Publication Date June 6, 2023

I’m not big on fantasy or what I think of as magical realism, so I wasn’t sure about this one… but I had just finished reading Ms. Allende’s stunning memoir The Soul of a Woman, so I was eager to read her latest The Wind Knows My Name, and happy to receive a copy from Random House Ballantine and NetGalley in exchange for this honest review. 

This story is so touching and gripping, and the way it is written is incredibly beautiful. There are actually two stories presented, each centered around a child fleeing something horrible, looking for a place to LIVE and grow. The first child is a musically gifted young boy named Samuel, whose father has disappeared during Kristallnacht in Austria in 1938. His mother, desperate to save her child, sends him ALONE to England. After a series of orphanages, he is adopted by a Quaker couple. 

Eighty-some years later, a 7-year old girl named Anita flees with her mother from the horror of her family’s homeland of El Salvador, hoping that the U.S. will take them in. Thanks to the insanity of immigration under the Trump administration, Anita finds herself in a freaking CAGE where she escapes into fantasy using her imagination. Fortunately, a social worker and an attorney work to try to help her. 

Both stories are heartbreaking. There are sporadic glimpses of hope in both stories, but they are both definitely emotionally challenging, particularly for hyper-sensitive readers. But I highly recommend this, and give it five stars. Oh, and by the way, Allende is a genius.