The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

This saga of a very unusual family in an unnamed South American country (Chile) is told by Allende in the
'magical realism' style, in which fantasy elements are interwoven with a very realistic story.  The story follows the Trueba family, and their fortunes parallel that of their homeland.  We meet the matriarch of the family, Clara, when she is yet a child, and her unusual and beautiful older sister, Rosa, who just happens to have green hair and the aura of the sea about her.  Clara is a clairvoyant, and attracts others to her who engage in various types of spiritualism, as well as poets, writers, and other artists. The story is told from multiple viewpoints, including that of Esteban Trueba, who becomes Clara's husband and the patron of the family.  Esteban is very conservative politically, and patronizes the peasants who work on the farm in the countryside.  Through his eyes, and those of his children, we see the buildup to the peasant uprisings and revolution, and then the military backlash to put a conservative government back in power.  This is a story rich in symbolism, in which the condition of the House of the Truebas stands as symbol for the health of the country at the time.  Allende conveys very vividly the flavor of living through the Chilean revolution and the suffering of those in poverty both before and after the revolution.  Along the way there is much to laugh at and much sadness, a very full journey.  488 pages.

White Cargo by Stuart Woods

(Posted for Paul Mathews)

Off the coast of Colombia, his ship was sunk, his daughter kidnapped, and they thought he was killed, too. Revenge was for this very determined man.

Audio:  10 hrs. 3 min.
Print:  448 pages