Italian to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature Biography

This is the opening to an excerpt I have been given to translate. I have asked the client for more background to this but he has nothing he can give me.

"Speravo che la dolcezza dell’Asia mi aiutasse in un lavoro di amalgama per cercare di ricucire I vari frammenti che mi sono rimasti della vita di mio padre Stefano. "
(The next paragraph/sentence goes on to describe the evens of his father's death).

i have not used "amalgam" as I have only ever seen it used, even as a figure of speech, with at least two or more objects, never in this way. Would there be a good way to use this literal translation? Or is there a better option? My attempt is:

"I had hoped that the charm of Asia would be of some help to me in my (mixed up?) (diversified?) attempts at piecing together the various fragments, still within my grasp, of my father, Stefano's, life."