Book description
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…
Why read it?
1 author picked Paula as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
I was moved to tears reading about how Isabel Allende copes with her daughter’s coma in her memoir, Paula, a series of written letters telling her daughter about her own life and family history.
I was struck by how honest she was about her most vulnerable moments of despair when she was grieving and desperate for her daughter’s healing.
Allende’s reflections on her exile after the 1973 Chilean coup highlight the surreal nature of how we go through our daily lives when the world is literally falling apart around us in a larger political sense, and then she shows…
From Lanier's list on strong women who determine their own destiny during trying times.
If you love Paula...
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The author focuses on the off-beat, little-known stories, far from CNN news: a Swedish belly dancer who taps into the Oriental fantasies of her clientele; a Japanese woman studying Arabic, driven mad…
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