I received a free ARC ebook of The Wind Knows My Name from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

Allende's latest work is like a horrifying tour of the worst of mankind during the last 90 years. Humanity's collapse is portrayed by through the Holocaust and Kristall Nacht in the streets of Vienna, the Salvadoran Civil War highlighted by the El Mozote massacre, and human trafficking and the more recent separation of families along the United States' border per governmental order. Each portrayal has innocent victims and traumas that last a lifetime. All three timelines depict society and governments turning a blind eye and sometimes being the source of the evil. Each timeline also demonstrates moments of kindness and compassion as well as ineptitude and profit mongering.

Allende manages to take the three storylines and allows characters to meet and interact. This is done so smoothly that readers will carry the memory of a little boy in Vienna and easily relate his pain and loneliness to a little girl separated from her mother after a desperate border crossing.

Most of all, this book is a call to action, a call to our better angels to make a difference and to make our voices heard. KristallNacht and all the horrors of Nazism occurred before instant television coverage of the genocide existed. The lack of immediacy to the horror, along with inherent anti Semitism, allowed people around the world to focus on their own issues, their own economic problems. The Salvadoran Civil War competed with Vietnam and civil rights for news coverage and protest actions. Poor non-English speaking brown peasants were not camera-friendly. And today, the immigration and border crises are buried under political gamesmanship. But we all saw the pictures of desperate families swimming the Rio Grande and the terrified children in cages. The parallels of the three timelines depicting casual cruelty and planned inhumanity can no longer be viewed as someone else's problem. We must contact our Senators and Congressional Representatives, donate funds and goods to reputable organizations, and open our hearts to those who just seek a better life. All three plot lines had societies that were once respectful and loving yet all crashed to indifference and greed. History will judge us.

Wow, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

This book spanned many generations and introduced many different characters. These people had all different backgrounds and upbringings, and we were shown how they all were affected by severe tragedies. A lot of the stories centered around children, and it was heartbreaking to read. However, it was also very inspiring because many of these characters dealt with so much and yet they still persevered. I enjoyed how the stories of each person which at first seemed random, came together at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For a novel that isn't all that long, this one spans decades and continents. It's the story of three children who are all in some ways separated from their parents. Samuel Adler is a small child and a violin prodigy in Vienna when Kristallnacht occurs, and he is sent by his mother on the Kindertransport to England with the plan that she and his missing father would eventually join him. Something like 80 years later, Anita Díaz and her mother escape El Salvador after a vicious and nearly deadly attack, only to be detained at the US-Mexico border and separated in due to the horrifying border policies that allowed families to be separated. These two end up being connected by Leticia Cordero, another child separated from her family after the El Mozote massacre in El Salvador in 1982. Through the hard work of a social worker (Selena Duran) and a lawyer (Frank Alighieri), Anita makes her way to Samuel Adler's home in the Bay area, which Leticia moved into at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to be live-in household help but also just a companion and friend. I did wish this was a bit longer, because I wanted to understand Anita's imaginary magical world, Azabahar, a bit better. There was so much sadness here, but also a healthy dose of hope, and found family, and love.

Isabel Allende is a masterful story teller, so I was very happy to receive an advanced reader’s copy of her latest novel. This was another powerful story told by Allende, although it wasn’t one of my favorites of hers. Perhaps I just didn’t like the topics she covered in this one. There will be many who love this one though..

Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I am familiar with Isabel Allende , having read “ The Japanese Lover “, “ A Long Petal Of The Sea”, and most recently “Violetta “. I enjoy how she writes , the words and story seem to flow effortlessly. I enjoyed this book, especially the dual time frame, and the stories involving Samuel, Anita, and Leticia . The horrors of lost, displaced children during World War II, and the current immigration crisis is heartbreaking, and should impact all. I felt that this book seemed a bit more rushed than the previous novels that I read, and that the character development at times felt lacking, while reading this book I was wondering how this story would come together and I must say the author did a good job in bringing this book to closure. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in historical fiction.

Nicely written in true Isabel Allende style. Sad, yet hopeful story, which we have unfortunately heard way too often. I was a little disappointed in the character portrayal, however. I would have liked a little more after the characters were finally united...
3.5 stars...

Isabelle Allende is a master of her craft. This book uses her formula as a novelist to explore personal narrative with a backdrop of historical events. I particularly loved how this book explores migration stories during World War 2 and near the present day... and as usual the author winds these seemingly unrelated stories together so that by the end of the book the reader is left with a satisfaction with the story and a better understanding of historical events.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for providing an advanced review copy of this book.

spanning many decades, “the wind knows my name” follows a diverse group of characters throughout genocide, displacement, and the desire to live free of persecution. every character is connected, and every story is deeply moving.

this novel is beautifully written, showing the brutality of violence against various minority groups. allende includes every detail, every example of terror against innocent people. from austria, to el salvador, to the united states, the stories of survivors are told. i deeply enjoyed this novel, it was an emotional rollercoaster and truly made me think about my place in the world as a child of an immigrant and as a jewish person. i do wish the ending tied up a few more loose ends, it felt like a very abrupt ending to a story i wanted more of.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

Survival. It whispers throughout this novel. It speaks to the reader to marvel at the spirit that drives you to love enough to send your child to the unknown. It lifts you through its words to moments when surrender means defeat. It celebrates the heart in those moments when peace is no longer an illusion. A masterful take of devotion. Happy reading

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine Books for the e-ARC in return for an honest review.

I have been a fan of Allende for years, although her work tends to be a little uneven. She has an amazing ability to pull together interesting connections and issues into her narratives, and here she does it again by connecting a child separated from his parents as they attempt to save him from the Nazis and a young girl torn from her family at the US/Mexican border while seeking asylum.

I really really wanted to enjoy this book, unfortunately the style was not for me. This novel feels like it was rushed to publication. The writing, like all Allende’s work, is strong, however it is missing the character development and heart that I have so enjoyed in her other work. This book is full of exposition in place of creating a solid and engaging world. There are lots of “however”s and “but”s and long passages explaining the immigration systems or Nazi systems when the story itself is a better teacher. Because of the heavy exposition we are only given short scenes of mainly dialog, each of these scenes is crafted to sell the POV of the book instead of building characters that will show us the way. This book is a missed opportunity. It reads like a really really long treatment more than a finished narrative, which is too bad.

If lots of exposition doesn’t bother you, then you may like this book. It has a lot of potential. I am a show me don’t tell me person so it just didn’t fit my reading.

I made it to 40% in this novel. I really enjoyed the beginning storyline but when it go to more present times the authors constant insertion of personal politics made me stop reading.

I read fiction for entertainment and maybe to learn about another time and place. The world is a confusing place right now and the last thing I want is a lecture from an author.

I will always appreciate Ms. Allende's writing but I hope her next book is written without any political leanings.

Since I did not finish this novel I will not post my review on any purchasing sites.

Thank you Netgalley and random house publishing group for providing me an arc.

This story is about stolen innocence and children having to find their way in life. Children are forced to rely on strangers for food or shelter. They maybe hopeless but Allende shows us that we are not lost because “the wind knows us”. Allende is able to balance emotional pain by showing us how the characters are resilience. It’s a moving story, drawing parallels between humanitarian crises in different times and places.
I don’t think this will be one of my favorite novels from Isabel Allende, I enjoyed her writing and I feel many readers will find the topics to be highly relevant and relatable. Very happy I got the chance to read this before publication.

I have to applaud the author for taking on the current immigration crisis in our country with our politically charged environment. Using two different timelines Isabel Allende writes about the pain and hardship of the children sent to England by their parents during WWII to escape the atrocities of the war while giving them what they felt was the best chance for survival. She also takes on the current border crisis and the devastating effect on the children. A little more character interaction with a little less description would have been my preference but overall it is a poignant book that needs to be told. ##TheWindKnowsMyName #IsabelAllende
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CONTENT WARNING: antisemitism, death, suicide, violence, depiction of Kristallnacht and a pogrom, mention of rape, discussion of genocide, racist microaggressions, mention of a massacre, trauma, xenophobia, blood, mention of torture, mention of alcoholism, mention of domestic violence, grief, forcible separation of children from their parents, racism, sexual assault of a child

I’ve been a fan of Isabel Allende since I read The House of the Spirits, and I discovered an author who could actually make me enjoy magical realism. And I know it’s a bit early since this novel doesn’t release until June, but it’s Women’s History Month, and what better way to celebrate than to read a book written by Latin America’s first successful female authors? So I naturally went into this with high expectations.

The book starts out in Vienna, on the eve of Kristallnacht. We’re introduced to the Adlers, a small Jewish family with a five-year-old son, Samuel, who is a violin prodigy. Allende quickly introduces the sweeping changes that have occurred in Vienna after the Germans have come and taken over, and takes the reader through the traumatizing events of Kristallnacht. While Dr. Adler is seriously injured in the pogrom, and in the hospital afterwards, Mrs. Adler and Samuel are protected by a neighbor. Mrs. Adler does everything she possibly can to secure visas out of the country for the three of them, but ultimately is only able to get Samuel out of Austria, on the last Kindertransport to England.

Samuel arrives in England at a young age, alone and a refugee in a country where he doesn’t speak the language and has no idea what is happening. There weren’t any counseling services available, and he just did his best to fit in and make his new life work by pushing everything down and retreating farther into himself. It wasn’t until years later that he actually found out what had happened to the rest of his family, but by then he was already working to build his own life.

We’re then introduced to Leticia, a young girl in El Salvador. She was suffering from a health issue and finally was able to seek treatment at a distant hospital. Her father brought her there, and since they were away from their village, they were the only survivors of the El Mozote massacre. She and her father then made their way to the United States, where they slowly rebuilt their life.

Finally, we meet Anita. She’s a blind seven-year-old girl who fled to America with her mother in an attempt to seek refuge from violence. However, the restrictive policies at the US border led to the traumatic separation of Anita from her mother, and she was thrust into a system that wasn’t prepared to handle her appropriately.

I could see early on the parallels in each of these stories—three children fleeing violence and certain death in their home countries and seeking refuge in different countries, where they weren’t always welcomed with open arms. However, I didn’t realize how closely intertwined these stories would become. I loved how the stories wove together from three separate tales into a single storyline.

This isn’t an easy story to read. It talks about the long-lasting effects of trauma and the unique ways in which people cope with it. For Samuel, his music was his means of escape. Anita uses a magical world that she created using her imagination. And for Leticia, she copes by simply not thinking about it, much like her father. However, each of them are affected differently, and were exposed to different levels of violence and threats. I especially liked the chapters from Anita’s point of view, which provided insight into her mindset and were more of a stream of consciousness narrative, while Samuel’s were somewhat reflective, looking back over the years of his life.

The portrayal of a character with a disability was done beautifully in this book. Anita was never babied, and was depicted as an independent character, specifically saying “I can do it myself.” I liked seeing the way that the people around her didn’t underestimate her abilities simply because she was visually impaired, but instead found ways to work with her disability and allowed her to still learn how to do many things on her own. In addition, instead of doing things for her, they rearranged her living environment to be more suitable for her needs, demonstrating a respect for her that was a beautiful thing to see.

This was a quick read that I found myself engrossed in. I liked seeing what was going on through the eyes of the different characters, and couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next, and what would ultimately happen to Anita. There are some mild elements of magical realism in the story as well, with a clairvoyant grandmother in the story, and possibly some psychic abilities in one of the characters, although this isn’t delved into in detail. There are also some ghosts that are mentioned, although they don’t play a major role in the story. However, I struggled to feel emotionally connected to some of the characters, and felt most connected to Anita and Selena, but overall this was still a good read that I’d recommend.

I was able to read this in advance of publication thanks to Netgalley! I was super excited to read this book, as I love Isabel Allende's intricate storytelling. Overall, I liked the story and the interweaving and parallel storylines. However, I felt the style this time was different than some of her previous works in a way that was jarring and at times detracted from the story. Usually I feel Isabel Allende's stories develop the characters deeply and we see who they are through their stories; this story relied heavily on the characters having dialogue with each other and telling each other who they are, which I tend to find way less interesting and painfully obvious instead of the subtle art of storytelling. Overall, i enjoyed the story, but definitely enjoyed Samuel, Leticia and Anitas POV chapters way more than Selena's.

The Wind Knows My Name is a powerful, heartfelt book that brings together the past and present day. Samuel Adler is 6 years old in 1938 Vienna, a Jewish boy during the start of WW2. His mother secures a spot on the Kindertrain sending him to safety in England.

2019 Arizona, Anita Diaz is a seven-year-old girl seeking refuge with her mother in the United States, They are torn apart and separated at the border.

Isabel Allende masterfully tells their stories. She develops vivid characters that draw you in. Although rooted in tragedy, we witness the resilience of these children, and the adults willing to risk all to help them.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.

4.5 stars

Isabel Allende has such a way with words. So many of her books are evocative- full of feeling and poetry and characters that draw you deep within the novel. This book is no exception. It is utterly engaging with characters that grab you by the throat and at various points have you choking back tears. She uses the connection of separation from one's parents to highlight the problems that arise from this horrible tragedy. To that end she begins the book with Kristallnacht in 1938 Vienna where a young boy is sent on the Kindertransport, without his parents, to England so that he might be safe from the Nazis. Contrasting with the above scenario, is a young blind girl who tries to escape from El Salvador over the Mexican border but is detained and separated from her mother. A determined social worker and pro bono lawyer diligently attempt to locate her mother while the child is shunted from shelters to foster families.
As much as I enjoyed this book, I don’t think it was one of her best. Connecting the two themes felt like a stretch although it is neatly tied at the end. Allende uses the novel to highlight the injustice in the border “situation” and exposes the difficult work trying to reunite families. She also takes the opportunity to rage against the presidential policies on border issues. The pages do turn themselves, however, culminating in a solid 4 stars out of 5.

What a beautiful novel of a young Jewish boy separated from his family as part of the kindertransport and a young girl separated from her mother as they fled El Salvador. 80 years separate their stores, but Isabel Allende manages to to interweave them into a tale of lost innocence of a child and them finding a new path in life. I had to force myself to put it down to sleep I loved it so much.

Thank you @netgalley and Random House for this ARC of #thewindknowsmyname in exchange for my honest opinions.

Themes: 🗣️multiple narrators, 🔀interwoven stories, 🇺🇸🇦🇹🇸🇻, 👧🏻👦🏻🎻

My thoughts: 🙂😢😩😊

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Samuel is separated from his mother whom he never sees again when he travels to England on a Kindertransport. Anita, a blind child, fleeing from El Salvador to the U.S. border, is separated from Marisol, her mother, whom she never sees again. Selena, an advocate for forgotten women and their seized children, enlists Frank, a high profile lawyer, to get involved.in Anita’s case. Samuel, now an old man, is widowed and living with his devoted housekeeper, Letecia, during the pandemic. He has his whole life carried a WW I military medal, his talisman. Anita has carried her belief that she is not lost because the wind knows her name. These two abandoned and abused children from different eras have so much in common. Can their sad stories somehow weave together? Can they help one another find a special land that can only be seen with the heart? Isabel Allende has given us a true tapestry of beauty in her latest work.

Such a poignant rendering of the effects of war and immigration on children in WWII and present day. It's also a story of what mothers will do for their love of the children. I plan to buy and recommend this book.