SOURCE: A review of Paula, in The Bloomsbury Review, Vol. 15, No. 6, November-December, 1995, p. 10.

In the review below, DuBow states that while Paula is not really about Allende's daughter, the work nevertheless expresses true grief over her death.

Isabel Allende's autobiographical Paula is a heartrending account of her 28-year-old daughter's losing battle with porphyria, a rare blood disease (brought to our attention recently by the film The Madness of King George). Paula takes the reader on a journey of love, terror, political turmoil, sadness, endurance, and magic.

An internationally known author of mesmerizing novels and short stories, Allende began writing Paula in an attempt to find relief from the pain of watching her only daughter lie comatose for 12 months. As morbid and unrelenting as the experience must have been for her, Allende offers readers the same relief she found herself, recounting her life's story.

In a deft melding of...