The Stories of Eva Luna

 

The Stories of Eva Luna is a collection of short stories primarily about Latin women who are poor but become rich in friendship and love. However, vengeance, irony, and compassion are also themes within the novel. The short story I analyzed was The Judge's Wife, where the main character, Casilda, was portrayed as a heroine, going against her husband's wishes for the greater good, and sacrificing her body to save her children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paula

Paula is an autobiographical memoir about the aftermath of Allende's daughter's death. The memoir is made up of letters addressed to Paula describing the past of the Allende family, childhood memories, and intimate secrets such as the military coup that overthrew and killed her godfather. 

 

 

 

The Sum of Our Days

The Sum of Our Days is also an autobiographical memoir where she writes about the tragic loss of her daughter Paula. This memoir, however, is composed of letters between her and Allende's mother who was living in Chile. Unlike Paula, The Sum of Our Days is filled with more optimistic and humorous memories such as her ex-daughter-in-law coming out as a lesbian when she used to be a homophobe, or when she went to a bookstore with her mother in order to find pornography.