The House of the Spirits
A Novel
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4.3 • 289 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
“Spectacular...An absorbing and distinguished work...The House of the Spirits with its all-informing, generous, and humane sensibility, 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
Our Shared Shelf, Emma Watson Goodreads Book Club Pick November/December 2020!
The House of the Spirits, the unforgettable first novel that established 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.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Love, death, clairvoyants, horse-sized dogs, and flying uncles. Isabel Allende’s 1982 debut novel has them all, making it a great introduction to the bestselling author’s feminist brand of magic realism. This epic family drama follows three generations of the Trueba family as they weather natural disasters, class unrest, and changing cultural norms. Allende wrote this book while in exile after her uncle—Chilean president Salvador Allende—died during a coup, so there’s more than a hint of political reckoning in this story. But, as with many of our favorite Latin American novels, the message is wrapped up in layers of fantastically imaginative storytelling. The House of the Spirits is an engrossing read.
Customer Reviews
Stays with me.
I read The House of the Spirits many years ago and I can still feel the passion exuded from its pages. Stories like these are a rare find. I look forward to reading it again after all these years.
The House of the Spirits
This book barely deserves a star. It is a nightmare story about a horrible family and all the horrific behaviors that humans can do others.
Very unsettling. Reader Beware.