<P> Esteban Trueba manages to free Alba with the help of Miguel and Tránsito Soto, an old friend / prostitute from his days as a young man . After helping Alba write their memoir, Esteban Trueba dies in the arms of Alba, accompanied by Clara's spirit; he is smiling, having avoided Férula's prophecy that he will die like a dog . Alba explains that she will not seek vengeance on those who have injured her, suggesting a hope that one day the human cycle of hate and revenge can be broken . Alba writes the book to pass time while she waits for Miguel and for the birth of her child . </P> <P> Some of the characters' names are significant, particularly the women's names, which often indicate the personalities of the characters . The names Nívea, Clara, Blanca, and Alba are more or less synonyms, and this is mentioned as a family tradition . (Nívea means snow - white, and can be translated as "white" as can all the others, though they have specific meanings .) Férula's name means "rod" in Latin; when used in Spanish it refers to an object used to immobilize a limb, such as a splint or cast . </P> <P> Clara (one of its translations is the equivalent of English "clear", although it is also a common female name) is the key female figure in the novel . She is a clairvoyant and telekinetic who is rarely attentive to domestic tasks, but she holds her family together with her love for them and her uncanny predictions . She is the youngest daughter of Severo and Nívea del Valle, wife of Esteban Trueba, and mother of Blanca, Jaime, and Nicolás . Even as a child her strangeness is noticed and seen as a threat to many in her community . Otherwise, her family and devoted Nana protect her from her strangeness . She and her uncle Marcos use her powers to run a fortune - telling centre as she developes other paranormal activities like dream reading . Her uncle eventually leaves in a primitive airplane he built himself, disappearing for many months, assumed dead but later is found to die instead as the result of a' mysterious African plague' contracted during his travels . Clara practices divining and moving inanimate objects, most notably a three - legged table, and she is surrounded by friends such as the psychic Mora sisters and The Poet . Severo and Nívea del Valle are main characters in another Allende novel . As Clara grows up, she developed her abilities and is even able to communicate with ghosts and spirits . Clara represents love and cherishment . 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 disinterested in material things and takes for granted what is her high economic standing . It is not until later after great tragedy that she takes the role of helper / servant instead of dreamy bystander . </P> <P> Esteban Trueba is the central male character of the novel, and along with his granddaughter Alba, is one of the story's main narrators . In his youth, he seeks the mermaid - like and green - haired Rosa the Beautiful, daughter of Severo and Nívea del Valle, and so he toils in the mines to earn a suitable fortune so that he can support her . However, while he is working in the mines she dies by accidental poisoning: a cruel stroke of fate that changes Esteban's life and hardens his heart . Although he eventually marries Clara (Rosa's sister and youngest daughter of the Del Valles) and raises a large family, Esteban's stubborn and violent ways alienate all those around him . Esteban has a tense relationship with his daughter Blanca but shows genuine love and devotion to his granddaughter Alba . Despite his often violent behavior, he is also devoted to his wife Clara, entering into a state of permanent mourning following her death . As a self - made man who earned all of his wealth from years of work spent improving Tres Marías, Esteban scorns communists and believes them to be lazy and stupid . Later in life he turns to politics where he spends his money and effort trying to prevent the rising Socialist movement within the country . However, after the military coup he loses much of his power and suddenly has to face the fact that he has become an old and weak man . Yet it is not the loss of power, so much as the injury done to his country, that agonizes the highly patriotic Esteban . 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 . He begins to make amends with what's left of his family by helping Blanca and Pedro Tercero escape the country so they can live happily and when Alba is kidnapped by the military he asks his longtime friend Tránsito Soto (who had influence in the military) to help him, so he is ecstatic when Alba is rescued . Esteban dies happily, knowing that he has achieved Clara's posthumous forgiveness . </P>

When does the house of spirits take place