The House of the Spirits: A Novel

This "spectacular... absorbing and distinguished work...is a unique achievement, both personal witness and possible allegory of the past, present, and future of Latin America" (The New York Times Book Review).

The House of the Spirits, which introduced Isabel Allende as one of the world's most gifted storytellers, brings to life the triumphs and tragedies of three generations of the Trueba family. The patriarch Esteban is a volatile, proud man whose voracious pursuit of political power is tempered only by his love for his delicate wife Clara, a woman with a mystical connection to the spirit world. When their daughter Blanca embarks on a forbidden love affair in defiance of her implacable father, the result is an unexpected gift to Esteban: his adored granddaughter Alba, a beautiful and strong-willed child who will lead her family and her country into a revolutionary future.

One of the most important novels of the twentieth century, The House of the Spirits is an enthralling epic that spans decades and lives, weaving the personal and the political into a universal story of love, magic, and fate.

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512 pages

Average rating: 7.44

167 RATINGS

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4 REVIEWS

Community Reviews

richardbakare
Jun 25, 2024
8/10 stars
In “The House of Spirits” Isabel Allende explores three generations of a family pulled through every imaginable situation and emotion. This is a heavy book with lots of dark topics and scenes. Don’t go looking for happy endings, but you will find lots of philosophical affirmations on the realities of life. Key events include political upheaval, finding love, heartbreak, death and rebirth. Circumstances, as portrayed in this book, that form a vicious cycle that leaves nothing but ashes in its wake. Isabel Allende demonstrates a mastery of her craft with every chapter. She uses all her powers to deliver something wholly brilliant in its own right. Her writing and plot development made this tome read faster and more fluidly than its near 500 pages would indicate. She has made a name for herself in the Magical Realism genre on par with Marquez and his timeless “100 Years of Solitude.” For all the dark moments, Allende still manages to infuse the pages with a carnival of impressive characters. Along with moments that induce a deep belly laugh and joy. That’s perhaps why I like this genre so much. It offers beautifully endearing madness at every corner. That crazy portrayal of life is also a medium to discuss various perspectives on religion, mysticism, politics, and class struggles. Explorations that almost always lead to the ideological dissolution of beliefs held too dear and not critiqued objectively. I highly recommend this book for those who love this genre. However, here is a helpful trigger warning if sexual and political violence are too painful to bear reading.
WitchyKiki
Nov 12, 2023
10/10 stars
Es un libro de Isabel Allende, que mas se puede decir?
E Clou
May 10, 2023
8/10 stars
The novel starts out with a One Hundred Years of Solitude-vibe, with the history of a Chilean family through four generations. You're lulled into a weird tropical stupor where one of the main character's many rapes seem tolerable. (My Goodreads "sexual assault" shelf overflowth.) Little by little, the novel takes a darker political tone, until you're sitting in a pit of Pinochet-inspired torture. Magical realism to horror book basically.

Isabel Allende's father was a cousin of Salvador Allende, who was democratically elected president of Chile from 1970-1973. Because Salvador Allende was a Marxist/socialist the US supported Augusto Pinochet coup d'état in September 1973. Pinochet then proved to be a totalitarian dictator who violented oppressed his opposition. So that's why this novel goes the way it goes. If you want to read more about Isabel Allende's life versus House of Spirits: https://theguardian.com/books/2007/apr/28/isabelallende.fiction
Beeambition
Mar 21, 2023
10/10 stars
I love this book.

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