The Wind Knows My Name: A Richard and Judy Book Club Pick

THE POWERFUL AND MOVING NEW NOVEL FROM LITERARY LEGEND ISABEL ALLENDE PRAISE FOR THE AUTHOR 'A grand storyteller' - KHALED HOSSEINI 'A new novel by Isabel Allende is always a treat' - DAILY MAIL 'What a joy it must be to come upon Allende for the first time' - COLUM MCCANN No, we're not lost. The wind knows my name. And yours too. Vienna, 1938. Samuel Adler is five years old when his father disappears during Kristallnacht — the night their family loses everything. As her child’s safety seems ever harder to guarantee, Samuel’s mother secures a spot for him on the last 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 Diaz 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 Duran, 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.

About the Author :
Born in Peru and raised in Chile, Isabel Allende is the author of a number of bestselling and critically acclaimed books, including Violeta, A Long Petal of the Sea, The House of the Spirits, Of Love and Shadows, Eva Luna and Paula. Her books have been translated into more than forty-two languages and have sold more than 77 million copies worldwide. She lives in California

Review :
A true literary titan ... There are perhaps only a dozen authors as successful as Allende and fewer still whose writing remains as politically daring as her latest The Wind Knows My Name ... Allende blends fact and fiction, love and war, and juxtaposes the past with the present, meaning that as you read her escapist tale you develop a richer understanding of the world you inhabit Allende’s new novel is a testament to love, survival and sacrifice Allende skillfully braids the traumatic stories of two young children separated from each other by decades and thousands of miles ... It's a kind of homage to parents who make unthinkable decisions to save their little ones, and to kids who survive some of the toughest challenges imaginable ... With The Wind Knows My Name, Allende has added a new dimension to her already varied works Few authors in translation have had quite the influence of Isabel Allende ... The Chilean writer has become a global literary great Powerful ... The dual narrative structure gives historical weight to the contemporary story line, and Allende finds real depth in her characters, especially when portraying their sacrifices. This authentic and emotionally harrowing work is a triumphant return to form The queen of magic realism, Isabel Allende, follows two parallel stories of war and immigration in The Wind Knows My Name