The Wind Knows My Name - Isabel Allende

 The Wind Knows My Name - Isabel Allende

Release Date: June 6, 2023

She read

In 1938, Samuel, the son of a Jewish doctor in Vienna is sent by his mother to Britain via the Kinderstransport program to escape the Nazis after his father is killed.  His mother later perishes in a concentration camp.

Letitia is descended from a family that faced extinction in El Salvador.

In 2019, seven year old blind Anita is forcibly separated from her mother after they escape persecution in El Salvador, crossing the Rio Grande to seek refuge in America.  

Social worker Selma Duran is assigned Anita’s case through an immigrant assistance organization and enlists the services of Frank, a high profile up and coming attorney.  

These five lives eventually intersect during the Covid era in a tale that has pathos, humor, inhumanity, compassion, strength.  Isabel Allende is a skilled storyteller and is at her best when weaving history into the personal narratives of her characters.  

This engrossing and heartrending story emphasizes the horrors of the effects of the acts of adults on the lives of children whether it be through heinous, barbarous atrocities or political policy.  As an aside, I found some of her reflections on aging and marriage to be  painfully accurate.  

The story does skip around a bit.  Have patience, though, all will be revealed and come together in a meaningful resolution.

The Wind Knows My Name is a worthy addition to Allende’s body of work.  

Thanks to #netgalley and #randomhouse #ballantinebooks for the ARC.

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