[Fly The Skies] The Sum of Our Days by Isabelle Allende, 4 stars

[Holly R W]

"The Sum of Our Days" is a moving memoir by Isabel Allende of her family during the 1990's and early 2000's. She wrote it in response to her readers' wanting follow-up about her family after having read her first memoir about her daughter Paula; Paula had died as a result of a medical mistake in her 2o's.

Allende is a bright and interesting woman in her own right. I find myself wanting to call her Isabel in this review, as she wrote such an intimate picture of herself in the book. Isabel has experienced both great tragedy and joy in her life. She was a political refugee from a harsh regime in her native Chile which first led her to Venezuela. Later, she settled in San Francisco. To this day, she writes all of her books in Spanish.

She was abandoned by her father as a small child and raised by her mother (who later married a man that Isabel adored and called Tio). As of today's review, Isabel has been married 3 times. This book is about her relationship with her second husband, Willie. Isabel has two children, her son Nico and her deceased daughter Paula, whom she mourns daily.

What was remarkable to me in reading the book was Isabel's insistence and success at forming a tribe of both family members and close friends who live and work together. Her tribe has included her children, Willie's children, their spouses and exes, and all manner of adopted family members. Sometimes, the book felt too intense to read, due to being privy to so many people's personal struggles and sadness. For example, all three of Willie's children had severe substance abuse issues. He and Isabel feared that his daughter was dead; She vanished with no further contact.

Life is not static. What is offered in this book is a picture of Isabelle's life at the time she wrote it. Fifteen years later, I am certain that her life is different today. Readers will enjoy learning more about the Isabel behind her books when they read this. Her vitality, resilience and personality are on full display here.