The House of the Spirits - Saturday Library

In her surprising debut novel, Isabel Allende constructs a universe filled with spirits and multifaceted human characters, among them Esteban Trueba, the patriarch, obsessed with the land and with absolute passion for his wife, whom he always feels is beyond his reach.

Clara is the elusive and mysterious matriarch, endowed with supernatural powers, who foretells the family's tragedies and determines the destiny of the house and the Truebas. Blanca, her gentle and rebellious daughter, nourishes a love for the son of her father's foreman, which earns Esteban's disdain, even when this love gives birth to the granddaughter he adores: Alba, a luminous beauty and a fiery and strong-willed woman.

The passions of the Trueba family, their struggles and secrets unfold over three generations and a century of violent changes. Against a backdrop of revolution and counter-revolution, the author brings to life a family united by bonds of love and hate more complex and enduring than the political loyalties that might divide them.