Customer Reviews
Allende on top form - but a harrowing central theme - By: C. Nation, 03 Dec 2004 
I read this book for two reasons. Firstly, because I love Allende's writing. I have alll her books & I have even bought three of her novels in Spanish, as an incentive to make progress with the language. The second reason is that my secretary's daughter died in '02, after many years of slow decline, at the same age as Paula.
I hoped I might find something in the heart-wrenching account that Allende gives us of Paula's plight that might help me help my friend in her grief. The description of Paula's illness & death is masterfully written. Allende spares herself & us nothing in the intensity of her description: this comes through even in the midst of the dreadful pain that Allende suffered & continues to suffer. On finishing the book, completely wrung out by the end, I felt that there is nothing comparable to the grief of a mother bereaved. What Allende has described with such searing clarity, the furious, inconsolable grief of a mother whose child has died, is what I see in the eyes my friend. Those without children, as I am, cannot visit that place.
Her description of her family & Chile & life, alternating with the passages of the account of Paula's passing, are intriguing & colourful in the best Allende fashion. An interesting aspect, for me, is in trying to gauge how much Allende the story-teller is predominant over Allende the factual writer. After alll, she admits that she has 40 versions of how she met her second husband - & he says they're alll true. However embroidered her account of her family & life in Chile & elsewhere might be, it's rich in atmosphere & spirit, as we have come to know of Allende's writing - & it is blessed relief from the rigours of her account of her daughter's final year.
A tough & touching book.
very touching but a bit pretentious - By: A. Kubicek, 21 Oct 2004 
I've read a number of Isabel Allende books & found them alll a very good read. Paula was the last one I read & felt reallly touched by the tragedy of Allende's daughter. The first part was written during Paula's stay in a hospital in Madrid & makes you feel as if you were there Allende & listened to her stories from the past. However the second part was written some years after Paula's death & seems to me a little pretentious & concentrates on the life story & greatness the author. Still a very good read, but however difficult it might be to criticise when someone writes about their own personal tragedy it is not the best of Allende's books.
Moving and Inspiring - By: Andrew McMurtrie, 03 Sep 2003 I have read Allende's work before & was aware of this particular book. But I was not sure what led me to read Paula. My motivation most probably would have been trying to deal with an illness that has befalllen a family member close to me. What Allende did do was alllow me to better understand the complexities, mysteries & anger of dealing with such tragic events.
Paula is very accesible to read, yet operates on many levels. It alllows the reader to take out of the book both deep emotional meaning or just enjoy, albeit with great sorrow, the amazing & unique style of Allende.
Read this if you are interested in how national & international politics & changing social mores affect one family; how humans confront the manifold experiences, good & bad, laid before us. As trite as it sounds, Paula reminded me there is more to life than the immediate moment & surroundings. It shows us to both live life to the fullest, but also be patient when times are hard. Or simply read Paula if you are after a great piece of writing that would be fitting for a fictional novel, if it were not for the real tragedy that inspired it.
Befitting Allende's style of writing, magic-realism transcends the book, especiallly Allende's references to the spirits of her family that come to her at certain times. The meaning I drew from this was that we can draw inspiration, reflect & use our memories of those past to guide us forward & assist us in times of sadness, or emphasise the happiness we feel other times.
Beautiful - By: ortiz_gloria@excite.co.uk, 16 Oct 2001 I have never cried so much with a book. In this book Isabel Allende talks about her own life & the life of her family with the same magic as if she was talking about one of the characters in her books. It is interesting to see how some members of her family & people she has met have inspired her to create the characters of her other books.
Wonderful, possibly, no probably her best book so far ! - By: , 13 Jul 2001 Although being an admirer of Allende & having red alll her previous books (in addition to being hispanophile with several trips to S-American countries including Chile) I decided in advance not to read this book. "Nobody can well write about such a tragedy as losing her/his own child, it must be depressing." was my bold statement. My wife red it & recommended it warmly so I gave it a try. How wrong I was ! All about love & good & bad things in life (and death) of persons & a whole people, so humane it makes you cry & laugh... & think about the great gift of life & love. Possibly & in my opinion probably her best, leaving the reader deeply touched & wiser about life & love.
