Chile—named the Lonely Planet 2017 destination of the year—has been Suzanne Adam’s home for over four decades. She knows the territory—its culture, its idiosyncrasies, and its exotic landscapes, from Patagonian glaciers to the northern Atacama Desert. In this heartfelt collection of sixty-three personal essays, she searches for universal truths and sparks of beauty revealed in small, daily moments both in her native land—the United States—and in Chile. She considers how her American past and move to Chile have shaped her life and enriched her worldview, and she explores with insight questions on aging, women’s roles, spiritual life, friendship, love, and writers who inspire.

In a return trip to Colombia fifty years after her two-year stay there as a Peace Corps Volunteer, Adam reflects on the mark left on her by that experience. Finally, she crosses America from east to west, immersing herself in regional cultures and discovering a common thread of reciprocity throughout.

2019 Sarton Women's Book Awards Finalist in Memoir

“A lyrical meditation on the meaning of place and home . . . A poignant collection to cherish.”
—Marjorie Agosín, author of I Lived on Butterfly Hill

“Notes from the Bottom of the World truly demonstrates that Suzanne Adam is an observer and writer par excellence of and about nature, travel, and living a life in a country not of her birth.”
—Marian Haley Beil, Publisher, PeaceCorpsWorldwide.org

“In this tender, irresistible collection of personal essays, Suzanne Adam writes with quiet passion, sensitivity, and often achingly beautiful insight about her experiences, particularly the exquisite tension of sharing one’s heart between two cultures.”
—Allyson Latta, literary editor and University of Toronto creative writing instructor

“As we age, we naturally try to connect the loose ends of our lives. Let Suzanne Adams be your guide as she revisits her roots in California, Colombia, and Chile.”
—John L. Rector, author of The History of Chile

“I laughed, I cried, and I identified with the nurturing care Adam had dispersed. This book is a testament to the life surging within the body of a seventieth woman.”
—OnlineBookClub