I would probably never read Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits if I did not have the anonymous comment on my blog entry about Midnight's Children, another novel written in the style of magic realism. The commentator was not really recommending the novel because she concerned that the novel is "definitely more appealing to female readers." 

I decided to give it a try anyway.

The original novel was written in Spanish and hence not eligible for a consideration of Booker Prize. However, I suspect that the novel has certain Booker Prize qualities to it, namely the social and political context of a Latin American country that spanned four generations. 

It was soon clear that the three main female characters, Clara, Blanca and Alba, were the backbone of the story, but it was also paralleled by a central male character, Esteban, who lived long enough to witness the whole story. 

As a male reader, I would say the novel is also quite attractive to me.