First published 2014
Isabel Allende faces the wreckage of her world after losing her daughter Paula. She must navigate the daily reality of grief while rebuilding meaning in her existence. Allende examines her relationships with brutal honesty, confronting questions about love and marriage that once seemed settled. She wrestles with faith and spirituality as old certainties crumble. Her family expands in unexpected ways as she welcomes an unconventional collection of friends and loved ones into her circle. These relationships become her lifeline, forming a chosen family that defies traditional boundaries. Allende discovers that healing comes not from forgetting loss but from creating new forms of connection. She learns to hold joy and sorrow simultaneously, finding that life's fullness emerges from embracing both light and darkness. This memoir captures how one woman transforms devastating loss into a deeper understanding of what it means to be fully alive.
Genres: grief, autobiography, memoir, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family
448 pages · ebook · Harper