The Memoir
I Was an Unwanted Child,
But I Always Loved Myself
A story of resilience, love, and the light we find within.
DebutMemoir
About the book
An intimate memoir about overcoming rejection while choosing hope, dignity, and self-love.
Chilen was left behind as a child in the Dominican Republic and passed quietly between relatives. The memoir follows what came after: the long, deliberate work of coming home to yourself, and the discovery that the circumstances of a childhood do not decide the rest of a life.
Moving between English and Spanish, the memoir traces a journey through abandonment and adversity toward independence, self-possession, and an enduring sense of self-love. Readers have praised it for its honesty, its vulnerability, and its insistence on a single idea: our past may shape us, but it never has to define us.
My goal is to inspire conversations about resilience, self-worth, and healing. I hope readers leave this memoir believing that our past may shape us, but it never has to define us.Chilen
Inside
What the memoir holds
Being left behind
A childhood in the Dominican Republic, passed between relatives, learning to read the silence around her.
Migration & identity
What it costs to move between countries and languages, and what gets carried across.
Choosing herself
Self-love as a practice rather than a feeling — boundaries, grief, and the end of waiting to be chosen.
The light within
Rebirth on her own terms, and the belief that self-worth is not given — it is claimed.
Recognition
Where the book has travelled
- 01AQUA Magazine
“Speaking Her Truth” — a featured excerpt from the memoir.
- 02South Florida Writers Association
Featured author and member of the Author Exhibit.
- 03Miami Book Fair
Participating as part of the SFWA Author Exhibit.
- 04Miami Rooftop Book Launch
A celebration with readers, friends, and the local literary community.
- 05National Book Festival, Library of Congress
Attended the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C., connecting with readers and the wider literary community.
- 06Sisley Author Event & Book Signing
Featured author event and book signing at Sisley, followed by an invitation to return.
- 07CUNY Dominican Studies Institute
An upcoming ceremony at The City College of New York to donate a copy of the memoir to the Institute’s Archives and Library.
Bring the memoir home
Available in paperback, hardcover and eBook through Amazon, bookstores and libraries.