Paula - by Isabel Allende (Paperback)

About the Book

"When Isabel Allende's daughter, Paula, became gravely ill and fell into a coma, the author began to write the story of her family for her unconscious child. In the telling, bizarre ancestors appear before our eyes: we hear both delightful and bitter childhood memories, amazing anecdotes of youthful years, and the most intimate secrets passed along in whispers. With Paula, Allende has written a powerful autobiography whose straightforward acceptance of the magical and spiritual worlds will remind readers of her first book, The House of the Spirits --

Book Synopsis

"Beautiful and heartrending. . . . Memoir, autobiography, epicedium, perhaps even some fiction: they are all here, and they are all quite wonderful."--Los Angeles Times

In this literary classic, New York Times bestselling author Isabel Allende recalls the story of her beloved daughter and her remarkable family's history.

When her daughter, Paula, became gravely ill and fell into a coma, Isabel Allende began to write the story of her family for her unconscious child. Bizarre ancestors are introduced; delightful and bitter childhood memories are shared; amazing anecdotes of youthful years are relived, and the most intimate secrets are quietly passed along. Like Allende's first novel, The House of the Spirits, this powerful memoir exploring grief and loss is infused with the real, the magical, and the spiritual, creating a haunting, sad, and beautiful tale about an unbreakable mother-daughter relationship.

How does a mother cope when her daughter's life hangs in the balance?

• A Mother's Unconditional Love: Written at her daughter's bedside, Allende pours her heart onto the page, creating an intimate testament to a bond that even a coma cannot break.
• An Unforgettable Family Saga: Journey through Allende's past as she introduces bizarre ancestors, relives cherished childhood memories, and shares her family's most intimate secrets.
• Literary Memoir: A powerful work of autobiography that reads like a novel, blending fact with the lyrical style that made The House of the Spirits a worldwide phenomenon.
• A Spiritual Journey: Faced with the unthinkable, Allende explores the borders between life and death, consciousness and the unknown, in a narrative infused with the real, the magical, and the spiritual.

Review Quotes

"Spellbinding . . . in flawlessly rich prose she shares with us her most intimate feelings." - Washington Post Book World

"The narrative magic that that thundered through Allende's first novel . . . triumphs here too. . . . Vibrant with strange lands, rich lives, and grand characters, pulsating with an almost unbearable love of words." - Miami Herald

"A non-fiction masterpiece. . . . PAULA is a breathtaking tour de force." - Buffalo News