Books

Book Review: “The Wind Knows My Name” by Isabel Allende

Her latest novel, and my first time reading her work.

Cover of “The Wind Knows My Name”. Photo credit: Author

My major in college was Latinamerican literature. It’s a hobby of mine, and I loved the experience of studying Spanish-language literature.

I surprised myself while listening to an interview with Isabel Allende on one of my favorite podcasts, Se Regalan Dudas, when I realized that I had never read one of her novels.

Not one!

As I listened to her describe “The Wind Knows My Name”, I was drawn to it. That afternoon I was in my local library, and to my joy, they had a copy. That night I began entering the worlds of immigrants of different generations, told by not only a great novelist, but a great storyteller.

I’m writing this while in Tijuana, Mexico, doing refugee work. I have clients here, I do volunteer work here, and I do dropoffs of diapers, tampons, pads, and baby formula to shelters serving refugee and immigrant women.

The people Isabel Allende introduces us to with this novel are similar to those I work with and meet while spending time in refugee shelters.

I love that she brings the brutal reality of experiences that refugees have gone through, experiences that force…