The House of the Spirits [Anglais] [Poche]

"Many children fly like birds, guess other people's dreams, and speak with ghosts, but ... they all outgrow it when they lose their innocence." The House of Spirits is a book about magic, politics, families, dreams, passion, obsession, and reconciliation. It is a book about almost everything, yet the relationship between innocence and natural/supernatural power is at the heart of all of these themes. Clara, the matriarch of the Trueba family, is blessed and cursed with a childhood clairvoyance that follows her into adulthood. Her capacity to foretell tragedy and truth casts an extraordinary light on the personal and political epic of her family, but hers is only one of the many stories within the larger story. Isabel Allende does not limit herself to any single perspective, so the fantastic events in The House of Spirits are shown from different angles, in different lights. Though reality is relentless, it is not absolute: the miraculous pervades the most petty and commonplace circumstances, the most morbid and terrible events. At the same time, spectacular occasions and divine moments are marked by the vulgar demands of the body or the crude interference of fate. This is storytelling on a grand scale, yet each detail is touched with intimacy and authenticity. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. --Ce texte fait référence à lédition Poche .

"Extraordinary... Powerful... Sharply observant, witty and eloquent." -- Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times

"Mesmerizing... A novel of force and charm." -- The Washington Post

"That rarest of successes -- a book about one family and one country that is a book about the world and becomes the world in a book." -- Cosmopolitan

"Nothing short of astonishing... In The House Of The Spirits Isabelle Allende has indeed shown us the relationships between past and present, family and nation, city and country, spiritual and political values. She has done so with enormous imagination, sensitivity, and compassion." -- Jane Futcher, San Francisco Chronicle

Published in 1985 by Alfred A. Knopf. Both dust jacket and copy are in very good condition. There are slight creases to the edge of the dust jacket. Author's first book, originally published in Spain in 1982. Translated by Magda Bogin. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

Here, in an astonishing debut by a gifted storyteller, is the magnificent saga of proud and passionate men and women and the turbulent times through which they suffer and triumph. They are the Truebas. And theirs is a world you will not want to leave, and one you will not forget.

Esteban -- The patriarch, a volatile and proud man whose lust for land is legendary and who is haunted by his tyrannical passion for the wife he can never completely possess.

Clara -- The matriarch, elusive and mysterious, who foretells family tragedy and shapes the fortunes of the house of the Truebas.

Blanca -- Their daughter, soft-spoken yet rebellious, whose shocking love for the son of her father's foreman fuels Esteban's everlasting contempt... even as it produces the grandchild he adores.

Alba -- The fruit of Blanca's forbidden love, a luminous bearty, a fiery and willful woman... the family's break with the past and link to the future.

"Extraordinary... Powerful... Sharply observant, witty and eloquent." -- Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times

"Mesmerizing... A novel of force and charm." -- The Washington Post

"That rarest of successes -- a book about one family and one country that is a book about the world and becomes the world in a book." -- Cosmopolitan

"Nothing short of astonishing... In The House Of The Spirits Isabelle Allende has indeed shown us the relationships between past and present, family and nation, city and country, spiritual and political values. She has done so with enormous imagination, sensitivity, and compassion." -- Jane Futcher, San Francisco Chronicle

"Extraordinary... Powerful... Sharply observant, witty and eloquent." -- Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times

"Mesmerizing... A novel of force and charm." -- The Washington Post

"That rarest of successes -- a book about one family and one country that is a book about the world and becomes the world in a book." -- Cosmopolitan

"Nothing short of astonishing... In The House Of The Spirits Isabelle Allende has indeed shown us the relationships between past and present, family and nation, city and country, spiritual and political values. She has done so with enormous imagination, sensitivity, and compassion." -- Jane Futcher, San Francisco Chronicle

Isabel Allende is Chilean and worked for many years as a journalist. She now lives in the San Francisco Bay area and has recently published her fourth novel. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.