MY INVENTED COUNTRY

Allende wrote this memoir of Chile and her childhood because “nation and tribe are confused in my mind.” The catalyst was the “blood-chilling coincidence” of two disasters--the CIA overthrow of the Chilean governmenton September 11, 1973, and the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. In her incomparable style, Allende outlines Chile’s “enchanted regions,” its classist society, its tumultuous government, and the duality of her writer’s sense of belonging yet being an outsider. The extraordinary talent of Blair Brown enhances Allende’s gifts as a storyteller. Brown allows the listener to share Allende’s deep emotional bonds with her family and her two countries, Chile and the United States, without being excessive. Her self-assured, dignified performance frees the memoir to make its own revelations, unsentimentally. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award; 2004 Audie Award Finalist © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 03]