Clara del Valle

I read La casa de los espíritus not long after I came back from Mexico.

I loved Clara.

Not because I thought I was anything like her. I just loved the name and the character stayed with me.

I lent the book to Carmen afterward and she kept it for months, which was fair considering I still had Miguel's copy of Rayuela.

A few years later when I was pregnant and we started talking about names, I suggested Clara.

Tomás liked it immediately.

I don't think I told him until much later where I'd gotten it.