This is on every list of South American lit so I'm glad I read it, but for me this was just OK. ( )

ok, someone can see spirits, oooooh! ( )

Some might think that Allende is directly ripping off Marquez. The major (important) difference is that this story is grounded in her own family's history and the infamous coup in which her uncle Salvador was overthrown by CIA-supported fascist forces. The last few chapters powerfully dispel the cloud of magical realism hovering over this novel with horrific scenes of rape and torture. ( )

How am I supposed to rate a book like this? I liked it, but I didn't always enjoy it. The characters are complex and interesting, but I hated Esteban. I feel like I read 1,000 pages of an important literary text, but it wasn't even 500. Basically, I'm glad I read this book, and I'm glad to be done with it. ( )

Multi-generational family saga based upon the social, political, and historical events that took place roughly from the 1920’s to 1970’s in Chile. The narrative follows the Trueba family, including patriarch Esteban Trueba, his wife, Clara, their daughter, Blanca, and granddaughter Alba. It follows each character’s coming of age, their relationships, secrets, politics, and beliefs. Esteban represents the traditional conservative past. He is prone to bouts of temper, which lead to violent outbursts, while viewing himself as the beneficent patrón. Clara is the mystical eccentric. She is a spiritualist whose life is filled with tarot cards, visions, and paranormal experiences. The subsequent generations, Blanca and her daughter Alba, rebel against the family traditions, and form liaisons with revolutionaries.

Allende tells the story through two perspectives, a combination of third person omniscient interspersed with first person accounts from Esteban’s viewpoint. I was unsure of the reason for this rather jarring choice until the end when it becomes apparent. This book seemed to me like two books in one. The first two-thirds employs beautiful prose in depicting how a family changes over time. This section establishes the many characters, along with their traits and motivations. It took me a while to get grounded in the story. It meanders a bit and I wondered where it was headed. The last third morphs into a political commentary based on Allende’s personal connection to Chilean history. The pace picks up and it becomes action-packed, though extremely violent.

This book was Allende’s debut. It was banned in Chile during Pinochet’s military dictatorship. Every year, I read several books of “an author’s body of work.” This year I selected Isabel Allende. I have read [b:Daughter of Fortune|16527|Daughter of Fortune|Isabel Allende|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1299666780s/16527.jpg|3471915], [b:Portrait in Sepia|85987|Portrait in Sepia|Isabel Allende|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1379900929s/85987.jpg|3311687], [b:The House of the Spirits|9328|The House of the Spirits|Isabel Allende|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1358615501s/9328.jpg|3374404], [b:In the Midst of Winter|34686052|In the Midst of Winter|Isabel Allende|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1508075983s/34686052.jpg|55863320], [b:The Japanese Lover|25152052|The Japanese Lover|Isabel Allende|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1501991754s/25152052.jpg|44854000], and [b:Island Beneath the Sea|7005479|Island Beneath the Sea|Isabel Allende|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1501991943s/7005479.jpg|6825396]. My favorite of Allende’s is still [b:Daughter of Fortune|16527|Daughter of Fortune|Isabel Allende|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1299666780s/16527.jpg|3471915] (see My Review). I think Allende has toned down some of the magical realism elements in her more recent writings, which appeals more to my taste. She still employs it but allows for alternative explanations not based in the supernatural. The House of the Spirits employs much more magical realism than the others I’ve read. Some people love it; others not so much. Recommended to those that enjoy a mixture of paranormal with realism, love and hate, freedom and tyranny, compassion and brutality, family drama and politics, provided you have a high tolerance for graphic sexual and violent content. ( )