Jen's Journal

The House of Spirits made it on my list because of the magical realism in it. It starts with a character named Rosa, who was too beautiful for this world. She was born with green hair and yellow eyes, with skin so white and fragile they described her as a porcelain doll.

Not long into the book do we learn that she dies, which the narrator foreshadows early on as they describe how the world was not ready for her beauty.

In honor of her sister’s death, Clara remains silent for many years to come.

This historical work of fiction has served as a great escape when I want to go back to the turn of the 19th century. The Trueba family will let you into their lives: into their success and their failure, their tragedies, and their accomplishments. It will seem as if they are a part of your own family in the way Isabel Allende writes.