The Wind Knows My Name

After hearing Isabel Allende interviewed on TV about The Wind Knows My Name, I knew this was a novel that I wanted to read.

In this novel, Allende connects the plight of Jewish youth on the Kindertransport for England during WWII with the current family separation crisis at our southern border.

The story starts out pretty disjointed and as a result, I had a very hard time getting absorbed in the novel. We first meet Samuel in Vienna. After his father disappears on Kristalnacht, her mother is convinced that the best bet for Samuel is to put him on a Kindertransport with a small suitcase, some large clothes (for him to grow into), his violin, a photo of his parents, and a bravery medal from his neighbor.

Next we meet Leticia who comes to the United States in the 1980s with her father after the town they lived in in El Salvador was massacred and they had nothing else left.

Finally, we meet Anita who also flees from El Salvador after her mother feels like their lives are in danger. The trip to the north is a difficult one and they arrive in Nogales at the time when the family separation policy was being enforced. Anita and her mother are separated.

We get a glimpse of each of these characters' stories, but it wasn't until the stories got connected that I found the book absorbing to the point that I couldn't put it down. This is a novel that I will be thinking about long after reading the last page.