Isabel Allende's latest offering is a profoundly moving novel of the immigration experience, set in a range of different locations and in 2 historical periods, in a narrative that draws the reader's attention to the similarities and connections between the suffering endured by children. In 1938 Samuel's father, Rudolph Adler, disappears in Vienna, Austria, during Kristallnacht. His desperate mother, Rachel, intent on saving her musically gifted son, organises his removal from the horrors facing them. With only his clothes and violin, a fearful 5 year old Samuel travels by Kindertransport to an unknown future in England. On arrival he faces a series of challenges, moving from home to home, ending up in a orphanage where the comfort of playing his violin is denied to him, he goes on to be taken in by the Evans, a Quaker couple.

At the end of the war, Samuel is unable to locate his parents, and goes on to attend the Royal Academy of Music. In 2019, a mother, and her daughter, 7 year old blind Anita Diaz, flee the terrors of their home in El Salvador to the United States with its deportations and zero tolerance of immigration, trapped at the the point in which the grotesque policy of separating families is being enforced, which results in them being split apart and Anita having to live in a cage alone, her only solace escaping into the beautiful realms of her imagination. It is a time of Covid and an America under the madness of Trump. It's a relief to find not everyone is ignoring Anita's plight, a social worker, Selena Duran, and pro bono lawyer, Frank, are determined to do all they can to help.

Allende writes with humanity and compassion of the sorrows and devastation of families broken apart, Leticia's experience as an immigrant, and the commonalities in the harrowing fates of powerless, yet remarkable children, not responsible for the circumstances in which they find themselves, yet who prove to have the inner resources that enable them to survive the never ending recurring and constant nightmares, from different parts of the world and in different time periods. This is a superb and emotionally affecting read, with its glimpses of hope and light, and which I have no hesitation recommending highly, and that I think will appeal to a wide variety of readers. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

I’m a huge fan of Isabel Allende and was thrilled to get an advance reading copy of The Wind Knows My Name.

I think this book is really timely dealing with the topic of migration.

The Wind Knows My Name moves between two migration stories, one set eighty-five years ago in Europe with the backdrop of the rise of Nazism. The other set more recently highlighting the recent American policy in separating children from parents at the borders. I think it’s a powerful statement flagging that children are still fleeing countries, they are still very vulnerable, and they still need better protections.

The story begins in Vienna in 1938 and centres on the Adler family. It chronicles the rise of the Nazism and antisemitism, culminating with Kristallnacht in which Samuel’s father disappears. Rachel Adler, Samuel’s mother, realises in order to keep Samuel safe, she will have to send her only son away to England on the Kindertransport to flee the Nazis. The story then unfolds from Samuel’s perspective of moving to England and having to try to settle, learn a new language and also deal with the uncertainty of what happened to his family.

The second story of emigration follows Marisol Diaz and her daughter Anita, fleeing the violence of El Salvador. They are detained and separated at the American border. This migration story unfolds from the perspective of Anita and her detainment, her foster homes, not knowing where her mother is - Which has parallels with Samuel’s experience in England. It also unfolds from Selena Duran, her social worker’s perspective, as she tries to help with her asylum claim and locating her mother.

The story weaves in a few other characters who support and help Samuel and Anita in the new countries they find themselves. They were kind and selfless and the book restored my faith in human nature - in that there are still some good people out there.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Bloomsbury, for making this e-ARC available to me in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I'm a huge Isabel Allende fan and am so lucky to get to have read this! A very poignant book. I did prefer her previous works though. This one read to me like a collection of short stories, and it took a long time for the characters and timelines to combine