The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende (1982 / English translation 1985)
The House of the Spirits is a family saga, following the lives of three women ~ Clara del Valle Trueba, Blanca Trueba, and Alba Trueba ~ and their life with the patriarch of the family, Estaban Trueba. It is also a political novel depicting life in an unnamed South American country during the 20th Century. The country, however, is thinly disguised as Chile.
The novel begins around the year 1900 when Clara and her older sister, Rosa, are young girls living in the capital city. Clara has magical powers and has the ability to call spirits and move objects without touching them.
Rosa is engaged to the handsome, but cruel and difficult Estaban Trueba. After her accidental death by poison, Estaban retreats to the abandoned family estate, Tres María. He rebuilds the farm, which becomes very profitable and he becomes quite wealthy. He has a very short temper and is unpleasant to his peasants. He also has a habit of grabbing young peasant girls and raping them. His first such conquest was the young Pancha García. He tired of her when she became pregnant and dumped her back to her family. Her son was given the name Estaban García, although he was never formally recognized by Estaban Trueba. His son, he also names Estaban García.
Several years after Rosa’s death, Clara suddenly announces that she will marry Estaban. Estaban comes into the city, sees Clara and they marry. Estaban takes Clara to Tres María, where she gives birth to her daughter, Blanca. Clara later gives birth to twin sons, Jamie and Nicholás.
Blanca grow up on the remote family farm and forms a close friendship with Pedro Tercero García, son of Estaban’s foreman and nephew of Pancha. When they are teenagers, they become lovers, secretly sneaking out of the house at night to meet by the river. Blanca finds herself pregnant and Estaban forces her into a marriage with Count Jean de Satigny. The Count becomes Blanca and Pedro Tercero García’s daughter, Alba, putative father.
The Count is not interested in Blanca sexually, so at first she is fine with the arrangement, which she knows is a financial one arranged by her father. When she learns of his deviant sexual perversions, however, she calls it quits and returns to her mother in the city.
Around the time of Blanca's marriage, Estaban had beaten Clara and knocked out some of her teeth. After this, she never speaks with him again, although they continue to occupy the same house in the city until her death on her granddaughter, Alba's seventh birthday.
Estaban begins to take an interest in politics. He becomes a Senator. Politically, however, the country is changing. Estaban is in the Conservative and has a strong hatred for the Marxist and Communist parties that are growing in influence. He is shocked when his son, Jamie becomes a doctor for the poor, and his granddaughter, Alba falls in with a Marxist lover. He believes, however, that his position in politics can save the family.
The story line began to drag once the political situation became the dominant theme of the novel.
Isabel Allende is Chilean, although she was born in Lima, Peru in 1942. Her uncle was Chilean President Salvador Allende, who was killed in a coup in 1973, similar to the one described in the novel. He was the first Marxist leader of Chile. The dictator, General Augusto Pinochet, backed by the CIA, seized power, beginning a reign of terror that lasted nearly two decades.
In real life, Allende’s grandfather was a strong personality with a violent temper, much the way Estaban Trueba was depicted. Thus, although The House of the Spirits is Allende’s first novel, much of the story line was drawn from her family life and the politics surrounding her in her homeland.
Read: March 31, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Books Set in China and the United States: Shanghai and Los Angeles
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
Pearl and her younger sister, May, are the Shanghai Girls of this novel by Lisa See. When the story opens, it is 1937, and the young girls are “beautiful girls” who live a privileged life in Shanghai. As “beautiful girls” they pose for painters whose portraits of them appear on calendars. Shanghai during this time is known as the “Paris of Asia”, and the young girls are learning of life in the Western world.
While Pearl and May are living their life as spoiled young girls, their father is losing the family fortune. To pay off his gambling debts, he sells his daughters into arranged marriages. The daughters are ostensibly married to wealthy American brothers of Chinese descent. After spending one night together, the husbands return to America with orders for the wives to follow them soon. The girls, howver, have no intention of being bound to their new lives as wives of strangers. They had dreams of marrying for love.
Soon, however, Japan bombs Shanghai. Their father deserts the family leaving the sisters and their mother are left to their own devices. Mama, who was forced into an arranged marriage at age 14, was also of the generation to have had her feet bound. Mama, however, has incredible strength. The sisters and their mother leave the bombed out Shanghai and head for Hong Kong. They hire a rickshaw puller to carry their mother and a few belongings.
On their trek, they find themselves spending nights with peasants who share their meager food and bedding. Although the girls look down on their hosts, they accept what is offered. One night they find a hut deserted by the peasants, who have left just ahead of the Japanese enemy. During the night, Japanese soldiers find the hut, kill their rickshaw puller and brutally rape Mama and Pearl. Mama is killed during this act of violence and Pearl is nearly killed.
Ultimately, the sisters find their way to the United States. The author describes life for immigrants on Angel Island, just outside of San Francisco, as the sisters await for clearance to enter the United States. During this period of time, the United States had quotas on Chinese immigration. Pearl and May are essentially prisoners on Angel Island for months before being allowed to join their husbands.
Read: March 14, 2009
Pearl and her younger sister, May, are the Shanghai Girls of this novel by Lisa See. When the story opens, it is 1937, and the young girls are “beautiful girls” who live a privileged life in Shanghai. As “beautiful girls” they pose for painters whose portraits of them appear on calendars. Shanghai during this time is known as the “Paris of Asia”, and the young girls are learning of life in the Western world.
While Pearl and May are living their life as spoiled young girls, their father is losing the family fortune. To pay off his gambling debts, he sells his daughters into arranged marriages. The daughters are ostensibly married to wealthy American brothers of Chinese descent. After spending one night together, the husbands return to America with orders for the wives to follow them soon. The girls, howver, have no intention of being bound to their new lives as wives of strangers. They had dreams of marrying for love.
Soon, however, Japan bombs Shanghai. Their father deserts the family leaving the sisters and their mother are left to their own devices. Mama, who was forced into an arranged marriage at age 14, was also of the generation to have had her feet bound. Mama, however, has incredible strength. The sisters and their mother leave the bombed out Shanghai and head for Hong Kong. They hire a rickshaw puller to carry their mother and a few belongings.
On their trek, they find themselves spending nights with peasants who share their meager food and bedding. Although the girls look down on their hosts, they accept what is offered. One night they find a hut deserted by the peasants, who have left just ahead of the Japanese enemy. During the night, Japanese soldiers find the hut, kill their rickshaw puller and brutally rape Mama and Pearl. Mama is killed during this act of violence and Pearl is nearly killed.
Ultimately, the sisters find their way to the United States. The author describes life for immigrants on Angel Island, just outside of San Francisco, as the sisters await for clearance to enter the United States. During this period of time, the United States had quotas on Chinese immigration. Pearl and May are essentially prisoners on Angel Island for months before being allowed to join their husbands.
Read: March 14, 2009
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Books Set in the United States: New York City
A Seat at the Table by Joshua Halberstam (2009)
A Seat at the Table is very reminiscent of Chaim Potok’s book, The Chosen. Haberstam’s novel is a “coming of age” story that takes place in the 1970s. Elisha, a young Jewish man, is caught between his religious world and the wider expanse of the secular world.
Elisha comes from a close-knit Chassid family in Brooklyn. He also bears the burden of being a descent of a Chassidic rabbinical dynasty and is conflicted as to whether or not he should become a rabbi in his community.
The Chassidic community depicted in the novel is insular, where every member is responsible for each other. Elisha’s father is a leader in the community and a Holocaust survivor.
Although Elisha is expected to remain in community, he begins to explore the city beyond confines of neighborhood. His first act of rebellion occurs when he cuts off his earlocks and faces his father’s displeasure.
He attends a secular college, where he tentatively makes the friendship of Katrina, a non-Jew. As their friendship develops, he begins to fall in love with her. This creates an internal conflict for Elisha as he must choose between the world he grew up in and entering the secular world to encompass life with her.
Additionally, Elisha must confront his conflict with his family. His father is clearly not pleased with Elisha’s decision to venture out into the world beyond the Chassid community.
Finally, Elisha decides to explore a live in the bigger world. Elisha splits with his family and avoids the community. He never, however, abandons his religion. He is very firmly rooted in the teachings and study of Talmud. His universe, however, has expanded to include secular studies as well.
Finally, his relationship with Katrina helps him to overcome the feelings of estrangement with his father and family. She decides to make an unannounced, uninvited visit to his family during the Passover Seder, much to Elisha’s discomfort. His father, however, welcomes her to the table. The father acknowledges the importance of Katrina in his son’s live, even though he disapproves of the relationship. He never blames Katrina for Elisha’s decision to leave the community. He (the father) has his own conflicts as he watches his son grow and make decisions that go against his values.
When Elisha returns home, his father assures him that whatever his life choices, he will always have a “seat at the table” of his family and will be embraced by the community.
Interspersed throughout the novel are Chassid tales and fables of the masters.
A Seat at the Table is a very beautiful and well-written story.
Read: March 12, 2009
A Seat at the Table is very reminiscent of Chaim Potok’s book, The Chosen. Haberstam’s novel is a “coming of age” story that takes place in the 1970s. Elisha, a young Jewish man, is caught between his religious world and the wider expanse of the secular world.
Elisha comes from a close-knit Chassid family in Brooklyn. He also bears the burden of being a descent of a Chassidic rabbinical dynasty and is conflicted as to whether or not he should become a rabbi in his community.
The Chassidic community depicted in the novel is insular, where every member is responsible for each other. Elisha’s father is a leader in the community and a Holocaust survivor.
Although Elisha is expected to remain in community, he begins to explore the city beyond confines of neighborhood. His first act of rebellion occurs when he cuts off his earlocks and faces his father’s displeasure.
He attends a secular college, where he tentatively makes the friendship of Katrina, a non-Jew. As their friendship develops, he begins to fall in love with her. This creates an internal conflict for Elisha as he must choose between the world he grew up in and entering the secular world to encompass life with her.
Additionally, Elisha must confront his conflict with his family. His father is clearly not pleased with Elisha’s decision to venture out into the world beyond the Chassid community.
Finally, Elisha decides to explore a live in the bigger world. Elisha splits with his family and avoids the community. He never, however, abandons his religion. He is very firmly rooted in the teachings and study of Talmud. His universe, however, has expanded to include secular studies as well.
Finally, his relationship with Katrina helps him to overcome the feelings of estrangement with his father and family. She decides to make an unannounced, uninvited visit to his family during the Passover Seder, much to Elisha’s discomfort. His father, however, welcomes her to the table. The father acknowledges the importance of Katrina in his son’s live, even though he disapproves of the relationship. He never blames Katrina for Elisha’s decision to leave the community. He (the father) has his own conflicts as he watches his son grow and make decisions that go against his values.
When Elisha returns home, his father assures him that whatever his life choices, he will always have a “seat at the table” of his family and will be embraced by the community.
Interspersed throughout the novel are Chassid tales and fables of the masters.
A Seat at the Table is a very beautiful and well-written story.
Read: March 12, 2009
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Books Set in the United States: Utah
The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff (2008)
The 19th Wife is the story of two women in polygamous marriages ~ one during the time of Brigham Young, and one in present day. Both are the 19th wives of polygamous husbands. The story, which is historical fiction, seamlessly goes between the lives of the two women using a variety of literary techniques. Ann Eliza, a wife of Brigham Young, is told through her own voice, through memoirs of others, depositions, letters and newspaper articles. BeckyLyn Scott’s story is told through the eyes of her son, Jordan. BeckyLyn belongs to a closed fundamentalist separatist sect known as the Firsts, an offshoot of Mormonism.
Ann Eliza Young is a real historical figure. She was more than 40 years his junior. She is generally considered to have been Brigham Young’s 19th wife, although as the author describes, Mormon math likely brings her number in his series of marriages to have been much higher.
BeckyLyn is totally fictional. She, too, was decades younger than her husband. The story begins when BeckyLyn is arrested, ostensibly for the murder of her husband. Although a few years earlier she had dropped off her son in the middle of the night with instructions to live on his own, when Jordan finds out his mother is incarcerated, he visits her. He is convinced that she did not shoot her husband and seeks clear her name.
Ann Eliza’s mother converted to Mormonism by Joseph Smith before the original Mormon exodus from New York and ultimately settling in Utah. For many years, Ann Eliza’s father was married only to her mother, however, after years of living within the Mormon community, they are pressured into entering into a “celestial” marriage. Joseph Smith has informed the community that he heard the word of the LORD and that the only way into heaven is to allow a husband to have many wives. The multiple marriages cut deeply with the women in the marriages.
Ann Eliza sees what having multiple “sister wives” has done to her mother and vows not to be a part of one herself. She marries a man who turns out to be a freeloader. Brigham Young helps her get a divorce, thereby clearing any obstacles that impede upon his designs on her. When Ann Eliza’s brother, Gilbert, gets caught in financial trouble, Brigham Young promises to get him out from under his debt in return for marriage to Ann Eliza.
Ann Eliza finally stood up to her husband and became a public speaker crusading against polygamy. Through Ann Eliza, we learn of the dynamics of polygamous life in the early history of Mormonism. Though BeckyLyn, we learn of life in the present day separatists communities, where men marry increasingly younger girls, and teenage boys are discarded for being viewed as “competition” to the older men seeking the young girls.
Although the Mormons officially renounced polygamy in 1890, the practice is still present in splinter groups scattered throughout the remote areas of Utah. The author describes how such groups live and allows wives and children collect welfare from the government, which because it does not recognize multiple marriage.
In a side story, we learn that Jordan is gay, something that is a taboo subject in the closed fundamentalist community where he grew up.
I loved this book. Although it was over 500 pages, the story was very compelling.
Read: March 8, 2010
The 19th Wife is the story of two women in polygamous marriages ~ one during the time of Brigham Young, and one in present day. Both are the 19th wives of polygamous husbands. The story, which is historical fiction, seamlessly goes between the lives of the two women using a variety of literary techniques. Ann Eliza, a wife of Brigham Young, is told through her own voice, through memoirs of others, depositions, letters and newspaper articles. BeckyLyn Scott’s story is told through the eyes of her son, Jordan. BeckyLyn belongs to a closed fundamentalist separatist sect known as the Firsts, an offshoot of Mormonism.
Ann Eliza Young is a real historical figure. She was more than 40 years his junior. She is generally considered to have been Brigham Young’s 19th wife, although as the author describes, Mormon math likely brings her number in his series of marriages to have been much higher.
BeckyLyn is totally fictional. She, too, was decades younger than her husband. The story begins when BeckyLyn is arrested, ostensibly for the murder of her husband. Although a few years earlier she had dropped off her son in the middle of the night with instructions to live on his own, when Jordan finds out his mother is incarcerated, he visits her. He is convinced that she did not shoot her husband and seeks clear her name.
Ann Eliza’s mother converted to Mormonism by Joseph Smith before the original Mormon exodus from New York and ultimately settling in Utah. For many years, Ann Eliza’s father was married only to her mother, however, after years of living within the Mormon community, they are pressured into entering into a “celestial” marriage. Joseph Smith has informed the community that he heard the word of the LORD and that the only way into heaven is to allow a husband to have many wives. The multiple marriages cut deeply with the women in the marriages.
Ann Eliza sees what having multiple “sister wives” has done to her mother and vows not to be a part of one herself. She marries a man who turns out to be a freeloader. Brigham Young helps her get a divorce, thereby clearing any obstacles that impede upon his designs on her. When Ann Eliza’s brother, Gilbert, gets caught in financial trouble, Brigham Young promises to get him out from under his debt in return for marriage to Ann Eliza.
Ann Eliza finally stood up to her husband and became a public speaker crusading against polygamy. Through Ann Eliza, we learn of the dynamics of polygamous life in the early history of Mormonism. Though BeckyLyn, we learn of life in the present day separatists communities, where men marry increasingly younger girls, and teenage boys are discarded for being viewed as “competition” to the older men seeking the young girls.
Although the Mormons officially renounced polygamy in 1890, the practice is still present in splinter groups scattered throughout the remote areas of Utah. The author describes how such groups live and allows wives and children collect welfare from the government, which because it does not recognize multiple marriage.
In a side story, we learn that Jordan is gay, something that is a taboo subject in the closed fundamentalist community where he grew up.
I loved this book. Although it was over 500 pages, the story was very compelling.
Read: March 8, 2010
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