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.

Opening in Vienna in 1938, there's a heavy sense of dread as we follow a Jewish family on Kristallnacht. That dread is not unfounded and we know what happens that night as the family is torn apart. We follow the journey of the son, 5 year old Samuel, through the 1950s.

So abruptly you might get whiplash we're transported to Berkeley in the year 2000 with another displaced immigrant, a woman who escaped from El Salvador named Leticia.

A little less abrupt is the jump to 2019 and the last set of characters. I don't want to say more, and encourage you to *not* read the blurbs which give too much of the story away. The intricate weaving of the storylines is subtle, and discovering the connections Allende orchestrates leads to a deeper appreciation of the narrative.

She can tell a story, and that story is strong. I can forgive the whiplash, some on the nose dialogue, some convenient coincidences (oh you need x? My husband works at the airport! My cousin's wife's brother owns that store!), and some clunky prose, for the story, a sweeping tale of immigration, displacement, and what defines family.

My thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Wind Knows My Name by Isabel Allende moves between time periods and continents beginning in Austria in 1938 when five-year-old Samuel Adler is sent with a trainload of children to England to escape the Nazis. It follows Adler to California and his life with his colorful wife and now as a widow living with a San Salvadorian caregiver during the pandemic. It blends the story of Anita, a seven-year-old, almost entirely blind girl living in the U.S. awaiting an asylum hearing, who escaped San Salvador with her now missing mother and the tale of the social worker and a lawyer trying to help the girl and find her mother. Allende’s attempt to tell so many stories in 272 pages falls short on character development while being long on melodrama. Adler’s love of music and his career in it along with Anita’s musical talent could have been better explored. The brief mentions of a grandmother’s intuitive powers and of a Anita’s possible sensitivity should have been further developed or eliminated.

You can read my updated final review on Goodreads. I couldn't justify giving this 3 stars. I felt no attachment to any of these characters because there were so many odd choices in terms of characterization, plot progression, and how the story concluded. The meat of this story feels like a social issues 101 explainer on things I, personally, am already well aware of and have knowledge of. It's painful how much this catered to people who don't care about global historical atrocities/tragedies like I'm begging Isabel Allende to stop over-explaining. Give your readers more credit.

Additionally, Frank and Selena are truly terrible. I don't care that they do morally good things for work in this book because they are such pieces of shit in their personal lives. At least Nadine had some sort of discussion with Samuel about the things they struggled with and learned from. It was certainly an attempt at complex conversations/feelings surrounding non-monogamy.

"The Wind Knows My Name" by Isabel Allende is a Blend of Family and Historical Fiction!

Two children, eighty-one years apart, are separated from their mother without explanation and under the most harrowing circumstances of their time.

In 1938, six-year old Samuel Adler's mother ensures he is on the last Kindertransport train out of Nazi occupied Austria to the United Kingdom and safety. He's alone, without money, doesn't speak English, only has one change of clothes, and his beloved violin...

In 2019, seven-year-old Anita Diaz, with her mother, board a train out of El Salvador to the United States and safety. Once they arrive, mother and daughter are separated. In the chaos, no one seems to know where the mother is located. Anita is alone, blind, doesn't speak English, and the only things she has are dreams of a Guardian Angel and the imaginary world she's created...

In "The Wind Knows My Name", Isabel Allende weaves together the lives of Samuel and Anita, two characters from different parts of the world and timelines decades apart. Then she does it again by bringing in another timeline and two more key characters that results in additional layers and depth to the story.

Isabel Allende's writing style is simplistic and easy, her storytelling is bold, passionate, and often circles around women and families. "The Wind Knows My Name" follows this pattern and it's why I keep coming back to this author. The fact that this book, at under 280 pages, with a deeper backstory and more character development than books with many more pages is another reason.

However, there certainly is a heck-of-a-lot going on in this story. Fewer secondary characters, keener focus on the connection between Samuel, Anita, and the two additional main characters would have elevated this story and my rating.

Isabel Allende is one my favorite authors and the reason I love to read is because of author's like her who write stories like "The Wind Knows My Name". Although this was not my favorite book from this author, I do recommend it to those who enjoy a blend of Family and Historical Fiction!

4.25⭐

Thank you to NetGalley, Ballantine Books, and Isabel Allende for an ARC of this book. It has been an honor to give my honest and voluntary review.

Powerfully written, as always. This story begins in Vienna in 1938 during Kristallnacht (night of broken glass) where Samuel Adler loses his father and is soon put on the Kindertransport to England to keep him safe from the Nazis but far from his family and everything he ever knew and loved. This was new ground in books I've read by Allende, but she moves forward from there in time and place to more familiar ground. We meet Leticia who with her father survived El Mozote, a Salvadorian massacre. While her entry into the United States in 1982 wasn't as difficult as emigrating today, we move forward to 2019 with young Anita and her mother trying to enter the US, at a time when children and parents are regularly separated at the border. Enter Selena, a social worker, and Frank, an attorney who are trying to help this young girl and reunite her with her mother. You might think these stories can't be tied together, but they actually can be, and it is done well. Allende takes the plight of immigrants and humanizes their stories in a way that touches all of us. We can't help but connect with these stories and hope for a brighter future for them. I have never encountered an Allende story I haven't loved, and I'm always impressed by both her beautiful language and the excellent job of her translators.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an advance copy. My opinion is my own.