Born in Peru and raised in Chile, Isabel Allende is the author of a number of bestselling and critically acclaimed books, including The House of the Spirits, Eva Luna, Stories of Eva Luna, Of Love and Shadows, Paula, The Japanese Lover, and In the Midst of Winter. Allende's books have been translated into more than thirty-five languages and have sold more than sixty-five million copies worldwide. She lives in California. Learn more at www.isabelallende.com.
The House of the Spirits 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 mysterious 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. This beautiful and strong-willed child 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.
I have always enjoyed a good epic novel, except for the fact that they always seem so hard to find! Maybe I just wasn't looking in the right spots, but The House of the Spirits was the type of book that I have always wanted to read, the kind of book I didn't know I needed until I started reading it. This novel follows three generations of the Trueba family, but what I instantly loved about it was how it started with Rosa the Beautiful, whom wasn't one of the three female Trueba family members listed in the blurb. This deviation, to me, was the perfect introduction into this sprawling and intricate family, and really allowed for Allende's voice to take off, and for the story to unfold. The first chapter in this novel is probably one of the most beautiful things I've ever read.
Allende wrote Goodreads notes for this book, stating something along the lines of how critics will dive deep into the details of this book and look for meaning where it wasn't intended, and such. What I love about studying English is the ability to do that deep analytical work, but what I love about writing is hearing about other people's processes and hopes for the reception of their novel. While it's impossible to control reception, I want to point out that because people have been able to take this novel and analyze even the smallest details of it speaks to the level of craft Allende has. Even if everything wasn't put together with the intention of being literary, there is undoubtably something about this novel that will call to book lovers and writers, people who have a fundamental love for the craft of a book, because they will recognize how skillfully it has been put together, and how beautifully the story is told.
I have read so many good books recently, and a lot of them are good because they're exactly what I want to read as a reader. The House of the Spirits is excellent because it's what I want to read as a writer. The last few paragraphs of the novel really put it perfectly, with a puzzle metaphor, about how everything fell into place. One of the characters also describes writing furiously, and how writing kept her alive. Both of those uses of figurative language describe perfectly what writing feels like, but also what writing must have felt like to Allende while writing this novel. I really felt it in each of the pages. And, when I read the Goodreads notes, I found that that was exactly right. This novel is a tribute to Allende's family and heritage, but it also feels like a tribute to writing, and to good storytelling.
I feel like I would be remiss not to mention Jane the Virgin in this review, because this is the TV series that convinced me to pick up the book in the first place. I love Jane the Virgin, and Isabel Allende's cameo was really powerful to me, as it was such an important moment to Jane. The show also utilizes magical realism, and can be described as a multigenerational story as well, because it follows three women of the same family. I wasn't sure how much of the show was inspired by Allende's novel, but I felt the similarities as I was reading, and it was just really gratifying to see how something so beautiful can beget other wonderful and beautiful things.
After devouring this book in more-or-less than a single day, I know I'll have to check out more of Isabel Allende's work in the future. You can learn more about her and her works at www.isabelallende.com.
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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