Allende has done something interesting here by introducing us to different refugee situations and then having their lives entwine. If you think about it, writing this must have been quite difficult to do successfully. It's a smooth read and engaging enough that I didn't want to put it down until I reached the end. It's the kind of story that stays with you and this would be a great pick for book clubs. And... I wish every politician would read this book so that they could put more of a face on the people whose future they are impacting.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. I hope it gets a very wide readership.

A beautiful and stunning story.
Many thanks to Random House and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I so wanted to love this book, its premise is intriguing, and it could have been a deeply emotional eye-opening story - but, there was little of the great storytelling we have come to love from Allende, and it was written with a curious sense of detachment. It was impossible to feel much for these characters whose lives unfold like a history lesson told to get the facts across without much feeling behind the tragedies depicted. Disappointing.

The power of Isabel Allende’s writing once again grasps her readers hearts and takes control. This beautiful read follows the lives of Samuel, who was thrust into a horrific situation as a six year old when his mother sent him to England to escape Nazi Germany. His losses and sense of abandonment remained with him throughout his life.
Many many years later his own experiences aid him in helping Anita, a blind seven year old who has been caught in the illegal immigrant disaster after leaving El Salvador and losing her mother. Their stories so tugged at my heartstrings and left sadness and frustration for these poor children abandoned by their parents in hopes that they will live a better life.
The other characters in this story add so much more - Leticia whose caring and curiosity made such a difference, Nadine whose independence was thought provoking, Selena whose perseverance and concern for children made such a difference and Frank, whose introduction to Selena caused him to realize the important things in life, totally changing his own life.
I so appreciated Isabel Allende’s political stances, particularly on the subject of immigration. I have long wondered what I would do if I had young children that I felt were so endangered that their lives were at risk. Would I be able to turn them over to strangers hoping they will have a better life? Allende brought forth the horrors of living in the different conditions these innocent children are subjected to, not knowing the language, being moved from place to place, and , most of all, wondering where those they love are and when they are coming back for them.
Many many thanks to Isabel Allende, Ballantine Books, and NetGalley for affording me the opportunity to read an arc of this recently published book that so captured my heart.

"The Wind Knows My Name" by Isabel Allende is a beautifully crafted novel that weaves together history, love, and self-discovery into a mesmerizing tapestry. Allende's prose effortlessly transports readers to a bygone era, immersing them in the turbulent times of the early 20th century.

The story follows Alma, a determined young woman who embarks on a quest to unravel the mysteries of her family's past. Allende masterfully brings to life the characters and settings, painting vivid landscapes and crafting complex individuals with unique personalities and motivations. Alma's journey takes us from the bustling streets of San Francisco to the enchanting landscapes of Chile, providing a rich backdrop for the emotional and historical threads of the narrative.

One of the highlights of this novel is Allende's ability to blend historical accuracy with a touch of magic realism. The seamless integration of fantastical elements adds an ethereal quality to the story, enhancing the exploration of themes such as identity, love, and the profound connection between humans and nature. The wind itself becomes a character, whispering secrets and guiding Alma's path.

While "The Wind Knows My Name" is a captivating and immersive journey, some readers may find the pacing to be a bit slow at times. The intricate details and extensive historical context can occasionally slow down the narrative, requiring patience from those seeking a faster-paced story. However, for those who savor the journey as much as the destination, this novel will undoubtedly leave a lasting impression.

I've loved so much of Isabel Allende's work. House of Spirits and Daughter of Fortune will remain on my shelf of favorites forever.

In the Wind Knows My Name, Allende tells the story of two refugees from violence who come to the US to remake themselves. Their stories are remarkable and profound. Unfortunately, Allende tells much of that story through a summation of the historical and political events that underpinned their immigrations. I wish that she had let the characters tell their story for themselves, even at the risk of letting the novel run much longer.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What a story, heart breaking all around yet full of hope. At first it is confusing as the author sets up the story and introduces the characters. It jumps between the past and the present and back again until you finally see that connection between all the characters and their stories. There are two stories, both similar in their desire to find family after suffering untold trauma and tragedy in their lives. Samuel, a Jew, was sent to England on the Kinder-transport as a young boy of 4, only to be orphaned during WWII. Looking to belong and seeking his identity, he grows to be a loner content in his love of music as a violinist. Likewise, a young girl, an illegal immigrant and separated from her mother at the border is fleeing from El Salvador for their safety. Anita is semi-blind from an accident where her younger sister died and her mother had been shot. So much loss in her life, she too struggles as she is moved from home to home and needs to learn to trust others again. Brought together by two people who are passionate in helping others, how Samuel and Anita's stories finally come together and in turn hold each other up with hope for the future, is comforting. Well written, Allende takes you along on their journeys and explores the realities of childhood trauma, the search for identity, finding a sense of belonging, and finding your home. I thought this a good story, easy to relate to in face of our country's current state and concerns at our borders, and a wake-up to the realities that may explain why some people are so desperate to come to the United States. People want to live in a safe world, they did during WWII and continue today. A great read, a sad read, but hopeful for humanity that others care. Hopeful that this concept wins out.
Many thanks to #netgalley, #isabelallende #thewindknowsmyname #randomhouse for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The Wind Knows My Name is the story of many immigrant people who are looking to save their lives and start in another country, running from the evilness and the terrible hand of the traffickers and polleros, people without any empathy only look make money and destroy the lives of many, this is the story of many and the story we keep hearing and listening over and over at the border, people coming from all parts of the world seeking asylum and help from the USA only to find discrimination, racism and violation of their right over and over again. There is NO justice in this country not if you're seeking help.

The story started during WW2 Samuel was left alone his mother thought she was doing the right thing shipping Samule to another country before the Nasiz started to kill people and kids, Samules life was drastically changing into a terrible nightmare, he didn't know if he was going to be able to finally be free and see his parents ever again.

Anita Diaz is escaping from the evilness of the South American government and narcos who just want to steal and make the life of everybody terrible, Anita is running from her life, out of the country only to find herself, secluded in a "jail" separated from her mother put in a cage like a delinquent, like if she was somehow the evil people seeking asylum rather an innocent 5 year old who couldn't see and whos mother was running from a terrible evil ignorant second class man yea I called him second class because that type of men will never be a human, they dont belong to that category, they're inhumane low-class people.

The Wind Knows My Name is the many stories of many immigrants seeking help in different times and eres but a the end both stories come to a common ground and conclusion that will make you cry and feel like there is hope after all.

Selena is a great character she is the one who somehow united both stories making Anit and Samuel a parallel story, I really love how Isabel always writes stories that will connect somehow eventually without even knowing how.

One of the saddest parts of these books was the way people treated children during ww2, I never understood why at those times, people were so cold, like they didn't understand how to treat kids, they were treated like they were animals or better say worst than animals it was disgusting, and I hope all those people are paying the karma they deserve for their terrible ways of eating others.

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books, for the advanced copy of The Wind Knows My Name in exchange for my honest review.

For more reviews and bookish posts on my bookish blog at https://www.ManOfLaBook.com

The Wind Knows My Name by Isabel Allende is a novel spanning decades about the plight of refugees. Ms. Allende is a prolific award-winning American-Chilean author.

Samuel Adler was six-years-old when his mother put him on a train to England after Kristallnacht. In England Samuel, a gifted musician, struggles and hopes he’ll see his parents again.

In 1019, blind seven-year-old Anita Diaz has escaped certain death in El Salvador to seek shelter in the United States. However, she has been separated from her mother, as per the government’s policy at the time.

This novel brings together a cast of characters that probably never would have met without the aid of the author. Even though this is a different kind of book, The Wind Knows My Name by Isabel Allende is still a well-written story, with an interesting story and engaging characters.

Ms. Allende focuses on children, and how policies of cruelty use them as pawns. Only the fact that good people have attempted to help them save those children. There is clearly a political agenda in this book, the author leans into it, and it seemed it’s something she wanted to get off her chest for a few years.

The narrative in this book is very lovely, but it drags on in some parts and feels disjointed at times. Here and there the story seems forced. This is a story of survival, however, and that good people, without any power, can make a real difference in individual lives.

I thought that when the two narratives merged together it didn’t feel natural, forced. I also had a difficult time believing that a high-end lawyer and a social worker can spend so much time on Anita’s case. Including globe-trotting travels and a somewhat awkward relationship.

The strength of the book is the characterization. The story is nothing special, I read similar stories over the years. Yet each character in the book feels like a real person.

I enjoyed this book very much; it was easy to read and dealt with relevant issues we hear about daily. Ms. Allende tells a story that shows the commonality between two different experiences across decades.

Isabel Allende always writes some beautiful stories and this was no exception. It begins with a young boy named Samuel Adler who is living with his parents in Vienna. When Kristallnacht occurred, his father disappeared and life became very difficult for his family.

In desperation, his mother put him on the Kindertransport, where he was relocated to the UK and taken in by a nice family. Samuel ends up working with the Symphony and later as a college professor at Berkeley.

In another storyline, Anita has come illegally to the US with her mother. They are soon separated and her mother cannot be found. Anita, is seven years old and blind. Selena a social worker and a San Fransisco attorney work together to locate any of Anita’s family.

As luck would have it, Anita has a distant cousin who just happens to be the housekeeper for Samuel Adler. I loved the parallels between what Samuel endured as a child and what Anita has gone through.

As much as I loved the story, I could have done without the politics of illegal immigration. Numerous administrations have failed to address the issue in any meaningful way and for the author to subtly lay blame at any one of them added nothing to the story.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for allowing me to read an advance copy. I am happy to offer my honest review.

What a poignant story that weaves together past and present, tracing the ripple effects of war and immigration on one child in Europe in 1938 and another in the United States in 2019. This story presents a history we've not learned a lesson as a country. How many times must children be torn from parents during times of peril? Its touching, heartbreaking, and meaningful to understand the hope and healing on the other side of hardship.

The author's notes are not to be missed!

Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Ballantine Books for the complimentary copy.

A layered story of different people across three generations who all fled their home countries as children to find safety. Through weaving lines running from the early 1940s through 2021, this book tells the stories of persecution and recovery. Allende has built a story that is both beautiful and heartbreaking. It is a poignant political commentary wrapped up in a beautifully written novel.

The Wind Knows My Name by Isabel Allende

The Wind Knows My Name, takes the reader on a nightmare around the world through some of the darkest moments in history; the Nazi seizure of Vienna (1938), the El Mozote massacre in El Salvador (1981), and the United States border separations (2019). Isabel Allende clearly illustrates the horror of these times with a special focus on the devastating effects endured by innocent children as they are separated from their homes and families. The author expertly tackles this difficult topic, weaving the events together in such a way that alongside the brutality, we also witness the compassionate nature of human beings. This is a must read for anyone who wishes to gain more understanding of the immigrant experience. For those who would like to learn more about the border separations, the author acknowledges the book Separated: Inside an American Tragedy by Jacob Soboroff.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for sending this book for review consideration.

A wonderfully well-written story about immigration, war, family, identity, etc. the wind knows my name tracks two parallel stories-one in pre-WW2 Germany and one In modern-day US. The two children at the center are sent to other countries for chances of freedom and a better life, but under different circumstances and reasons, what happens to these two children and their life trajectory as adande explores complex issues and shows how these issues have been here for generations, the characters are well-written and sympathetic. Adande is a master of her craft and there isn’t much else to say!

Thanks to the publisher for providing the ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

As a long-term Isabel Allende’s fan, I was delighted to receive an advance reader copy of The Wind Knows My Name from Ballantine/Random House via NetGalley.

The opening chapter introduces the Adler family while the next two chapters focus increasingly on Rudolph and Rachel Adler’s young son Samuel. Germany had annexed Austria in March 1938, and Viennese Jews are worried as they hear the news of a German diplomat shot and killed in Paris by a Polish Jew. Leaving his medical practice uncharacteristically early on November 9, 1938, Rudolph encounters chaos in the streets as Nazis attack Vienna’s Jewish neighborhood in what would become known as Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass. Desperate to find her missing husband and to obtain visas permitting the family to flee Vienna, but facing obstacles at every turn, Rachel has a chance to save five-year-old Samuel, a music prodigy, by placing him on a Kindertransport to England. Eventually, his music interests lead him to the U.S.

One by one, Allende introduces three more plot lines. Now an adult, Letitia and her father, a farmer, fled El Salvador following the 1981 Mozote Massacre. Selena Durán, an Arizona social worker, arrives at a San Francisco law firm, determined to recruit pro bono legal aid for undocumented children separated from their parents at the border. Anita, one of those children in Nogales, carries on a mysterious monologue, talking to someone named Claudia about the magical kingdom of Azabahar.

Allende holds the reader’s attention with these four plot lines, gradually bringing them together.

With substantial parts of the novel set in 2020, The Wind Knows My Name frequently tackles political issues and will likely offend many conservative readers. Some may even be angered by Allende’s explanation of the causes of El Salvador’s Mozote Massacre. So be it. Others readers will find it a book full of history, self-interest and selflessness, inhumanity and its victims, some of the best of humankind, love, loss, sorrow, and healing.

Shared on GoodReads and Barnes and Noble.

Isabel Allende is one of my favorite authors and I was so excited to be able to read this book early - unfortunately it wasn't one of my favorites.

What I loved:
1. The topic - immigration laws and procedures today and historically. There was a lot to learn for me about the topic and Allende gives us a lot of information. We all need to be aware of what has happened and continues to happen!
2. She has some beautiful turns of phrases that make you stop, catch your breath and ponder. I love her ability to make us think and ruminate on her words!

What I wish had been different:
1. I felt the book was more a string of stories vs a book.
2. Because the book was filled with facts - there didn't seem to be time to develop the characters and thus in some cases - the scenarios became hard to believe.


Thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, NetGalley for this digital ARC to honestly review. It’s due to be published on June 6, 2023.

“The wind knows my name. And yours too. Everyone knows where we are. I’m here with you and I know where you are and you know where I am. See? There’s nothing to be scared about.”

Profound author Isabel Allende’s new novel takes the reader on a journey through time following two children who have come to the US under similar but vastly different circumstances. The Wind Knows My Name tells the story of a young Austrian boy, Samuel, who flees his hometown in 1938 after Kristallnacht, as well as little Anita who left El Salvador with her mother in 2019. The two have many things in common, but the circumstances make their experiences quite different.

The subject of this novel is heavy, focusing on immigration to the US during very different time periods. Both children escape dangerous situations, but Anita’s acceptance into the US is more difficult and more heartbreaking.

Thank you @netgalley and @randomhouse for the early review copy

This was impeccable, as to be expected from Allende. I found the characters to be very known to me by the first few pages. I was glad to see this “family” formed by the end of the story, they had all been searching for so long.

The Wind Knows My Name is an absolutely beautiful story about the cruelties of humankind and how it affects people for generations. Some parts of this book were gutting and it will leave you very emotional. But this is also a story of love and how we have to all look out for each other. I was so engrossed in each person’s chapter and did not want any of them to end. I also really enjoyed this author’s descriptions of foreign lands, especially South America. I learned a lot and saved some stuff to look up later. I really look forward to reading more from this author!!

The first chapters of this book were heartbreaking; even so, I felt that I was kept at a distance. The writing style had more exposition than I would have expected; it seemed more like reading a journalist's story than a novel. The characters were complex and sympathetic, and I wish there had been more character development rather than being told what happened to them. I'd recommend it for readers who are interested in parallel narratives of family sagas. There was a touch of mysticism and a hopeful tone. Thank you to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for a digital review copy.