In her sixteenth novel, Violeta,  Isabel Allende has created an unforgettable heroine much like herself – fiercely independent, funny, passionate, devoted to her children and a powerful advocate for women’s rights and feminism. Like her other books, Violeta is a brilliant blend of the personal with the political – Violeta’s almost-one hundred years of life are book-ended by two pandemics – the Spanish Flu and Covid – and her life is shaped by the tumultuous events of the twentieth century – especially World War Two and the huge political upheaval in Latin America in the 1970s and 1980s. In this rich conversation Isabel discusses love, passion, growing old and politics – in particular, how feminists in America can retain hope and keep up the fight in the face of the Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn Roe v Wade.