The times we are living in are absolutely uncertain. The pandemic with its cloak of pain, struggle and death covers all corners of the world. Survival is the goal we all seek to achieve. Isabel Allende’s novel Paula is a hymn to the sensitivity of its author, facing the deathbed of her beloved daughter. The pages of this book traverse the twists and turns of the minds and hearts of its protagonists. Allende’s family wan- ders due to incomprehension in the face of suffering and of the outcome of a life cut short at such an early age. However, the narrative tries with unusual vigor to rec- oncile loss and hope beyond death. Our purpose in writing these lines does not exhaust the answers that can be wielded by the reader who attends the disease pro- cess and, consequently, the end of life. Allende seeks in the deep restlessness of her spirit, a way to understand the supreme moment facing reconciliation and the pain of her own blood. There is an opportunity to live with this reality. It’s possi- ble, especially in the difficulty for finding answers in the face of anguish and even uncertainty whether it makes sense to continue this fight. Without a doubt, in the misunderstanding of grief and death, there is a goal to fight and an answer to offer with patience and hope for the future. Isabel Allende finds through the sacrifice of her daughter Paula a reason for personal struggle and the reconciliation with death. Paula points out that—beyond the struggle with the disease that is slowly destroy- ing the most precious thing Allende has in her life—the possibility of learning to live with death is revealed in the definitive instant of Paula's spiritual liberation. The last pages of the book bear witness to this. As the writer and the mother says: “Far over there a flock of wild ducks passes and they take your name south. Paula, Paula ...”
