Title : The House of the Spirits
Author : Isabel Allende
Context : The House of the Spirits (1982) is a historical fiction debut novel by Isabel Allende set in Chile in the 1900s. Isabel Allende, is one of the most gifted storytellers of the world who brings to life the calamities and achievements of 3 generations of the Trueba family. A number of Spanish-language publishers rejected the novel before it was finally published in 1982 in Buenos Aires after which it became a best seller instantly.
Synopsis : The story is about Esteban, a proud, volatile patriarch man who pursues political power most voraciously. This chase is mitigated only by his love for Clara, his delicate wife who is mystically connected to the world of spirits. Blanca their daughter defies her implacable father and indulges in a forbidden love affair. Her father gets an unexpected gift, Alba, an adorable, beautiful and ambitious granddaughter from Blanca. The grandchild is strong-willed, very beautiful looking who is able to be a leader not only for the family but the nation while venturing into the revolutionary future.
The novel is one of the most significant novels of the twentieth century. This is an captivating epic spans across lives and decades and weaves both the political and personal into a universal tale of fate, magic and love. A scintillating tapestry of three generations of the Trueba family is woven by the author to revel the tragedies and conquests, both.
Other works by the Author :
1984 – The Porcelain Fat Lady
1985 – Of Love and Shadows
1987 – Eva Luna
1989 – The Stories of Eva Luna
1991 – The Infinite Plan
1999 – Daughter of Fortune
2000 – Portrait in Sepia
2002 – City of the Beasts
2004 – Kingdom of the Golden Dragon
2005 – Zorro
2005 – Forest of the Pygmies
2006 – Ines of My Soul
2010 – Island Beneath the Sea
2011 – Maya’s Notebook
2014 – Ripper
2015 – The Japanese Lover
2017 – In the Midst of Winter
2019 A Long Petal of the Sea
Nonfiction
1994 – Paula
1998 – Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses
2003 – My Invented Country: A Memoir
2008 – The Sum of Our Days: A Memoir