[BONUS] Jen Hatmaker Book Club ft. Violeta by Isabel Allende

05/10/24 • 52 min

Jen and Isabel Allende discuss her novel, Violeta, and why Allende makes her bold choices in characters, events, and settings. Allende shares her fascinating personal background - born in Peru, living as a refugee, and eventually immigrating to the U.S. where she began her writing career.

Allende explains how Violeta's story was inspired by her own mother's life and letters, which Allende has meticulously preserved over decades. The author discusses how Violeta's complicated romantic relationships and experiences of political upheaval mirror Allende's own life.

Particularly compelling moments include:

Allende's description and showing of the extensive archive of her mother's letters
The author's insights on the challenges women writers face, having to work harder than men to achieve respect
Allende's personal experiences with family tragedy that informed the novel
The author's delight in crafting the "villain" character of Julián, as well as the beloved nanny character based on Allende's own housekeeper

Overall, you’ll hear a dynamic conversation between Jen and Isabel on life, love, and loss.

Novel Summary:

The novel follows the life of Violeta, who is born in 1920 in the aftermath of World War I and the onset of Spanish flu pandemic. The story traces Violeta's tumultuous life as she navigates historic events, including the Great Depression forcing her family into poverty and a relocation to a remote part of their South American homeland.

Structured through a series of letters Violeta writes to her grandson, the narrative portrays her resilience, passion, and humor against the backdrop of major 20th century historical events and upheavals, including women's rights struggles. The story arcs through Violeta's experiences of love, heartbreak, and the ebb and flow of wealth, set against the sweeping historical context of an unnamed South American country.

* *

Guest’s Links:

Isabel’s Website - https://www.isabelallende.com/en

Isabel’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/allendeisabel/

Isabel’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/isabellallende

Isabel’s Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/isabelallende/

Books & Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

List of Isabel’s Books - https://www.isabelallende.com/en/books

Violeta by Isabel Allende - https://www.isabelallende.com/en/book/violeta

James by Percival Everett - https://www.amazon.com/James-Novel-Percival-Everett/dp/0385550367

Connect with Jen!

Jen’s website - http://jenhatmaker.com/

Jen’s Instagram - https://instagram.com/jenhatmaker

Jen’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/jenHatmaker/

Jen’s Facebook - https://facebook.com/jenhatmaker

Jen’s YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/JenHatmaker?sub_confirmation=1

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Particularly compelling moments include:

Allende's description and showing of the extensive archive of her mother's letters
The author's insights on the challenges women writers face, having to work harder than men to achieve respect
Allende's personal experiences with family tragedy that informed the novel
The author's delight in crafting the "villain" character of Julián, as well as the beloved nanny character based on Allende's own housekeeper

Overall, you’ll hear a dynamic conversation between Jen and Isabel on life, love, and loss.

Novel Summary:

* *

Guest’s Links:

Isabel’s Website - https://www.isabelallende.com/en

Isabel’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/allendeisabel/

Isabel’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/isabellallende

Isabel’s Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/isabelallende/

Books & Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

List of Isabel’s Books - https://www.isabelallende.com/en/books

Violeta by Isabel Allende - https://www.isabelallende.com/en/book/violeta

James by Percival Everett - https://www.amazon.com/James-Novel-Percival-Everett/dp/0385550367

Connect with Jen!

Jen’s website - http://jenhatmaker.com/

Jen’s Instagram - https://instagram.com/jenhatmaker

Jen’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/jenHatmaker/

Jen’s Facebook - https://facebook.com/jenhatmaker

Jen’s YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/JenHatmaker?sub_confirmation=1

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Previous Episode

[BONUS] A Year Lost and Found: Brittney Griner's Story of Survival

For this special bonus episode, Jen talks with WNBA star, Brittney Griner, who shares her powerful story of resilience after she was wrongfully detained in Russian prisons for nearly a year. Brittney provides a heartbreaking firsthand account of the inhumane conditions she endured, from the lack of legal rights and translators to cruel psychological tactics by guards. She opens up about the pivotal role her faith played in giving her mental strength to survive.

Brittney also discusses the ongoing trauma she has faced since returning home, and the renewed sense of motivation to use her voice and platform to advocate for other detainees abroad still seeking freedom.

Jen and Brittney discuss:

Griner's harrowing account of being imprisoned in Russia and how she’s fighting to get more US prisoners home
The pivotal role her faith and reading the Bible played in giving her strength to survive mentally and emotionally.
Her candid discussion of the ongoing trauma she's working through since returning to the U.S.
Her optimism about the WNBA's rising popularity to force meaningful change in addressing the glaring pay gap with men's basketball.

Thought-Provoking Quotes:

"My biggest fear was the fear of being forgotten." - Brittney Griner

"We feel like we're in control a lot in our everyday lives. But being over there, I was in a place where I needed help. I couldn't control anything. It was out of my hands. I had to rely on something, or I would have gone crazy...I would have Bible study on Sundays and I think that's what got me through, honestly." - Brittney Griner

"We need everybody to buy into [the WNBA]. We need to challenge companies to stop just checking a box and saying, 'Oh, we fight for equality. We had a month. We had some shirts.' That's a step. But we need you to put dollars down to make a difference." - Brittney Griner

Resources Mentioned in this Bonus Episode:

Caitlin Clark - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caitlin_Clark

“It Gets Better Project” - https://bit.ly/4al2EaZ

Coming Home by Brittney Griner - https://www.amazon.com/Coming-Home-Brittney-Griner/dp/0593801342

Guest Link:

Website - https://wearebg.org/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/brittneyyevettegriner

Twitter - https://twitter.com/brittneygriner

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/BrittneyGriner

Connect with Jen!

Jen’s website - http://jenhatmaker.com/

Jen’s Instagram - https://instagram.com/jenhatmaker

Jen’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/jenHatmaker/

Jen’s Facebook - https://facebook.com/jenhatmaker

Jen’s YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/JenHatmaker?sub_confirmation=1

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Next Episode

On Our Best Behavior: Elise Loehnen Pushes Back on the Patriarchal Narrative

In this episode of the Matriarchy series, we explore how deeply ingrained patriarchal narratives can create a policing effect on the behavior of women.

Author, Elise Loehnen, discusses her book "On Our Best Behavior" which examines how concepts like the seven deadly sins have historically been used to restrict women's behavior and police their adherence to an idealized form of "goodness." Loehnen unpacks the insidious ways women are culturally conditioned from a young age to suppress normal human drives like anger, ambition, and sexuality. And how disrupting rigid gender stereotypes is important when raising the next generation in order to build a more compassionate world.

Jen and Elise discuss:

How women are culturally conditioned and expected to embody "goodness" while men are oriented toward power
How concepts like the "seven deadly sins" have historically been used as a patriarchal "punch card" to police women's behavior
Why raising boys to have an emotional inner life nurtures positive identity development
The current era of politics that calls for women to challenge the patriarchal system while also having compassionate dialogue to build a new, care-centered world where everyone can flourish

* *

Thought-Provoking Quotes:

“Women are trained for goodness and men are trained for power.” - Elise Loehnen

“The worst thing for a woman is reputational harm--just the assigning of her badness. Bad mother. Toxic coworker. Toxic boss. Unkind. She says the wrong thing. And it's sort of impossible to defend yourself against that. We have zero tolerance, and it's very scary.” - Elise Loehnen

"We need a culture where the men are like, 'I would like to be more like women. I need to be caring. I want to be nurturing and creative. And yes, I can be strong and I can be masculine, but I also need this underdeveloped muscle.'" - Elise Loehnen

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

On Our Best Behavior by Elise Loehnen - https://bit.ly/44tz41D

Goop - https://goop.com

For the Love of Being Seen and Heard ft. Lori Gottlieb - https://bit.ly/4b8YT9C

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb - https://bit.ly/3JO7FOn

Evagrius Ponticus (Fourth Century Christian Monk) - https://bit.ly/4b7zEV5

Pope Gregory on the 7 Deadly Sins - https://bit.ly/3y1J1XK

Harvey Weinstein Abuse Cases - https://bit.ly/4b5ktM5

Carol Gilligan - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Gilligan

In a Different Voice by Carol Gilligan - https://bit.ly/3JQ9IBh

Human Voice by Carol Gilligan - https://bit.ly/3UQ1Rcn

Andrew Tate - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Tate