This fairly lengthy debut by Isabel Allende portrays a dynasty and the various trials of each generation. Though the main characters are technically Esteban and Clara Trueba, it is safe to say that every character is a main character. Everyone from Clara's parents to Alba (Clara and Esteban's sole grandchild) shape and shift the story. Despite the affluence in this family, they are not immune to political, social, and emotional forces throughout this novel. Soon, the forces start to wear the characters down, sometimes bringing them to their deaths.

Anyone with a good attention span that is at least 16. The novel gets very complicated with the various plots and subplots that go with each character. The second half becomes very gory.

The development of the characters. Allende allows the reader to know quite a bit about the character without letting it demolish the plot.

The part of the novel when Blanca marries and lives with the Frenchman. To me, this was a little too disturbing.

Read the original version. This novel was originally written in Spanish.

inspired and ready to write! I found myself almost overwhelmed with ideas for characters.

It has a wonderful blend of plots and an interesting time structure.

If you plan on reading this book, I'm going to let you know now that there are a lot of point of view changes. Be careful. Otherwise, they will confuse you.