The Wind Knows My Name
by Isabel Allende· 2023
Spanning the 1930s to the present day, this exploration of migration and belonging tracks the paths of two children in the wake of Kristallnacht and the family separation policy.
Vienna, 1938. Samuel Adler is six years old when his father disappears during Kristallnacht—the night their family loses everything. As her child's safety seems ever-harder to guarantee, Samuel's mother secures a spot for him on the last 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 Diaz 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 reality through her trips to Azabahar, a magical world of the imagination. Meanwhile, Selena Duran, 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 characters, both in search of family and home. It is a testament to the sacrifices that parents make and the children who survive unfathomable dangers.
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Spanning the 1930s to the present day, this exploration of migration and belonging tracks the paths of two children in the wake of Kristallnacht and the family separation policy. Vienna, 1938. Samuel Adler is six years old when his father disappears during Kristallnacht—the night their family loses everything. As her child's safety seems ever-harder to guarantee, Samuel's mother secures a spot for him on the last 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 Diaz 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 reality through her trips to Azabahar, a magical world of the imagination. Meanwhile, Selena Duran, 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 characters, both in search of family and home. It is a testament to the sacrifices that parents make and the children who survive unfathomable dangers.