Dit alles maakt dat Isabel Allende met haar debuut zeker haar eigen plaats verworven heeft in de Latijnsamerikaanse literatuur. En de eigen inbreng van Allende is zeker de bijna expliciete verwijzing naar de Chileense actualiteit en geschiedenis, met de opkomst van de linkse beweging, de overwinning van de linkse kandidaat (haar oom Salvador Allende) en de staatsgreep tegen hem.

Het magisch-realisme is overduidelijk geïnspireerd op Marquez, maar toch veel verteerbaarder dan bij de meeste andere Latijnsamerikaanse navolgers. Ik vond het interessant als familie-epos, met vooral vrouwen in de hoofdrol. Read moreĭit debuut van Isabel Allende is zeker verdienstelijk. 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. 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, a beautiful and strong-willed child who will lead her family and her country into a revolutionary future. 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 mystical connection to the spirit world. The House of the Spirits, the unforgettable first novel that established Isabel Allende as one of the world’s most gifted storytellers, brings to life the triumphs and tragedies of three generations of the Trueba family. Our Shared Shelf, Emma Watson Goodreads Book Club Pick November/December 2020!

The House of the Spirits with its all-informing, generous, and humane sensibility, is a unique achievement, both personal witness and possible allegory of the past, present, and future of Latin America.” -The New York Times Book Review “Spectacular.An absorbing and distinguished work.

The house of the spirits author