In the following interview with Allende, interviewer Katy Butler discusses Allende's novels, including her work The Infinite Plan and the history of both Allende's life and of California as backdrops for her writing.

Isabel Allende, the daughter and stepdaughter of Chilean diplomats, is one of California's most famous literary immigrants. The author of The House of the Spirits and other books, she is probably best known for her memoir, Paula, chronicling the year she spent at the bedside of her comatose daughter, watching her die after being stricken with porphyria and a series of ultimately fatal medical misadventures. We met with Allende recently to talk about her new novel, as well as about the true history of the American Gold Rush, the creative process and her experience of making a new family in a foreign land.

KATY BUTLER: A historical novel like this is a departure for...