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Alba supports Miguel’s cause, and after she sits in on a protest that lasts days, she encounters Colonel Esteban García, a former peasant from Tres Marías and Esteban Trueba’s biological grandson. In the following weeks, the Socialist Candidate is elected President of the Republic, and their divided nation is consumed by political unrest. Esteban Trueba, who serves as the Senator of the Republic, and the other conservative politicians plan a military coup d’état to seize control of the government and rid it of Marxism once and for all. But once the military takes over, they murder the President, suspend congress, and refuse to relinquish power. Jaime is killed early in the coup, and Miguel goes off to fight with the guerillas. Blanca hides Pedro Tercero—who is on the new government’s wanted list—in the house, and Esteban, still in shock over Jaime’s death, helps Blanca and Pedro flee the country.
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Clara's marriage to Esteban Trubea is something she accepts but she never truly loves him and knows from the beginning that she will never do so. She is uninterested in material things and takes for granted her own high economic standing. It is not until later, after great tragedy, that she takes the role of helper/servant instead of dreamy bystander. Welcome to the first bookstore in the country (and still one of only two) dedicated entirely to the romance genre. Or dream up something someone else can obsess over—or Netflix can turn into the next national guilty pleasure—in writing classes.
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It soon becomes clear that Blanca is pregnant, and Esteban forces her to marry Jean de Satigny to avoid public scandal. Their marriage doesn’t last long, however—Blanca leaves Jean after she discovers his pastime of photographing their male servants naked. Blanca returns home to Clara, where Jaime, who is studying to become a doctor, delivers Blanca’s daughter, Alba. Clara dies on Alba’s seventh birthday, and the entire family is devastated, especially Esteban, who lives the rest of his life in mourning. The big house on the corner deteriorates with Clara’s death, and Esteban’s relationship with his family continues to worsen.
Jaime Trueba
The book’s primary vehicle for that historical progression is Esteban Trueba, who unifies the various generations of women presented. He marries Nívea’s daughter Clara, having first loved and lost her other daughter; he provides his daughter Blanca with somewhat dubious parenting; and he protects and loves his granddaughter, Alba. When Alba is 18, she falls in love with Miguel, a law student and outspoken socialist who leads protests at the university.
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Indeed, though many of the characters are based on members of Allende’s family, they do not represent the reality of those people. Esteban Trueba, for example, bears little resemblance to Allende’s memories of her grandfather. The resemblance between Allende’s relatives and her fictional characters persists, however. At her mother’s urging, for example, Allende altered the name of Alba’s father, for the author had unconsciously given the character one of her own father’s surnames. Some of the characters' names are significant, particularly the women's names, which often indicate the personalities of the characters.
His realization that he desires the love of his family and peace in his country leads to a pivotal change in his character. In his last days, he slowly loses the rage that has been driving him all his life. With the success of both of his efforts, Esteban dies happily, knowing that he has achieved Clara's posthumous forgiveness. “Barrabás came to us by sea,” 10-year-old Clara del Valle writes neatly in her notebook. She can read auras and predict disasters, make the saltshaker move across the table without touching it, and talk to spirits.
Although Esteban does eventually secure Alba’s release by calling in a favor owed to him by a prostitute, all of his power and authority are ultimately proven worthless. Like everyone else, he and his loved ones are subject to the unreasoning tyranny of the dictatorship. Alba (Spanish for "Dawn," Latin for "white") is the daughter of Blanca and Pedro Tercero García, although for many years of her life she was led to believe that Count de Satigny was her father. From before her birth, her grandmother Clara decreed that she was blessed by the stars.
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Stumble upon something interesting yourself or ask the staff—these book keepers live for finding your next page-turner or the perfect gift for a picky reader. Or as they promise, "We are confident we can find a book for anyone from the 7-year-old who exclusively reads about dinosaurs to the literary connoisseur in the mood for a Bulgarian epic." Southern California's oldest and largest bookstore has been the pride of Pasadena since it came on the scene in 1894. And that was before the wine bar was installed or the Art on the Stairwell program kicked off. Among Vroman's shelves are several floors of books in every possible category, a home goods section, one of the best newsstands in the region, and a well-decorated area to park the kids. Besides being a fantastic bookstore (technically now four bookstores with a second brick and mortar in Pasadena and two branded boutiques at LAX), it has carried on its namesake founder's legacy of philanthropy and community engagement.
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Esteban hates Pedro Tercero, who plays a guitar and sings songs of revolution, but Blanca sneaks out her window every night to meet him. A Frenchman named Jean de Satigny comes to stay at Tres Marías and notices Blanca immediately. He follows Blanca when she sneaks out to meet Pedro Tercero and finds them making love by the river. Jean goes directly to Esteban, who jumps on his horse and meets Blanca halfway home.
Vroman's Gives Back has donated a portion of sales to local nonprofits, schools, and charities to the tune of $765,513. Plus, it hosts more than 400 free events annually (including trivia nights, bake-offs, and launch parties), and consistently welcomes top-tier talent such as Salman Rushdie, Sonia Sotomayor, Anne Rice, and David Sedaris. Given the fantastic worlds, colorful characters, and beautiful scenery that scream "notice me!" from the covers lining the shelves of this gem, the shop's design and exterior are rather nondescript in comparison. The draw of this bookstore is its singular focus on books about illustration, animation, artist sketchbooks, and comic art (or as they like to say, "what other booksellers normally classify as art reference"). There's also an extensive collection of annuals, fanzines, surveys, histories, and tomes on art techniques and instruction. Just off the Sunset Strip sits a delightful green cottage run by an affable whip-smart father-son duo.

After an earthquake that destroys part of the hacienda and leaves Esteban injured, the Truebas move permanently to Las Tres Marías. Clara spends her time teaching, caring for her husband's battered body, and writing in her journals while Blanca is sent to a convent school and the twin boys back to an English boarding school, both of which are located in the city. Pedro Tercero meets with Blanca in secret adopting disguises while also spreading his ideas in the form of song to neighboring haciendas. In the meantime, Esteban receives a telegram from his sister, Férula, which claims their mother, Doña Ester, is dying and wants to see him. Esteban doesn’t particularly love his mother, but he returns home, where Doña Ester begs him to settle down with a respectable wife and have sons to carry on his name. As Doña Ester dies, Esteban goes to the del Valle residence and asks Severo if he has any available daughters.
Having returned to her grandfather’s house, the eponymous house of the title, Alba explores the notebooks of her grandmother Clara and turns to her own writing. At the end of the novel, Alba finds herself pregnant with a child that could be Miguel’s but is just as likely to be the product of the rapes she endured as a prisoner. He eventually marries Rosa's sister Clara, the youngest of the wealthy and politically active del Valles, who communicates with spirits and can see the future.
During the period of their engagement, Esteban builds what everyone calls "the big house on the corner," a large mansion in the city where the Trueba family will live for generations. After their wedding, Esteban's sister Férula comes to live with the newlyweds in the big house on the corner. Férula develops a strong dedication to Clara, which fulfills her need to serve others. However, Esteban's wild desire to possess Clara and to monopolize her love causes him to throw Férula out of the house. She curses him, telling him that he will shrink in body and soul, and die like a dog.
He sends money to his spinster sister who takes care of their arthritic mother in town. Through a combination of intimidation and reward, he enforces respect and labor from the fearful peasants and turns Tres Marías into a "model hacienda". He turns the first peasant who spoke to him upon arrival, Pedro Segundo, into his foreman, who quickly becomes the closest thing that Trueba ever has to an actual friend during his life.
Now, Alba is having a baby—a daughter, she knows—though she isn’t sure who the father is. What matters is that the child is her daughter; Alba also know it’s important to record her experiences in her own notebook, so that others will know her story as well. Nana moves into the big house on the corner to help Férula with the children, and the Mora sisters, three local students of spiritualism, are drawn to Clara and the house. The women move in, and even though Esteban doesn’t approve, he says nothing because he loves his wife.
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