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The Wind Knows My Name

By: Isabel Allende, Frances Riddle - translator
Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Maria Liatis
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Publisher's summary

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “The lives of a Jewish boy escaping Nazi-occupied Europe and a mother and daughter fleeing twenty-first-century El Salvador intersect in this ambitious, intricate novel about war and immigration” (People), from the author of A Long Petal of the Sea and Violeta

“Timely, provocative . . . emotionally satisfying . . . [a story about] the kindness of strangers who become family.”—The New York Times Book Review

AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

Vienna, 1938. Samuel Adler is five years old when his father disappears during Kristallnacht—the night his family loses everything. As her child’s safety becomes ever harder to guarantee, Samuel’s mother secures a spot for him on a Kindertransport train out of Nazi-occupied Austria to England. He boards alone, carrying nothing but a change of clothes and his violin.

Arizona, 2019. Eight decades later, Anita Díaz and her mother board another train, fleeing looming danger in El Salvador and seeking refuge in the United States. But their arrival coincides with the new family separation policy, and seven-year-old Anita finds herself alone at a camp in Nogales. She escapes her tenuous reality through her trips to Azabahar, a magical world of the imagination. Meanwhile, Selena Durán, a young social worker, enlists the help of a successful lawyer in hopes of tracking down Anita’s mother.

Intertwining past and present, The Wind Knows My Name tells the tale of these two unforgettable characters, both in search of family and home. It is both a testament to the sacrifices that parents make and a love letter to the children who survive the most unfathomable dangers—and never stop dreaming.

©2023 Isabel Allende (P)2023 Random House Audio
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Critic reviews

"[An] homage to parents who make unthinkable decisions to save their little ones, and to kids who survive some of the toughest challenges imaginable.”—Associated Press

“This beloved author transports us to two dark periods in history: Nazi-overrun Vienna in 1938 and the current dire situation at the border between the United States and Mexico. . . . Both stories are rich enough to carry the weight of one novel, but Allende expertly intertwines them. Employing her signature touch of magical realism, she wraps us in a compassionate story that reminds us ‘we could all just as easily find ourselves in similar situations.’”The Washington Post

“Allende’s artistry shapes a lyrical romanticism around social political history and global turmoil . . . [Her dialogue is] current, relevant and real. Our civic discourse is centered by a multitude of voices talking about two things—immigration and identity—who belongs and who doesn't, and how to care for the dispossessed. In Allende’s version healing is possible, because empathy is a hopeful, albeit inconsistent, follower of migration.”—NPR

Editorial Review

A heart-wrenching listen
Isabel Allende continues her streak of historical epics after A Long Petal of the Sea and last year’s stunning Violeta. This time, Allende takes on a timely topic, immigration, and with it, grabs the listener and doesn’t let go. Narrated in her always elegant prose, The Wind Knows My Name starts in 1938 Vienna during the horrific attacks on Jews during Kristallnacht, taking us up to the recent past and the brutal family-separation policy on the US-Mexico border. Allende draws parallels to immigration policies that, while decades apart, lead to the same results: terror and violence against minority groups, leaving women and children as helpless victims in the aftermath. This powerful listen resonated with me because having been an immigrant child myself, I can relate to the fears of being accepted, rejected, and having hopes for a better life. Credit is due to Edoardo Ballerini and Maria Liatis for narrating the multiple adult and child characters, and of course I tip my hat to Isabel Allende for yet another sweeping epic that will stay with me for a long time. — Edwin D., Audible Editor