The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

I give this 3.5 out of 5 Stars!

Description: 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.

This book was on my frequently banned or challenged list.   Within a hundred or so pages I could see why.  Overall I though it was a very good read, but at time it was just to much.  There is quite a bit of violence, rape, and human cruelty.  Although, I do understand that is fits in with the time period the book refers too.  I loved Clara and thought the storyline lost some of its appeal when she died.   But, the hardest thing about this book for me was the didn't seem to be a point to the story.  I like to walk away from a book knowing I got the purpose for why the story was written.  I didn't get that here.