Vivian’s Memoir

Living in Two Worlds tells a story of love, loss, and reflection. Vivian, born to an American mother and Chilean father, has an idyllic childhood in her father’s country. She has her beloved abuelita (grandmother), always attentive and caring; her siblings and cousins, for mischief and fun; and the fundo, a family ranch that is rich with natural beauty for long summer holidays.

But what of all that her mother gave up in the United States? We find out, as the illness of Vivian’s sister takes mother and children abruptly back to the United States—without Papá. In California, Vivian meets her American Grandmother, whose cooking and temperament are completely opposite to those of Abuelita. 

Celia, no longer the young expatriate bride, is returned to her homeland older and now a mother of three; she becomes reluctant to go back to Chile. As displacement, grief, and resentments drive Vivian to search for identity and belonging, Tía Sylvia sheds light on the complexity of the father’s situation and the mother’s predicament. Vivian’s own memories, dreams, imagination, and introspection piece together an understanding that gives her perspective on, and appreciation for, her past.

Cover painting: Paul Widess; Book design: Jan Camp

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What reviewers are saying about Living in Two Worlds

“A deliciously intimate memoir centered on illuminating the friction between two disparate worlds. Pisano poignantly recalls her home country of Chile in conflicting terms…that in some ways mirror her mother’s inner turmoil upon her own arrival in an unfamiliar country, and those conflicting feelings are crystallized when Pisano (and her mother) return to California several years later, fracturing Pisano’s once singular world in two. A rewarding mother-daughter memoir about a girl’s search for belonging.” —BookLife by Publisher’s Weekly (Read the full review)

“Rich in detail and compassionate in the telling, Living in Two Worlds is one woman’s reflection on the dark secrets of childhood. Seeing the past through her parents’ eyes—the difficult decisions they faced, the passionate love that glued them together, and the tragedy of circumstance that wrenched them apart—Pisano has written a love story to her family.” —Nancy MacKay, author of Curating Oral Histories: From Interview to Archive

“A captivating memoir about a girl growing up in two different countries and cultures trying to figure out where she belongs, and her ongoing quest to gain an understanding of her brilliant, beautiful and complex mother. Here is an exquisitely written story that transforms the reader to the author’s living room where she lovingly tells you the story of her life. I loved it.” –Sue Botelho

“A grandfather’s handsome study, a grandmother’s sewing room, the scent of a mother’s lipstick… In Vivian Pisano’s Living in Two Worlds, tender details of domestic life color a childhood that is suddenly interrupted by a disturbing move to a new culture, a new continent. Pisano, a North American writer who began life in Chile, reaches across international borders and across time, grappling with both simple and complex social circumstances, to treat the reader to a richly textured personal history that tells what it feels like to be Living in Two Worlds.” –Adrianne Aron, author of Human Rights and Wrongs

“Pisano’s reflection of a life-disrupting situation will stick with readers. [Her] clear prose will allow readers to understand )the extreme differences between the two worlds in which she lived. Her words and descriptions perfectly depict the distress she experienced. Moving from one country to another is never easy, and the author’s reflections on the journey and willingness to write honestly about it are courageous—and will hopefully help others understand what it is like for anyone who has been transplanted into a new culture.” – BookLife Prize Entry Critic’s Report, 2/24/2023 (Read the full review)

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KALW’s pocket-sized tour with Bay Area authors, New Arrivals, aired Vivian’s two-minute reading on August 4, 2022. You can listen to the podcast here.

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Anna Rabkin interviews Vivian about her memoir, Living in Two Worlds, and about writing. The event was held on May 4, 2022 for members of Free Agents at Berkeley (FAB). Anna conducts thirty-minute Zoom interviews of writers and subject experts among the FAB membership. Here is their conversation.