Memoir is Rosario Ferre s account of her life both as a writer and as a member of a family at the center of the economic and political history of Puerto Rico during the American Century, one hundred years of territorial non-incorporation into the United States. The autobiography tells the story of Ferre s transformation from the daughter of a privileged family into a celebrated novelist, poet, and essayist concerned with the welfare of Puerto Ricans, and with the difficulties of being a woman in Puerto Rican society. It is a snapshot of twentieth-century Puerto Rico through the lens of a writer profoundly aware of her social position. It is a picture taken from the perspective of a keen observer of the local history of the island, and of the history of the United States. Included are many photographs that connect Ferre s life with the story of her writing career."