Paula
By: Isabel Allende ; translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Peden
Contributors: Peden, Margaret Sayers
Publisher: Flamingo
Published: 1995
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 330
ISBN-13: 9780006548560
Subjects: Family relationships; Chilean Authors; Family
Work titles: Paula
Description: Paula is a soul-baring memoir, which, like a novel of suspense, one reads without drawing a breath. The point of departure for these moving pages is a tragic personal experience. In December 1991, Isabel Allende's daughter, Paula, became gravely ill and shortly thereafter fell into a coma. During months in the hospital, the author began to write the story of her family for her unconscious daughter. In the telling, bizarre ancestors appear before our eyes; we hear both delightful and bitter childhood memories, amazing anecdotes of youthful years, the most intimate secrets passed along in whispers. Chile, Allende's native land, comes alive as well, with the turbulent history of the military coup of 1973, the ensuing dictatorship, and her family's years of exile. As an exorcism of death, in these pages Isabel Allende explores the past and questions the gods.