The House of the Spirits is the first novel by Chilean author Isabel Allende (published in 1982). Allende delivers a text rich in reflections and retellings of the political atmosphere of Chile in the mid-20th century, told through the story of a family residing in an unnamed South American country. As the audience follows the tale of the Trueba family, we watch them struggle through their internal familial conflicts and the political chaos that is brewing around them. All of this is tied together with the absurd normalities of magic realism. House tells the story of three generations of the Trueba family, over a timeline that closely resembles Chile’s very own, spanning from post-World War I to an eventual Pinochet-like coup. The dynasty begins with the union of Clara “the clairvoyant” del Valle, an eccentric character with prophetic capabilities, and Esteban Trueba, a hot-tempered businessman who creates a great fortune for himself.
Allende takes a feminist, left-wing political stance in House, and that is what made the reading experience interesting to me. Clara, her daughter Blanca, and her granddaughter Alba are all women of different eras, but are unified in their reliance on Esteban Trueba and in their ideological resistances against him and his views. Allende delivers this all masterfully through the medium of magic realism. The absurdities that follow the Trueba family ease the reader into the political stances each character takes in the novel, allowing for comfortable digestion. Although a working knowledge of Chilean history and politics would enrich the reading experience, Allende’s gift for rhetoric and storytelling makes the book appealing for anyone looking for a good read.
