I am a huge fan of Isabel Allende’s engaging and encompassing style of storytelling. She is a master of her craft and I will always, always reach for her books with delight. The Wind Knows My Name is another gorgeously written tale that looks at the intricate web of a few extraordinary, ordinary lives.

So, why the three stars? This book was a bit too political and covers topics that still feel too raw for fiction (for me). Allende is passionate in a way that I admire, but I struggled with this book and it’s ties to (very) current affairs. Still, a well-imagined story that has all the hallmarks of classic Allende.

The Wind Knows My Name, by Isabel Allende

adventurous challenging emotional informative sad medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0

I love how Isabelle Allende writes. It’s nearly impossible for me to read through her books quickly because I want to soak in every sentence. When I received approval for an ARC of “the wind knows my name” I couldn’t wait to set aside time to sit and read.

The story tells of the experiences of several families from different eras who have migrated to flee war and other violence (some of which has been fueled by the US government). The trauma of the past is compounded by the trauma of the migration journey.

Children and parents are pulled apart. And thanks to social workers and others with big hearts like Selena, who cannot bear the cruelty, reconciliation is possible as well as appropriate legal representation.

I appreciate how Allende blends some of the storylines together. She reflects the reality that while the endings are not always happy, because of basic human kindness, people can experience the fullness of relationships even when unexpected.

Good book!

#TheWindKnowsMyName
#Netgalley

Isabell Allende is one of my favorite authors who I’ve been reading since high school. Her books have meant different things to me at different times. This book was no different in that aspect—this is an important book that spans time and isn’t just your regular historical fiction, but does intertwine with present day. I loved the alternating views, her beautiful prose, and the entire plot and story. As always, Allende’s characters were well drawn out
and complex. I absolutely loved this book!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC for review.

I love Isabell Allende! This felt like somewhat of a departure for her; I always think of historical fiction when her names comes to mind. This was part historical fiction, with beginning scenes set during Nazi-occupied Vienna. The story of Sam, sent on a kindertransport to England, mirrors the rest of the story. The present day is set in the world of undocumented Anita, who is separated from her mother after they cross into the US. We follow her story, along with the social worker and lawyer who are trying to find a safe place for her to live. Both stories intersect, although it took a while for them to converge. I was happy with the payoff, and loved spending time in her beautiful words.

Isabel Allende is a Queen, and this story will always stick with me. This story interweaves three stories in the past and present tracing the ripple effects of war and immigration from one child in Europe in World War II and another in present day in the covid pandemic. It is about conflicts in which children have no part but suffer the most. Allende teaches us that the wind knows us, no matter how hard and hopeless life may be, so we are never lost. She tells a powerful and heartbreaking story about three families: Samuel Adler, a Jew who through his mother's love, managed to escape Vienna during a time when the Jewish community was being exterminated, Lety, a migrant from El Salvador who lost her family during a massacre that plummeted her village, Marisol and Anita, a mother and daughter seeking asylum in the US after fleeing a violence-ridden El Salvador. The timelines were so easy to follow and I cared for these families so much. I learned a lot about immigration, and it is relevant to the times we are living in.

I'm not crying, you are! Isabel Allende is a master of her craft. This story was many beautifully interwoven tales that show the real pain and damage that fascists cause, especially to innocent children. The resilience that the characters showed was like no other. Anita and Samuel, though they dealt with being casualties of fascist regimes in different eras, found solace in each other and were able to understand each other on a different level. As someone that works in immigration rights in the US, I appreciate Isabel Allende casting light on the atrocity that is the situation at the border and how the damage being done to the children is as horrible as what was done to children that were separated from their parents in the holocaust.

This is a great novel that shows and made me feel how it is to be an immigrant in the United States. How dire circumstances, like wars and corruption can force a person to flee ones country and seek refuge in another country. The two instances that made the two main characters flee were both heart retching and so horrible I wonder how anyone that truly had to live these events came out of it with any sanity at all.
I felt like I was with Samuel Adler as he had to leave his mother in Vienna in 1938 while the Germans destroyed everything the family own and took away his father. I wish I could have stopped the pain that little boy had to go through. Or Anita Diaz who was taken away from her mother, never to be seen again, as they cross the border of the United States, not as a criminal but as desperate people who were fleeing their home in El Salvador, so that they wouldn't get killed by a corrupted official who wanted them dead. So sad and yet many people have taken refugee in United States for the same reason.
I found this novel very moving and I love the way Isabel Allende puts so much realism into her novels, so that you can actually step into the characters shoes and feel what they feel when their lives fall apart. I also love how even in the worst circumstances that these two children were able to find someone to finally see them and take care of them, changing their lives for the better.
Terrific story and I hope it will put a realistic look at how important it is that the United States has a more open heart about immigration and puts a face to those need our help.
I want to thank Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Boo and NetGalley for an advance copy of this moving novel.

I was so very fortunate to have received an ARC for the latest book from one of my favorite authors! This book is completely different from her last piece but just as wonderful. Two seemingly disparate stories are told throughout the book, different time periods, geographical settings, and characters. Both are compelling and stand alone. At the very end, they merge together beautifully. I really appreciate it when authors keep you thinking while reading and this author is masterful. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Once again Isabelle Allende delivers a thought-provoking book in her new novel, The Wind Knows My Name. There are two timelines in this book. In one, we follow the story of Simon Adler from 1938 until the present and learn how his life was upended by the Holocaust as a young child. In the second timeline starting in 2019, we learn about Anita, a young refugee from El Salvador. Her life is affected by violence and the politics of immigration in both her own country and in the United States. Simon’s and Anita’s lives intersect in this well developed story. Isabelle Allende writes from her heart in beautiful prose that makes you want to re-read the book again. After you read this book, you will never be able to look at immigration issues in the same way. I highly recommend this book for readers who love Isabel’s writing style and who enjoy reading about issues that affect real people. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the advanced copy of this book.

I admit that this book did not instantly grab me as some of her previous works have, but after taking a break from it at 48% and picking it back up a couple of weeks later, it completely hooked me!

Isabel Allende’s way of telling women’s stories will forever be a favorite of mine. This is her second novel that I read in English and her essence is still in every word.

Overall, a tough but beautiful book. My Queen has done it again!

Thank you to Net Galley for the advance copy of this title. This is a beautiful, sweeping story that begins with a young Jewish boy named Samuel who sent to England from Austria in order to save him from the Holocaust. Sadly, he is never reunited with his family, and grows up in England. On a trip to the US, he meets the love of his life, and they eventually settle in California. The second storyline weaves a woman who escaped from El Salvador in the 1980s and a young blind girl who is separated from her mother at the border in 2020. All these worlds collide at the beginning of the COVID lockdown in the most beautiful way. I have loved all of Isabel Allende's book, but this one may be my favorite. Highly recommend.

Another beautiful book by this author, granted very heavy. But the story flowed well though and call came together in the end.

this was a HEAVY book. I love Allende's writing, so it was all done with grace and beauty. I liked the different POVs presented, as it kept the story moving along.

A masterful historical and literary work from a talented voice. Isabel Allende leads us through difficulties in history and beauty in experiences with a master’s touch.

Like every Isabel Allende, The Wind Knows My Name develops rich characters and seemingly disparate stories that flow together and connect richly.

Samuel Adler is forced to leave his homeland of Austria after violence against Jewish citizens becomes too dangerous. He is taken to England without any of his family as a war orphan.

More recently, Anita and her mother Marisol flee danger in El Salvador only to be separated at the border by The United States’ cruel immigration policies. Anita is a nearly blind child as a result of a car accident. Separated from her mother, she is lost and doesn’t fit in with others in foster care.

Selena works for a nonprofit that deals with immigration, and she enlists the help of a lawyer named Frank. Together they try to find Marisol so they can reunite her with her daughter.

There are other characters, like Leticia, Frank’s wife Nadine, and Anita’s grandmother. All of them are distinct and well-defined, and when they come together it makes for a very satisfying story. I like her writing style very much and will continue to read her work.

Many thanks to Random House Group and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC.

NOTE: I received early access to this manuscript in exchange for writing an impartial review. Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books. Publication Date: June 6, 2023.

Isabel Allende is one of my favorite authors, in part because of her skillful use of language which so often reads more like poetry. I don’t think this particular novel is her best, although the prose is still top notch. What makes it worth reading though is her ability to create a handful of distinctive characters readers will care about. Awarded four stars on Goodreads.

THE WIND KNOWS MY NAME makes some interesting connections between seemingly disparate stories in different time periods. It begins with Kristallnacht in 1938 in Vienna. The Adlers, a Jewish family facing the growing Nazi threat, must protect their five-year-old son Samuel, a violin prodigy, at all cost. The parents make the unimaginable decision to send Samuel away to England on the now famous Kindertransport.

A second story line centers on Selena Durán, a social worker involved in immigration work along the southern border of the United States. Long engaged to a traditionally-minded truck driver, Selena’s true passion is her work — helping families reunite after government-imposed separation.

Then there’s seven-year-old Anita Diaz, a Salvadoran refugee Selena is working with, who has been separated from her mother by U.S. immigration officials. Frightened, traumatized, and shuffled around, Anita is nevertheless convinced she will soon be reunited with her mother.

There are a few notable supportive characters as well:

• An wealthy attorney who discovers that immigration law is more fulfilling that getting guilty rich people off the hook.
• A former Latin American immigrant now settled in San Francisco, completely dedicated to the elderly music professor whose home she cleans.
• A disgraced police officer providing security for a organization clouded in mystery.

Though Allende jumps from story to story (a technique I admit I DON’T love) -- and not connecting them all until the very end -- she does deal successfully with some BIG themes. She draws parallels between contemporary events that are widely accepted and similar ones in the past that are universally condemned. She makes human the plight of each refugee eager to enter the United States. And she makes a strong argument for the often unrecognized heroism of those people working behind the scenes on behalf of desperate people. Strongly recommended.

Book: The Winds Knows My Name
Author: Isabel Allende
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine Books
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Pub Date: June 6, 2023
My Rating: 3.5 Stars

Story stars in Kristallnacht, Austria and the terrible actions against Jews.
Story features three families’ stories.
Samuel Adler, a Jew who through his mother's love, managed to escape Vienna during a time where the Jewish community was being exterminated,
Lety, a migrant from El Salvador who lost her family during a massacre that destroyed her village,
Marisol and Anita are a mother and daughter seeking asylum in the US after fleeing the violence in El Salvador.

~ WWII a child in Europe
~ Present day ~ A child during the Covid pandemic.
It is about the conflicts children suffer in which they really have no part.

As we follow several these families as see that they are bound by tragedy.
We get a look at the tragedies in El Salvador and have a better understand why the immigrants are trying to come to the US.

“The Wind Knows my Name” was chosen as a title as author ,Isabel Allende’s belief is that the wind knows us, no matter how hard and hopeless life may be.

This is my eighth Allende novel. Although all are great, my favorites are "Daughter of Fortune" and "The Japanese Lover"!

There is no doubt that Ms. Allende’s fans are going to loves this.

Want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine Books for granted me this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for June 6, 2023

Good historical fiction. I would recommend it to fans of Isabel Allende. I did not enjoy the dual timelines. I find myself enjoying one POV more than the other. I enjoyed Violetta more than this one as it focused on one titular character.

After forays into different literary forms, Isabel Allende returns to that which makes her such a special writer. The personal history portrayed against the backdrop of shattering events. The interweaving of histories that at first seem disparate, then seamlessly meshing. The fates of innocents caught in the crossfires, attempts to escape from Kristallnacht to horrendous massacres in El Salvador. And Allende incorporates her take on the effect of the cruelty of the tRump regime and their cluelessness regarding the COVID pandemic on the country and the world. Highly recommended.

I requested this book through NetGalley & luckily they approved my request. This is the 2nd book by Isabel Allende, I really enjoy her writing style but I will admit that the beginning of the story kind of dragged a bit for me. The story starts out with a little boy by the name of Samuel in Europe during World War II and goes back and forth and Anita a little girl in the present. Both of them go through terrible ordeals but the end up meeting in the present. Have the tissues nearby.