History Literature / TheHouseOfTheSpirits

* BastardBastard: Esteban García is such a ''[[SarcasmMode fine]]'' illegitimate child that he could compete with [[Series/GameOfThrones Ramsay Bolton]]. The {{Irony}} is that he's more like Esteban Trueba than any of Trueba's legitimate progeny, embodying all of Trueba's worst qualities.

* ForTheEvulz: According to the author, the [[AcceptableTargets military regime]].

* AllWomenArePrudes: All save one of the female characters gives an indication of actually liking sex. Clara gets to the point where she just thinks it's boring. Blanca enjoys making love to Pedro Tercero but after [[spoiler: she gets pregnant and is forced to marry Jean de Satigny, she can't think of having sex with anyone else.]] Alba is shown as having a really good sex life with her boyfriend Miguel, [[spoiler: and then she's sexually abused to the extreme by her evil cousin.]]

It spawned a film adaptation in 1993, which -- despite its AllStarCast (Creator/JeremyIrons, Creator/WinonaRyder, Creator/MerylStreep, Creator/AntonioBanderas, Creator/GlennClose, Creator/VanessaRedgrave) -- received negative reviews and was a BoxOfficeBomb.

* AdaptationDistillation: The movie cuts A LOT of characters. ({{Justified}}, since they are so many, but still).

%%* AloofDarkHairedGirl: Blanca in her youth.
%%* ArmiesAreEvil

%%* AuthorTract
* BabiesEverAfter: {{Subverted}}. [[spoiler:Alba ends up pregnant, but she doesn't know if the baby is by her boyfriend or her bastard cousin, who raped her repeatedly. She thinks about it and decides that it's ''her'' baby after all, so it'll work somehow.]]
%%* BananaRepublic: It is set in Chi...no wait.
* BastardBastard: Esteban García is such a [[SarcasmMode fine illegitimate child]] that he could compete with [[Series/GameOfThrones Ramsay Bolton]]. The [[{{Irony}} irony]] is that he's more like Esteban Trueba than any of Trueba's legitimate progeny, embodying all of Trueba's worst qualities.

* BittersweetEnding: By the end of the book [[spoiler:, almost the whole family is dead (Jaime, Clara, Esteban Trueba himself) or in exile (Blanca, Pedro Tercero, Nicolás). And so are their friends (Amanda). But at least Alba is free from the military and has hopes for a good future as she rests from her ordeals and waits for Miguel's return.]]
* BookEnds: The book starts with kid!Clara writing in her life book. [[spoiler: Alba is reading the same "book" in the end.]]

* UsefulNotes/EsperantoTheUniversalLanguage: Clara believes it's the ideal language.

* FallenPrincess: [[spoiler: Alba, as a prisoner and at the end of the book, when the Truebas have lost most of their fortune and influence.]]

* GenerationXerox: Seen FromACertainPointOfView, Esteban Trueba and [[spoiler:his grandson, Esteban García]], aren't that different.

* OneHundredPercentAdorationRating: Despite her strangeness and being the source of gossip, Clara is generally beloved by most everyone she meets. Upon her death, Esteban Trueba is astonished at how many people come to attend her funeral. Love for her is arguably the only thing the family have in common and after her death, relationships between them become extremely distant, to the point that Esteban ends up exiling one of his sons.

* {{Ironic Echo}}. "...Go to hell." "Well, that's where I'm taking you to. You'll come with me anyway." ([[spoiler:Said first by Esteban to Pedro Tercero, and then by Pedro Tercero to Esteban himself.]])

* CryCute: [[spoiler:Esteban]] has two moments like this:
** When [[spoiler:he sees how ''low'' his crippled mother's health has fallen as well as her DissonantSerenity about it]].
** Later, when [[spoiler:he pleads with Tránsito Soto so she can save Alba, now a political prisoner who's going through lots of torture]].

* AdaptationDistillation: The movie cuts A LOT of characters. ({{Justified}}, since they are [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters so many]], but still).

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Actually justified, as the action spans several decades and depicts three generations of one family.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair:
** Rosa is described as having had green hair. The very first edition cover allegedly portrays her with this.
** Alba inherits said green hair. She's not amused by that since she didn't inherit Rosa's beauty alongside it, thus it doesn't look good on her.

* BittersweetEnding: By the end of the book [[spoiler:, almost the whole family is dead (Jaime, Clara, Esteban Trueba himself) or in exile (Blanca, Pedro Tercero, Nicolas). And so are their friends (Amanda). But at least Alba is free from the military and has hopes for a good future as she rests from her ordeals and waits for Miguel's return.]]
* BookEnds: The book starts with kid!Clara writing in her life book. [[spoiler: Alba is reading the same 'book in the end.]]

* ColdBloodedTorture: What happens to any dissident the military police gets its hands on after the MilitaryCoup. [[spoiler: Very realistically portrait with Alba's experience in the clutches of now-powerful officer Esteban García]].

* CryCute: [[spoiler:Esteban]] has two moments like this. First, when [[spoiler:he sees how ''low'' his crippled mother's health has fallen as well as her DissonantSerenity about it]]. Later, when [[spoiler:he pleads with Tránsito Soto so she can save Alba, now a political prisoner who's going through lots of torture]].

* DepravedHomosexual: [[spoiler: Jean de Satigny turns out to be one.]] Later in the book he takes [[spoiler: kinky, gay pornography featuring sex between his servants]].

* EarlyBirdCameo: Esteban García gets a few before [[spoiler: the golpe]], where he's shown since childhood to his teens. They are at least useful enough to understand [[BastardBastard he's the bad guy]].

%% Esteban cuts off three of Pedro Tercero's fingers. He [[HeroicBSOD doesn't take it well]], but later [[HowDoIShotWeb works it out]] and [[HandicappedBadass learns to play the guitar with less fingers than usual.]]
** [[spoiler: Alba also gets three fingers chopped off by Esteban García and sent to her grandfather to taunt him, since he was present the day he chopped off Pedro Tercero's fingers]].
* FingerInTheMail: [[spoiler: One day Colonel García felt witty and sent Esteban Alba's severed fingers to taunt him.]]
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Nicolas is the foolish sibling to Jaime's responsible sibling.

%%* HairTriggerTemper: Esteban.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Esteban Trueba's bastard son, product of Trueba's rape of Pedro Primero's daughter Pancha, has a son who eventually turns Esteban's life into a living hell. To add insult to injury, he's the one that gets him a job with the police just to shake him off]].

** Enforced by Clara inside the Trueba family as she said that namesakes messed with the proper understanding of her life books. That was the reason why Esteban couldn't name one of his sons after himself. [[spoiler:He does, however, share his name with his bastard grandson.]]

* PluckyGirl: Alba. Also [[spoiler:Tránsito Soto]].

** A non-traditional one-Alba's bedroom is a full mural painted by hers since she was a little girl, depicting the most important moments of her life. [[spoiler:This is foreshadowing of TheReveal that she has been TheNarrator all along.]]

* PutOnABus: [[spoiler:Nicolas, after his eccentricities embarrass the Truebas way too much. Pedro Tercero and Blanca, when he becomes a fugitive and they both leave the country (ironically, it's ''Esteban'' who bails him and Blanca out)]].

* RomanAClef: The novel began as a letter Ms. Allende was writing to her agonizing grandfather, albeit she didn't finish it until way after his death. At some point she had to change the name of a character because she inadvertently gave him the last name of the real live inspiration/counterpart.

* ThemeNaming: The women of the Trueba family: Clara (Clear), Blanca (White) and Alba (Dawn). Also the mother of Clara, Nívea (snow-white), follows the theme. Blanca [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] the fact they don't have more names to keep the tradition; she only points out her they can use foreign names.

* HowDoIShotWeb: Or better said, [[spoiler:"How Do I Learn To Play Guitar With Three Missing Fingers?"]]

* YouMakeMeSic: Nicolás sends love poems to his girlfriend Amanda... and she sends them back, with corrections.

* BastardBastard: Esteban García is such a [[SarcasmMode fine illegitimate child]] that he could compete with [[Series/GameOfThrones Ramsay Bolton]]. The [[{{Irony}} irony]] is that [[NotSoDifferent he's more like Esteban Trueba]] than any of Trueba's legitimate progeny, embodying all of Trueba's worst qualities.

* GenerationXerox: Seen FromACertainPointOfView, Esteban Trueba and [[spoiler:his grandson, Esteban García]], are NotSoDifferent.

* NotSoDifferent: Esteban Trueba and [[spoiler:his namesake grandson]].

* TellHimImNotSpeakingToHim: [[spoiler: Clara never directly speaks to Esteban after he hits her for the only time ever during the Pedro Tercero deal. Esteban settles for interpreting her silences and body language.]]

* Rosa's unusual beauty when Esteban Trueba sees her for the first time causes a crowd of men to form outside the window of the shop she is in - however this same beauty intimidates men to the point where nobody has ever ventured to marry her. Rosa is known after her death as Rosa the Beautiful.

%%* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The Poet and The Candidate/The President.

** Averted. The García family has three Pedros; Primero, Segundo and Tercero (First, Second and Third, respectively). Esteban shares his name with [[spoiler:his bastard grandson]] and he wished to name one of his kids Esteban.
** Enforced by Clara inside the Trueba family as she said that namesakes messed with the proper understanding of her life books. That was the reason why Esteban couldn't name one of his sons after himself.

* 100%AdorationRating: Despite her strangeness and being the source of gossip, Clara is generally beloved by most everyone she meets. Upon her death, Esteban Trueba is astonished at how many people come to attend her funeral. Love for her is arguably the only thing the family have in common and after her death, relationships between them become extremely distant, to the point that Esteban ends up exiling one of his sons.

* 100%AdorationRating: Despite her strangeness and being the source of gossip, Clara is generally beloved by most everyone she meets. Upon her death, Esteban Trueba is astonished at how many people come to attend her funeral. Love for her is arguably the only thing the family have in common and after her death, relationships between them do not improve.

%%* BadassGrandpa: Pedro Primero.

* VictoriousChildhoodFriend: [
** [spoiler:Six year old Miguel was there when Alba was born (that one's justified: Amanda, his older sister, was there as well).]]

* AloofDarkHairedGirl: Blanca in her youth.
* ArmiesAreEvil
* AuthorTract

* BadassGrandpa: Pedro Primero.
* BananaRepublic: It is set in Chi...no wait.

* BrokenBird: Amanda. [[TheWoobie Oh, Amanda.]]

* CampGay: [[spoiler: Jean de Satigny.]] So much.

* ChekhovsArmy

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Clara del Valle is clairvoyant, barely aware of the material world, and sporadically attentive to it.
** Her older sister Rosa also was pretty... off. Nivea was seriously worried that the girl wouldn't ever do anything but sewing.

* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Blanca and Pedro Tercero, who were used to sleeping naked together since ''early childhood''. An entire chapter contains their growing romance.

* DyingAlone: Férula damns Esteban to die like a dog. {{Averted}}, because he dies in the company of his granddaughter.

* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The Poet and The Candidate/The President.

** Also, Férula and Esteban's mother Esther.
* {{Fingore}}: Esteban cuts off three of Pedro Tercero's fingers. He [[HeroicBSOD doesn't take it well]], but later [[HowDoIShotWeb works it out]] and [[HandicappedBadass learns to play the guitar with less fingers than usual.]]

* FromNobodyToNightmare: Esteban García.
* FunnyForeigner: Jean de Satigny.

* HairTriggerTemper: Esteban.

* HotBlooded: Esteban, much to his misfortune.

* JerkAss / {{Jerk With A Heart Of Gold}}: Esteban.

* TheLostLenore: Rosa [[spoiler: and Clara]] for Esteban.

* MiniatureSeniorCitizens

* NewAgeRetroHippie: Nicolás and Amanda.

* OneDegreeOfSeparation
* OneSteveLimit: Averted. The García family has three Pedros; Primero, Segundo and Tercero (First, Second and Third, respectively). Esteban shares his name with [[spoiler:his bastard grandson]] and he wished to name one of his kids Esteban.

* [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane Woman]]: Blanca seems to be this in a BigScrewedUpFamily.

* PoliceBrutality
* PosterGalleryBedroom: A non-traditional one-Alba's bedroom is a full mural painted by hers since she was a little girl, depicting the most important moments of her life. [[spoiler:This is foreshadowing of TheReveal that she has been TheNarrator all along.]]

* PsychicPowers: Clara [[ISeeDeadPeople talks with spirits]], [[AuraVision can see people's auras]] and [[TeleKinesis moves objects with her mind.]] She's so skilled at the latter task that she can ''play the piano without even touching it''.
** There where rumors that she could [[MindReading read the minds of others]] but it was never stated by Clara herself.
* [[spoiler:PutOnABus: Nicolas, after his eccentricities embarrass the Truebas way too much. Pedro Tercero and Blanca, when he becomes a fugitive and they both leave the country (ironically, it's ''Esteban'' who bails him and Blanca out)]].

* VictoriousChildhoodFriend: [[spoiler:Six year old Miguel was there when Alba was born (that one's justified: Amanda, his older sister, was there as well).]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Some characters, like Pedro Segundo, stop appearing. Basically because they stop being part of the Trueba life.
** Kinda justified in Pedro Segundo's case: [[spoiler:he willingly removed himself from there after Pedro Tercero was mutilated by the "patrón" whom he always hated for his abusive behavior (and envied due to being married to Clara, whom Segundo was implied to love), and only briefly reappears for Clara's funeral.]]

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Rosa is described as having had green hair. The very first edition cover allegedly portrays her with this.

The book deals with the members of the Trueba family, their growth, their rise and eventually their downfall. Esteban Trueba, an ultra-conservative landowner, marries the {{Cloudcuckoolander}} Clara del Valle, with who he has three kids, Blanca and the twins Nicolás and Jaime. Trueba builds his fortune through his farm Las Tres Marías, but this, coupled with his political views, throw a few wrenches in the wheels of his family. Drama ensues.

* ThePromise: [[spoiler:Esteban gives a teen prostitute named Tránsito Soto some money so she can go to the city and make herself a name there. Tránsito accepts, but she also promises to repay him someday. Fifty years later, ''[[CrowningmomentOfAwesome she keeps her word]]'' via using her contacts to save Esteban's MoralityPet, his granddaughter Alba.]]