The Sum of Our Days: A Memoir [J0152]

2008 - HCDJ Excellent condition. In this heartfelt memoir, Isabel Allende reconstructs the painful reality of her own life in the wake of tragic loss-the death of her daughter, Paula. Recalling the past thirteen years from the daily letters the author and her mother, who lives in Chile, wrote to each other, Allende bares her soul in a book that is as exuberant and full of life as its creator. She recounts the stories of the wildly eccentric, strong-minded, and eclectic tribe she gathers around her that becomes a new kind of family. Throughout, Allende shares her thoughts on love, marriage, motherhood, spirituality and religion, infidelity, addiction, and memory. Here, too, are the amazing stories behind Allende's books, the superstitions that guide her writing process, and her adventurous travels. Ultimately, The Sum of Our Days offers a unique tour of this gifted writer's inner world and of the relationships that have become essential to her life and her work. Narrated with warmth, humor, exceptional candor, and wisdom, The Sum of Our Days is a portrait of a contemporary family, bound together by the love, fierce loyalty, and stubborn determination of a beloved, indomitable matriarch.

From recent-ish Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "I like the almost-epistolary style of the book and the humor. I always wonder what is true and what is fiction, also, how much truth is in the true. Allende, as she herself confesses inside the pages of this book, and others, is a story teller. And she tells stories with grace, pain, humor, heart."; "Her writing, her voice, and the way she tells stories have a hold on me that I honestly can't explain. After reading several of her novels and then diving into this very personal account of her life, I can confidently say that Isabel Allende is one of my favorite authors of all time-and I'm completely okay with that."; "I enjoyed reading about her writing process and I didn't really know much about her life at all, so it was an enjoyable read, despite some of the sad circumstances. If you're a fan of her work, I'd highly recommend it."