THE SOUL OF A WOMAN

The popular Chilean novelist shares life's lessons.

Approaching 80, Allende offers wise thoughts on aging, romance, sex, love, and, above all, her feminism—which began in kindergarten, when she saw her mother, abandoned with three small children, forced to become dependent on men. “I became obsessed with justice,” writes the author, “and developed a visceral reaction to male chauvinism.” Angry and often rebellious, Allende was “expelled from school—run by German Catholic nuns—at age 6, accused of insubordination; it was a prelude to my future.” Thankfully, her doting grandfather, although “the unquestionable patriarch of the family,” encouraged her abilities; “he understood the disadvantages of being a woman and wanted to give me the tools I needed so I would never have to depend on anyone.” Married at 20 and soon a mother of two, Allende felt stifled until she joined the staff of Paula magazine, where writing provided an outlet for her restlessness. The author charts the evolution of her own “fluid, powerful, deep” feminism as it relates to her self-image. While she refuses “to submit to the Eurocentric feminine ideal—young, white, tall, thin, and fit,” she does “jump out of bed an hour before everybody else to shower and put on makeup because when I wake up I look like a defeated boxer.” Now happily married to her third husband, Allende claims that “love rejuvenates” and that after menopause, life gets easier, “but only if we minimize our expectations, give up resentment, and relax in the knowledge that no one, except those closest to us, gives a damn about who we are or what we do.” Buoyed by the “spiritual practice circle” she dubs the “Sisters of Perpetual Disorder” and involved in a foundation dedicated to empowering vulnerable women and girls, Allende is ultimately joyful: “My theory and practice is to say yes to life and then I’ll see how I manage along the way.”

A pithy, upbeat memoir by a self-described romantic feminist.