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The House of the Spirits

 Isabel Allende
 

Key Facts

 
full title · The House of the Spirits
 
author · Isabel Allende
 
type of work · Novel
 
genre · Magical realism
 
language · Spanish
 
time and place written · 1981, Venezuela
 
date of first publication · First publication in Spanish, 1982. First publication in English, 1985.
 
publisher · Plaza & Janes, in Spanish. Knopf, in English.
 
narrator · Alba and Esteban Trueba
 
climax · None, although there are many moments which appear to be a climax, notably each birth and each death
 
protagonists · Clara, Blanca, and Alba
 
settings (time) · The twentieth century
 
settings (place) · Tres Marias and the capital of an unspecified Latin American country
 
point of view · The point of view switches between the first person of Esteban and a third person omniscient narrator who turns out to be Alba
 
falling action · Chapter fourteen, The Terror, when Alba is abducted by Esteban Garcia, and Esteban Trueba realizes how much damage he has caused
 
tense · Past and future
 
tones · Calm and dispassionate, even while presenting extremely violent, passionate, and unbelievable events (characteristic of magical realism)
 
motifs · Class struggle; political upheaval; women's roles and rights; the power of writing; fate and free will; genealogy and inheritance; revenge
 
foreshadowing · Throughout the novel
 
 
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