Review by danielapazcat - The House of the Spirits

danielapazcat 's review for:

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

5.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Another beautiful yet tragic tale following a Chilean family over four generations, surviving heartbreak, political instability, war, revenge, poverty, violence, rape, downfall.

The two different voices of the narrators Alba the granddaughter versus Esteban Trueba her grandfather lends to contrast the differences in their ideologies very well: the violent patriarch, versus the strong willed feminist, with their values of family and love for their country and people tying them together.

The fantastical elements intertwine with asking questions like how does fate affect the outcome of your life. How your choices can have repercussions. And how upbringings, personalities, trauma, affect lives which then go on to affect other lives.

How opposing sides, create a distraction for war. How soldiers do not like peacetime. How all a society “needs” is “bread, a circus, and a symbol to worship.” How easily a democracy can be uprooted, a military coup, fascism, and a dictatorship can take place.

How maybe at times it’s more worth it to focus on living and love than hatred and dying. That trying to live and thrive is the best rebellion you can have. “The point was not to die, since death came anyway, but to survive, which would be a miracle.”-alba

I was surprised at how easily Alba was able to forgive the men who hurt her in her lifetime, perhaps knowing that she could only be happy if she moved on. Breaking the cycle of generational trauma.

My favorite characters were of course Clara, Jaime, Pedro Tercero Garcia, and Alba, each with their own quirks, stubbornness, eccentricities that made them outcasts.

This has become one of my favorite epics, as I was lost in the fantasy of this family history, and then swept up by the suddenness of the political upheaval based in Cuba. A great read if you like generational novels and historical fiction.

Content Warnings