Paulo Coelho

This is your first novel, where children appear, however a little bit indirectly. Why did you wait so long? Why children weren’t so important for your novels?

I can’t consciously explain why children never appeared in my writings before my newest book. What I can say is this: when I wrote the Witch of Portobello, I noticed, almost as a surprise, that Viorel was the first child to have such an important role. This child was necessary to the plot because Athena, being an orphan, needed to experience motherhood and thus start to heal her emotional scars. Viorel was the first step in the story of this brave woman.