The Sum of Our Days: A Memoir

In The Sum of Our Days, internationally acclaimed author Isabel Allende reconstructs the painful reality of her own life in the wake of the tragic death of her daughter, Paula. Narrated with warmth, humor, exceptional candor, and wisdom, this remarkable memoir is as exuberant and full of life as its creator. Allende bares her soul as she shares her thoughts on love, marriage, motherhood, spirituality and religion, infidelity, addiction, and memory and recounts stories of the wildly eccentric, strong-minded, and eclectic tribe she gathers around her and lovingly embraces as a new kind of family.

The Barnes & Noble Review

Reading this memoir by Isabel Allende is like showing up at a party of someone else s relatives and settling into the thoroughly engaging company of the family matriarch. She tells the story of 15 years of her life with disarming honesty and a deeply self-deprecating humor, illuminating collective truths about the challenge of maintaining boundaries in close relationships and leading a rich and satisfying existence in the aftermath of tragedy. In this sense, the prolific Chilean-American author stands out -- without cynicism or earnestness -- as one of the strongest and most authentic women s voices in contemporary literature.