I loved this book. I was so engaged in the story that I could not stop reading. I highly recommend this book.

Isabel Allende is an author that is an automatic for me and this book did not disappoint. When I first read the theme of this book it seemed very fitting with the current political climate of what is currently going on in the United States. I often find myself reading immigrant stories as I myself am an immigrant. I loved the multiple immigrant stories told here and how one change in your life (such as fleeing your country) can link you to so many others. How trauma, loss and forced migration can create such a strong bond between people in this truly heartwrenching and beautiful story by Isabel Allende that follows Samuel, Laticia, Selena, and Anita.

I had the opportunity to see Isabel Allende speak about this book and how she used her personal experience and that of the stories she hears through her organization to write this book. This felt like a very personal story and showed that Isabel Allende wanted to highlight the immigrant experience when we are in a world that is very divided.

Isabel Allende continues to take on timely and difficult topics in her work. The Wind Knows My Name addresses the effects of imperialism, colonialism, and immigration through two timelines that connect in the present. It highlights parental sacrifice in immigrant families, and the toll it can take on first-generation children. Allende's voice shines off the page.

Isabel Allende's The Wind Knows My Name is a sweeping, evocative tale that captures the essence of memory, loss, and resilience. With her characteristic lyrical prose, Allende takes readers on a journey across continents and generations, weaving together the lives of characters bound by fate.

The novel's central character, Adela, is an orphaned girl who grows up in the turbulent political landscape of post-revolutionary Chile. Her life is marked by the her parents' past and the constant presence of the wind, a metaphor for the unseen forces that guide and shape her destiny. As Adela matures, she embarks on a quest to uncover her family's secrets, traveling from the vineyards of Chile to the bustling streets of New York City.

Allende's narrative is richly textured, blending historical events with intimate personal stories. Her portrayal of Chile's political upheaval is both vivid and poignant, providing a backdrop that adds depth and urgency to Adela's personal journey. The author deftly handles the transitions between different time periods and locations, creating a seamless flow that keeps readers engaged throughout the novel.

One of the novel’s standout features is Allende’s prose, poetic with a sense of magical realism that fans of her work will recognize and appreciate. The wind serves as a powerful symbol throughout the novel, representing the unseen connections between people and the forces that shape their lives.

While The Wind Knows My Name is deeply moving and thought-provoking, it can occasionally feel meandering, with certain subplots and characters receiving less development than others. However, this is a minor flaw in an otherwise beautifully crafted narrative.

Overall, The Wind Knows My Name is a testament to Isabel Allende's storytelling prowess. It is a novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the enduring power of love and memory. Loved the ending!

3.5*
In 1938 a young musical prodigy named Samuel Adler is forced to flee Austria. He’s sent with the Kindertransport to stay in England as his Jewish family fervently hopes to reunite with him after the war. In 2019 Anita Diaz, who’s seven-years-old and blind, leaves El Salvador with her mother, seeking refuge in the United States. The pair are separated and Anita is left all alone in California. A social worker wants to help the girl reunite with her parent, but there’s no information on where the mother might be.

Years after the war ended, Samuel has ended up living in the U.S. and his story becomes connected to Anita’s through Leticia, his housekeeper, who happens to be Anita’s aunt. Leticia’s back story begins with a real event in El Salvador history – the El Mozote massacre. A social worker and a lawyer team up to try and help Anita Diaz. They uncover a different horror story in El Salvador that is based upon a factual story of carnage.

This is a book about fleeing danger, about separation from family, about loneliness and perseverance. It’s about the helplessness of children and women who are often targeted. It’s about history repeating itself with children separated from their families and left to survive on their own. It’s also about cruel policies that treat human beings abominably, keeping them in ghettos, camps, cages and even slaughtered. Bringing the storylines together reminds us of the devastation that political upheaval can cause and how inhumane some policies are that fail to respect the humanity of others, and demean those who are fleeing for their lives.

The contemporary story highlights some of the recent travesties of the treatment of migrants and asylum seekers. El Salvador’s history appears filled with depictions of atrocities and violence and the US involvement with the country, plus its migrant policies, don’t depict our government in a positive light.

Though not quite as strong as A Long Petal of the Sea, the characters are fascinating and the situations they face are real and compelling. Perhaps a bit more could have been revealed of the emotional struggles of the characters and their travails. Allende’s story of the recent treatment of migrants forces readers to better understand the complexities of legislation that has left many bereft.

I love Isabelle Allende, which is why I requested this book, but I just wasn’t in the right mindset for the content. If I had had more time with the book, I’m sure I would have gone back to it, but as it was I just wasn’t mentally able to read it.

The Wind Knows My Name is a well-written historical fiction novel that merges the stories of various characters effortlessly, from Samuel Adler, a Jewish man living in Berkeley and who was separated by his parents after the Kristallnacht in Vienna to little Anita Diaz, a blind young girl who has been separated from her mother after fleeing violence in El Salvador.

Isabel Allende is a wonderful writer and the stories she tells are easy to follow. I was immersed in each character's story (with perhaps the exception of Salina and Frank) and loved getting to know each character. This story is one with a lot of heart and love, despite the characters' tragic pasts, and I enjoyed how the story ended.

The criticism I have for the book is that, while it was a wonderful tale (in the end, largely), there was nothing particularly memorable about it, and I'm not sure I will be thinking about this book in a week or two from now.

Isabel Allende's "The Wind Knows My Name" takes readers on a rich journey through history and human resilience. Spanning continents and decades, the novel follows Samuel Adler's escape from Nazi persecution in 1938 Vienna, Leticia's survival after the El Mozote massacre in 1981 El Salvador, and Anita Diaz's struggle as a blind child separated from her mother in 2019 due to American policies. Allende skillfully weaves these narratives through Selena Duran's compassionate lens, highlighting the challenges faced by refugees and the fight for justice. The book's exploration of immigration, family separation, and trauma resonates deeply, offering a testament to hope and solidarity in the face of adversity.

I really enjoyed this one from the very first page! It was engaging and consistently interested me! Isabel Allende is one of my all-time favorite authors, so this book was something I was excited for from the get-go. I was happily correct in assuming it would be a great one! I'll probably integrate this into a future classroom as well.

What a treat to receive two immigration stories in one book, but overall, I felt divided. In different parts of the world and in different time periods, two young children are separated from their families due to terrifying but different circumstances. In 1938, six year old Sam Adler, a talented violinist, escapes Nazi-occupied Austria (and the Holocaust) via kindertrain but boards without his parents. In 2019, a blind 7 year old girl, Anita Diaz and her mother, escape their dangerous home country of El Salvador yet were unfortunately separated when they reached the U.S. border. The parallels of immigration and its negative effects were obvious yet how they were tied together was by an unbelievable coincidence. Each story is deserving of their own book. The writing was polished like all of Isabel Allende’s works, but the stories were disjointed and felt rushed (the novel was not even 300 pages). I would have preferred a more in depth story of Sam Adler: his childhood, adult life, and how his horrific war experiences affected how he went about life. I didn’t enjoy the contemporary story as much because it was told through a political lens. I really wanted to love this like several other Isabel Allende novels I’ve read, but it fell flat … or half of it did and that is unfortunate. 3 stars.

I want to thank Netgalley, Ballantine Books and the author for an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to netgalley.com for this ARC.

I am a huge Isabel Allende fan. I have read most of her books and have enjoyed them all. This book si no exception. Taking on several different timelines and different points of view, leading towards a combined story. Starting with the exile of children in Austria during WWII, going to the massacres in Ecuador, COVID, and culminating in the crisis of migrant children in our country now. This book takes on a lot and explores so many different topics but does it in a way that is not overwhelming or too much.

Highly recommend this for all Isabel Allende fans.

Heartbreaking at times, with Isabel Allende’s beautiful writing showing how peace and love can triumph over hate and pain. There were many characters stories and think that was perhaps too many, but that is my only complaint. Isabel Allende writes so eloquently and the story was wonderful. She is a treasure and I only discovered her books two years ago. Loved this story.

Thank you NetGalley, Isabel Allende, and Random House for a copy of this book. I always leave reviews for books I read.

I will start off and say that I'm not usually a historical fiction reader, however-- I do appreciate Allende's writing. This is a long over-due review, but the short of it is that I admired her approach on migration and loss. I think that the weaving of timelines sets up the reader to witness the similarities between 1938 and 2019.

It's 1938 and Samuel Adler is a young Jewish boy living in Vienna, Austria. After the horrors of Kristallnacht, Samuel is sent to England by his mother, knowing that this is the only way to ensure Samuel's safety.

Fast forward 81 years and it's 2019. Readers are introduced to Anita, a young Salvadoran girl who, like Samuel did so many years ago, is escaping from the violence of her country. Entering the US as illegal aliens, Anita is separated from her mother, thus putting into motion how the lives of Samuel and Anita eventually intersect.

There are a lot of voices in this book, so it can be a little challenging to keep track of everyone, but the author does tie things together nicely toward the end of the book. The message is a strong one -- we never know how we can be impacted by total strangers. An interesting read, though I felt at times, there was too much narrative about current and past events that took away from the plot line.

Thank you to #NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group and Ballantine for an electronic ARC of #TheWindKnowsMyName.

Allende has been one of my top
Five writers since I found her writing around 2000. It is an always immersive, beautiful, and raw. This proved no different though still very different due to its focus on WWII and Europe.

A wonderful story full of deep emotional turmoil and timely views on the world. There are few better writers than Isabel Allende that force readers to examine themselves and the world while reading an engaging narrative.

I really enjoyed this book. This is a fantastic story by a fantastic author. The book goes back and forth between several characters which at first don't seem totally related, however the author pulls it all together with the stories in the end and it all falls into place.
The book follows Anita, a child who is taken from her mother as they try to enter the US through illegal channels. The mother is deported to Mexico, as Anita fights to survive alone in a strange place as a 7 year old who can barely speak English and is partially blind. Her case is taken on by a Pro Bono attorney, Frank and a social worker, Selena. Frank and Selena work tirelessly to find her mother, and to make sure she is not deported. Along the way we learn their stories, as well as many other key players in the story.
This book addresses the challenges of our immigration crisis of the more recent years, as well as taking us all back to the time of the Holocaust. Times have not changed, as we had hoped and we are still making mistakes in how we are handling the situation, and also the handling of the people in the situation.
I would definitely recommend this book to others who like historical fiction works.

This is not the first book of Isabel Allende’s that I have read; nor will it be the last! I have fallen in love with each and every one of her stories, and The Wind Knows My Name is no exception. It’s a short, beautifully written story that packs a lot of information and emotion into its relatively few pages.

There still are many of Ms. Allende's books I've purchased in my "to be read pile." However, I was provided an advanced reader's copy of the Wind Knows My Name from NetGalley for free, for which I am thankful. I’m also thankful to Ms. Allende and her publisher, Ballantine Books, for allowing me to read the advanced copy. My review of this book is entirely VOLUNTARY.

The story involves a lot of tragedy and loss but also love and compassion. It begins with a young boy forcibly separated from his family during WWII immediately following the infamous and deadly “Night of Broken Glass,” or “Kristallnacht,” when Nazis and Nazi sympathizers carried out a coordinated wave of anti-Jewish violence on November 9 and 10, 1938 throughout Germany, annexed Austria and parts of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. Rioters destroyed hundreds of synagogues and Jewish institutions, leaving many synagogues burning throughout the night in full view of the public and firefighters, who had orders to intervene only to prevent flames from spreading to nearby non Jewish buildings. Approximately 7,500 Jewish-owned commercial establishments had their windows shattered and their wares looted. Many Jewish cemeteries also were desecrated. About 30,000 Jewish men were arrested that night and sent to various concentration camps, where most died, but hundreds of men probably lost their lives on that night or within days of it from brutal beatings by the crowds. Fearing for their lives, many mothers sent their young children alone by train to Britain to live with strangers, hoping eventually to be reunited, in a mass rescue effort by the British government known as Kindertransport. The young boy at the beginning of Allende’s novel, Samuel Adler, was one of these children.

After relating the horrors committed by the Nazis, The Wind Knows My Name goes on to tell of atrocities against various communities wiped out throughout South America during the 1980s and 1990s, resulting from various civil wars and interference by the US government, mass political corruption, and drug cartels. It is at this time we learn of a little girl, Leticia, miraculously saved from the obliteration of her community because she was away at the time recovering from a serious illness.

The book eventually comes full circle, uniting Samuel, now an old man, Leticia, and another young child left alone not only due to the ongoing brutality against women and children in her home country of El Salvador but also because of recent US border policies during the Trump administration of deliberately separating children from parents and failing to keep records of where each went.

The Wind Knows My Name is a relatively short book, at less than 270 pages, but it packs a lot of information, a lot of violence, a lot of emotion, and a lot of love into its short package. I recommend reading it for all, but especially for those who do not lean too far right on the political spectrum.

Allende explores the themes of migration and the vulnerability of young migrants with a cast of characters it is impossible to not fall in love with. As the characters' lives weave together, it is hard to not be drawn in by her writing and the worlds she creates. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for both a good story and an entry point into thinking about the situation at the border. While it is necessary to also do outside research, Allende gives us a glimpse into the topic.

In this beautifully written novel of separation and heartache, Allende masterfully weaves together four individual stories of triumph through tragedy. This epic novel delicately details the crisis at the Mexico/United States boarder, and compares this trauma of separation to the separation endured by kids and parents of the Kindertransport during WWII. This story is beautifully written and takes its time telling the characters stories. It takes awhile before the four characters stories are intertwined, but it is fulfilling and eloquently done. I would recommend this book to book clubs as there are many issues within the novel that can be discussed.