get half the recognition.鈥�
Being a woman, has Allende ever faced this?
The author recalled sending her newly completed manuscript of 鈥淭he House of the Spirits鈥� to Carmen Balcells, the renowned Barcelona literary agent who championed the so-called 鈥渂oom,鈥� or new wave of Latin American writers of the 1960s and 1970s.
Allende recalls Balcells鈥� blunt assessment: "'This is a good novel, and I鈥檒l publish it, but that doesn鈥檛 mean you're a writer. And as a woman, you鈥檙e going to have to make twice as much effort as any man'... And that was the bible, because that has been my life, twice the effort to get respect, recognition for the work I do.鈥�
Balcells is present in another way in the novel as an inspiration for the character of Paulina del Valle, a successful, autonomous and brutally direct businesswoman who is the aunt of Emilia and introduces her to Chilean high society. Paulina also appears in Allende's 鈥淒aughter of Fortune鈥� (1999) and 鈥淧ortrait in Sepia鈥� (2000).
鈥淲hen Carmen read the manuscripts (of those novels) she told me 鈥榯his is me!鈥� she recognized herself immediately,鈥� Allende said. Balcells passed away in 2015.
Through Emilia's eyes, Allende immerses the reader in the brutal realities of the hand-to-hand war, the cannon fires and the repression against Balmaceda鈥檚 followers.
鈥淭he battles of that time were hand-to-hand, face-to-face, but fewer people died than die now, because they were killed one by one, they were not killed en masse as they are killed now," she said. "Today, someone in Texas pushes a button and a bomb explodes in Iraq, and it doesn't matter how many people die, they are just numbers.鈥�
Allende dedicates the book to her brother Juan, who helped her with the historical research of the novel.
Recovering the lost memory
Although Allende is not religious, she lamented , whom she described as a 鈥渨onderful, simple, humble, intelligent man.鈥�
鈥淚 adored him, not because he was pope, but because he went to revolutionize a church that was already completely old,鈥� she said.
She also mourned , whose passing sparked mixed reactions between those who celebrated him for his literary work and those who criticized his political positions, especially in his last years.
鈥淭he legacy is immortal, and I think that within literature he is a very important character,鈥� Allende said. 鈥淗is political position, that is another story, but what remains is not his political position, what remains is the work.鈥�
Allende said that she has not seen the upcoming 鈥淭he House of the Spirits鈥� Prime Video series so she said it will be a complete surprise for her. What she does know is that her next book will be another memoir, done with the help of the extensive collection of daily letters she sent daily to her mother since she turned 16.
鈥淲riting a memoir is much harder than a novel,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t turns out I have forgotten 90% of what has happened to me and the 10% that I remember did not happen like that ... but then when I see the letters, day by day, I recover the lost memory and I recover the emotion of the moment.鈥�
Allende is grateful to be able to continue doing what she loves most: 鈥淢y head still works, as long as I can pay attention, remember, not repeat myself, I will be able to continue writing, but there will come a day when it will not be possible.鈥�
Berenice Bautista, The Associated Press
