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.

THE WIND KNOWS MY NAME has a stunning cover and is the latest work of historical fiction by Isabel Allende, an award winning author long fascinated by questions related to the immigrant experience (The Japanese Lover; In the Midst of Winter). Here, Allende relates the story of Samuel, a young Jew from Vienna and part of the Kindertransport; of Leticia, whose family was killed at the 1981 El Mozote massacre; and of Anita, a young, partially blind girl from El Salvador who was separated from her mother in 2019 by the US border police. Allende definitely evokes empathy for these characters. Each story is harrowing in its own way, but this very emotional novel ultimately ends on a hopeful note as they coalesce into a family unit of sorts. THE WIND KNOWS MY NAME received a starred review from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly. 4.5 stars

Four stories weave together in this multigeneration story from Isabel Allende that tells the plight of immigrants from WWII to the modern day. I enjoyed this but it was very heavy at times.

I loved how the characters stories wove together. The book opens your eyes to how many times in history children are taken from their parents and how much suffering has resulted from those actions.

fantastic. no other words. I have to collect myself when i finish her books. it's possible something was lost in the translation, but i thoroughly loved this story. yes it will break your heart. most war stories and especially immigration stories do. but it's so worth your time

👋 Hey, Hey, Hey - Mini Reviews 👋

Hey! Zoe and I are still here, but it’s taking longer than anticipated for me to get back to regular posting. 😜 Having kids out of school makes unpacking harder and I knew we had a ton of stuff, but phew! 🫣 It’s ridiculous even with the excessive purging. 📦📦📦

Here are the books I’ve read since I’ve been absent/moving…I’m still reading! OK, so audiobooks mostly, but I’m getting them checked off! ✅✅✅

The Wind Knows My Name - This one had such a unique premise! A Jewish man who was separated from his family due to WWII decides to take in a blind El Salvadoran girl whose mother was doing everything in her power to get them to the US. Powerful story and writing. ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Beautifully written historical fiction. Love how everyone’s stories intertwined in the end to create a beautiful family of unrelated individuals

This was such an interesting story! I really enjoyed the unique plot and the characters. I look forward to the author’s next work!

Four compelling storylines, skillfully woven together by Ms. Allende whose writing transports readers into her story's space. Feel the breezes, atmosphere and smell the smells. . .I love her writing.

These stories are laced with traumatic happenings. . .and show the effect - deep and lifelong in the persons who carry them. Reading this book has been a compassion building exercise for me - there's a reason people do (or don't do) what they do. . .their histories are ever-present in their everyday decision making. When you are impatient, judgmental, dismissive or indifferent in your reactions to others - question yourself as to why and take a moment to think about the person who's triggering that reaction. Trauma is probably standing close by. . .

Four stars. . .windy and wise, and who know your name . . .worry not. . .

*A sincere thank you to Isabel Allende, Random House Publishing-Ballantine, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and independently review.* #TheWindKnowsMyName #NetGalley

I enjoyed the first part of this book. The setting was the beginning of World War II and families being separated. Samuel Adler was sent to safety by his mother after much anguish and with his father's disappearance. However, the time frame was cut short on Adler's fate. He was a frightened little boy not knowing if he will ever see his mother again and then a young man in the United States meeting his wife. 20% of the book was historical fiction with the rest of our current state of the southern border and Covind 19.

The connection was families escaping drug cartels and sending their children to safety to the United States. Adler in his later years connects to one of those children who lost everything. They are connected by Selena Duran, a young social worker who is assigned the case of Anita Diaz who has been separated from her mother. Selena with a lawyer friend worked together to find Anita's mother so she could stay in the United States.

For me there was a vast time line and many characters that made up this connection that it fell apart for me.

A special thank you to Random House Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

Another beautiful book from Allende. A bit different as so much of it is set in the United States and modern. But nonetheless, timely and immersive. Told from multiple viewpoints and times, this is ultimately a story of family. Samuel was a child of the kindertransport who has lived a long life and currently lives in Berkeley, where his longtime housekeeper Lettie has moved in during Covid. Lettie is a child of El Salvador and the horrible atrocities that occurred there during their Civil War. Then there is Selena, a social worker for immigrant children and Frank, a lawyer taking on immigrant cases in hopes of winning over Selena. And in the middle of all of these characters is Anita, a little girl who fled El Salvador with her mother. They ended up in a detention center and were separated. Allende does a masterful job of weaving all of the stories and characters together (as usual) - crafting a beautiful and heart wrenching novel.

Allende’s books are so stunningly written and this was no exception. Truly a gifted storyteller. This was at times tough to read but ultimately a story about never giving up one’s dreams.
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Thank you #randomhouse and #NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

I have never read anything by Isabel Allende before this novel. I know she’s a well-known, well-respected author, critically acclaimed and with a string of best-sellers. I just hadn’t come across her books before — and so, when I got the chance to read this, I was thrilled to!

The novel is a historical and contemporary work of literary fiction; weaving together multiple, seemingly disparate threads, across time and distance. This is a story of multigenerational, intergenerational trauma and the power of found family, the connections we build through shared experience and history. The novel begins with a young boy, left bereft by World War II and the holocaust, then segues into the latter end of the 20th century, refocusing on a young woman whose own life was torn apart by political and real warfare in El Salvador. The paths of these two individuals merge together in 2017 when the United States begins its policy of deporting refugees and refusing asylum to those at the Mexican-US border.

This is a harrowing story, one designed to evoke an emotional response, to serve as an act of resistance and resilience, a political statement and work of activism. It delivers on all these points.

To meet the novel’s objectives, Allende writes simply. The language is straightforward and direct, with little metaphor or room for interpretation; it is accessible in order to reach diverse readers. The prose possesses a determined clarity, one which all readers will appreciate. But readers should not confuse simplicity for lack of depth; Allende’s writing is emotionally charged, it reveals a deep awareness of human frailty and response to trauma.

It is this reader’s opinion that few readers will able to walk away from this novel unmoved by its content and message.

I loved this story and how all the characters were connected. My only criticism is I think it should have been longer. The relationships between all the characters should have been fleshed out more to make their connections more relatable, realistic, and less rushed. I felt no connection to the characters because there just wasn’t enough to create that connection for me.

Isabel Allende is an absolute legend. I grew up reading her books in Spanish and now I get to read them with a completely different mindset and a deeper understanding. I love her to death.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.

While there is no doubt that Isabell Allende is a masterful storyteller, this book did not work for me.

The format is one of many characters, each with their own chapters and POV. However, for me there were far too many characters and voices, leaving me not invested in many of them. While I was invested in the child Anita's story, the chapters with her voice did not work for me. By the time the ending and resolution came around when all the characters become connected, it was too little too late for me.

Another issue I had is the pandemic. I have read quite a few novels that were set during 2020 and beyond. The subject matter itself doesn't bother me, but this felt heavy-handed to me. There was a lot of explaining what was happening in the world then, which readers in 2023 don't need to hear.

Because Allende attempts to put so much story in the novel, it ends up being a lot of telling rather than showing, which made me lose interest rapidly. I wish there were fewer characters and a simpler story that allowed us to get deeply in to the story, rather than glossing over large parts of it.