The Wind Knows My Name, By Isabel Allende
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Background:
An evocative, heart-wrenching story, The Wind Knows My Name includes the perspectives of three people, each with their own tale, intertwining around a young fourth person. Samuel Adler traveled to New Orleans and eventually to San Francisco decades after being orphaned by Nazis. Leticia Cordero, a young girl in 1981, immigrated with her father to California after fleeing the massacred village of El Mozote. Selena Durán, the daughter of immigrants, fights for the rights of immigrants in the present day. Their stories overlap in creative ways, centering around the defense of Anita Díaz, a child separated from her mother by US immigration authorities, and at risk of being deported.
At first glance, all these stories might seem like too much to keep track of. I admit, I was initially skeptical of Isabel Allende’s ability to coalesce separate lives, from separate decades, into a meaningful novel. I’m happy to say I was wrong. In fact, the use of different perspectives became one of my favorite elements - I learned about each person through simple truths, allowing me to gain an understanding of the characters’ needs and wants even before they did. The effect was powerful and captivating.
If the plot and characters weren’t at all interesting, I’d still want to read The Wind Knows My Name for the message that it left me. While I think there are multiple things you could take away from this book, the idea of history repeating itself stuck with me the most. I have limited knowledge about world history, being only 15, but this book effectively yet subtly highlights patterns of persecution and immigration, which can go hand-in-hand, throughout history. Virtually no historical knowledge is needed to fully understand the author’s point. It left me shocked, but at the same time not surprised. None of the information was very new, it just had never been presented to me in this way before.
Most importantly, I now want to learn more about the lives of immigrants, immigration policies and other specific events mentioned in this novel. While most books leave you with food for thought, it takes a special kind of book to leave you with insatiable hunger.
With a political argument worthy of non-fiction, yet without overshadowing the characters and their compelling and unique stories, The Wind Knows My Name combines many elements into one fabulous read. I couldn’t recommend it enough.
The Wind Knows My Name Book Information:
Author - Isabel Allende
Publisher - Ballantine Books
Year - 2023
Pages - 252