Isabel Allende: If you could revise one chapter of your past, what would you change? — FLAPSS

The question

If you could revise one chapter of your past, what would you change?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

Repeated verbatim in The Guardian's long-running Saturday Q&A; two publisher-hosted examples establish recurrence.

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Isabel Allende

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

I would not leave my teenage children to follow an unworthy love. It lasted a month and scarred the family for ever.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 December 2024 source ↗

Others on this question

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Jenna Coleman English actress

I would take away fear.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 February 2019 source ↗

All the times I was mean to someone.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 12 July 2025 source ↗

Simone Biles United States artistic gymnast

Nothing. Everything has led me to who and where I am now.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 February 2017 source ↗

Nothing. Tony Benn, one of my favourite politicians, said, “I don’t care where you’ve been, I care where you’re going.”

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 December 2025 source ↗

More from Isabel Allende

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Question What lesson has mattered most in your life? Time & hindsight

Give, give, give. The more you give, the happier you are.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 December 2024 source ↗

Question How would you describe what love feels like to you? Relationships

Warm, sugary, fierce, protective.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 December 2024 source ↗

Question How would you sum yourself up in three words? Identity & self

Hard-working, creative, irreverent.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 December 2024 source ↗

Question What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy? Time & hindsight

When my kids were little – and now, in my old age.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 December 2024 source ↗

Question How would you want people to remember you? Death & what remains

I will be dead, why would I care?

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 December 2024 source ↗

Question Who deserves an apology from you, and for what? Failure & regret

To my first husband for being unfaithful, bossy, and eventually leaving him.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 December 2024 source ↗

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