After reading the first chapter of "The House of the Spirits," I was very confused about what time I was in: the past, present, or future. The first paragraph of the story opens with the arrival of Barabas, a little puppy that accompanies the dead body of Uncle Marcos, Nivea's brother. Then we skip to the past, before the arrival of Uncle Marcos, to the church service that the del Valle family attended (even though they are non-religious people) where the father is trying to attract voters because he wants to be elected into Parliament. Then the scene shifts even further into the past, decribing the birth of Nivea's eldest daughter Rosa (the title of the chapter). Apparently Rosa's striking features make her the most beautiful person. Her yellow eyes and green hair make her resemble a mermaid. Then we skip to the present where the family is at church, and then we foreshadow to the future where Nivea recalls that moment in church many years later.
All of the skipping from past, present, to future is a little confusing to me. But then I realized that Clara can tell the future, so the jumping from one time to another is subtly putting the reader inside of Clara's head. Maybe this is how she feels. For one moment she is in the past, another in the present, and another in the future. This could be why Clara cannot connect with anyone in the book. Because she is floating (literally and figuratively speaking) through time and space, adding to the story's deep theme of Magical Realism.
I seemed to have less difficulty keeping my head straight concerning what time it was. For me, it seemed like there was a major story, starting with Clara and Esteban and then shifting to Alba. The flashbacks are there to clarify or emphasize a particular aspect of an event or person. Instead of a perfectly straight flow, the story is more like a river with a bunch of tributaries, all coming from different places, yet all adding to the weight and strength of the main river. Although, I definitely agree with your assessment of Clara's mental state throughout the book, and maybe Allende wrote the story for that reason. That definitely seems apparent during the times where large amounts of foreshadowing.
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