The House of the Spirits

The House of the Spirits follows three generations of Trueba women- Clara, Blanca, and Alba- as they struggle to establish their independence from Esteban Trueba, the domineering patriarch whose lust for land and tyrannical passion threatens to destroy the family. The political backdrop to this story is the growing conflict between socialist and capitalist forces, culminating in a military coup. While the country is never specifically named as Chile, its political history reflects that of the author Isabel Allende’s homeland.