Book summary

This autobiography from best-selling writer Isabel Allende begins in December 1991, during a period when Allende's daughter Paula became gravely ill and fell into a coma. The author began her account during the long hours at the hospital and decided to record the story of her family for her unconscious daughter in an attempt to "bring [her] back to life." As in her novels, Allende conjures up the magical and questions the gods. There are anecdotes of her youthful years, Chile's physical and political landscape, the military coup of 1973, and her family's exile.