CT Reads discussion

I am currently reading The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. I was originally attracted to this book because it is a family saga that details the drama and adventures of several generations, a genre that I have typically enjoyed in the past. The style that this book is written in reminds me of John Steinbeck's East of Eden and Anita Diamant's The Red Tent. I was surprised that much of the novel is written in a fantasy style, including a character who seems like a mermaid, a psychic child, and a man who leads millions of ants out of a town by talking to them. I love the vivid details that Allende writes with, but I really dislike one of the main characters, Esteban Trueba, who brutally mistreats the lower class community.