Cover of The Wind Knows My Name

The Wind Knows My Name

by Isabel Allende

305 pages2023Ballantine BooksISBN 9780593598115

About this book

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.

Publication Details

Publisher
Ballantine Books
Published
2023
Pages
305
ISBN
9780593598115
Language
en

About Isabel Allende

Isabel Angélica Allende Llona (Lima, Perú; 2 de agosto de 1942)​ es una escritora chilena con nacionalidad estadounidense, de ascendencia hispano-portuguesa y nacida en Perú. Desde 2004 es miembro de la Academia Estadounidense de las Artes y las Letras. Obtuvo el Premio Nacional de Literatura de su país en 2010. La venta total de sus libros alcanza 73 millones de ejemplares y sus obras han sido traducidas a 42 idiomas. Es considerada como la escritora viva más leída del mundo de la lengua española. Sobrina y ahijada del expresidente chileno Salvador Allende (1970 - 1973), comenzó su carrera literaria como periodista. Tras el la muerte de su tío en el golpe militar de Chile en 1973 y el derrocamiento del gobierno de coalición, Isabel Allende abandonó Chile y se refugió en Venezuela. Su primera novela, *La casa de los espíritus* (1985), que surgió directamente de su exilio, se convirtió en un éxito de ventas y crítica mundial. A menudo entreteje elementos de mito y realismo, o lo que se conoce como "realismo mágico". Sus novelas a veces se basan en su propia infancia y experiencias vitales. ---------- Isabel Allende was born on 2 August 2 1942 in Lima, Peru. The niece and goddaughter of Salvador Allende, the former president of Chile from 1970 to 1973, she started her writing career as a journalist. Several months after her uncle's assassination and the overthrow of Chile's coalition government in 1973, Allende left Chile and found refuge in Venezuela. Her first novel, The House of the Spirits (1985), which arose directly out of her exile, became a worldwide bestseller and critical success. She often weaves together elements of myth and realism, or what is known as "magic realist." Her novels are sometimes based on her own childhood and life experiences. Allende has been called "the world's most widely read Spanish-language author."

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