Lizzie strongly recommended this book to me and sure enough, my love for Latin American magical realism knows no bounds. It's nearly impossible for me to write about this one without comparing it to my (the?) gold standard that is One Hundred Years of Solitude. Both concern a family that starts with a single couple, sprouts outward over multiple generations centered in a single big house, before diminishing away from its height in both numbers and glory. While this book did not quite dethrone Gabo's masterpiece, it did more than enough to captivate my attention. Clara del Valle the clairvoyant is a wonderful character, and Esteban Trueba is startlingly three-dimensional, somehow reminiscent of so many conservative patriarchs capable of both horrific cruelty and tender love. The next generation of Blanca, Nicolás, and Jaime are no less interesting- nor tragic. And of course, sympathy must be reserved for little Alba and even the traumatized and traumatizing Esteban García. The side characters are no less compelling, from Barnabás the gigantic dog to the eccentric count Jean de Satigny. I wrote to Isabel Allende recently and her assistant helped facilitate a little correspondence that ended with her signing my first (English) edition copy of this novel- something to treasure!
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