The House of the Spirits is a novel by Isabel Allende that follows three generations of Trueba women - Clara, Blanca and Alba - as they fight against Esteban Trueba, the patriarch of Trueba. family. Allende's family was very involved in politics and for this reason, there is a strong political underlay throughout Allende's novel. Born in a world of magical realism, House of the Spirits allows its readers to experience a wild and emotional journey. Isabel Allende was born in Lima, Peru, in 1942 but, after her parents divorced, she was raised by her mother in Chile. Isabel's father, Thomas Allende, was a diplomat and Chilean ambassador to Peru. Her father's cousin, Salvadore Allende, served as president of Chile from 1970 until his assassination in 1973. After Salvadore's death, Isabel realized it was too dangerous for her to stay in Chile and so fled with her husband and their two children for Venezuela. While in Venezuela, Allende was inspired to write The House of the Spirits. Although it is never stated as fact, the setting of this novel is believed to be Chile as the country's political history is part of the plot. The story opens with two of the Del Valle sisters at church. Clara, the youngest daughter, possesses many spiritual abilities and is therefore described as Clara the Clairvoyant. Rosa, the eldest daughter, is strikingly beautiful with her supernatural appearance and is called Rosa the Beautiful. In the first chapter of the novel, foreshadowing is used when Clara's spiritual gifts allow her to see that there will be a death in the family. A few days later, Rosa dies, fulfilling Clara's prediction. Clara refuses to speak for a long time after her sister's death. When she finally ...... middle of paper ......ff to Esteban Trueba in the morning. Alba and Esteban decide to restore their house and continue living as normally as possible given the circumstances. Alba decides that to help herself cope, she should write about her family. She and Esteban find Clara's old journals and use them to write their family's history. Writing helps them release their anger and their need for revenge. This novel had many underlying concepts, but I believe the most pronounced is that the Trueba family represents Chile in the 1900s. As he pointed out in an interview, Allende "" offers the family as a model for his divided country: the members of this family have oppressed, injured and tortured each other, but they are the same ones who must now heal each other. The family she is applying for is all of Chile. "This novel truly shows how, if we are united, we can achieve anything..