Review of THE WIND KNOWS MY NAME by Isabel Allende

 3.5 Stars

This book draws parallels between Hitler’s Europe and the plight of Jewish people during World War II and Trump’s America and the struggles of migrants trying to escape violence in modern-day Latin America.

In 1938, five-year-old Samuel Adler is evacuated from Nazi-occupied Austria to London.  An orphan, he is eventually adopted by a kindly Quaker couple.  His musical career and interest in jazz bring him to the United States.  Eighty years later, seven-year-old Anita Diaz escapes El Salvador because her mother Marisol faces escalating violence.  Arriving at the southern border when the U.S. government has instituted a family separation policy to deter refugees, Marisol and Anita are separated.  Selena Durán, a social worker, and Frank Angliheri, a corporate lawyer, work together to find Marisol whom they think has been deported and to ensure Anita is in a safe place in the meantime.  As expected, Samuel and Anita’s lives intersect. 

The book emphasizes the struggles faced by people trapped by geopolitical violence and left to navigate alone in a world totally foreign to them.  Torn from her family, Anita has the same struggles as Samuel did.  Even Frank’s grandparents fled the Sicilian mafia.  There are other parallels:  the dramatic sacrifices of parents wanting to protect their children.  Samuel’s mother has little choice but to put her only son on the Kindertransport if he is to have any chance of survival.  Likewise, Marisol has to leave to protect herself and her daughter.  The same is also true for Leticia Cordero, Samuel’s housekeeper:  Leticia’s father, with his daughter, flees El Salvador in 1981 after the El Mozote massacre which left no other family survivors.  The message is that “’No one in this world is every truly safe . . . We could all just as easily find ourselves in similar situations.’” 

The subject matter of the novel is so worthy and relevant, but I was disappointed with the execution.  There is so much exposition and so little dialogue that I often felt like I was reading a newspaper article that summarizes what happens to characters rather than a novel which shows.  The timeline is so lengthy and there is so much information to convey that I felt like I was receiving a history lesson rather than reading a novel. 

I think the author does the reader a disservice by her lack of subtlety.  I think a more effective method is to allow characters’ stories to speak for themselves and let readers reach their own conclusions.  For instance, we are repeatedly told that the border crisis is unacceptable.  Why not just show the measures employed and the feelings of those who experience those policies?  Successful novels engage the reader by showing, not telling.  A heavy-handed didactic approach is less effective than an emotional appeal when trying to persuade someone.  Sometimes characters serve as mere mouthpieces of a political viewpoint.  Frank, for instance, represents a certain perspective when he argues, “’But we can’t just open the floodgates and let millions of immigrants and refugees in.’”  Selena responds by launching into a diatribe about how the U.S. government bears responsibility because for years the U.S. intervened in Latin American politics to defend its economic interests in the region. 

Certainly, there is considerable political commentary.  The author blames the U.S. for the situation on its southern border and points out that the policy of separating children from families has a long history:  “’Enslaved parents saw their children ripped away from them and sold off.  Native Americans had their children taken away to become “civilized” in horrific state-run orphanages.  Thousands of those kids died of contagious illnesses and malnutrition, then were buried in unmarked graves.’” 

I think that the book could use some judicious editing.  There are subplots which add little to the novel.  If these were removed, there could be more development of the most important characters and events.  For instance, do we need to know about Leticia’s three marriages, Nadine’s backstory, and Selena’s family?  Are Selena’s romantic involvements really relevant?  The magic realism elements also seem extraneous.  The author tries to include so many ideas that the impact of the book is diluted. 

There are other elements that bothered me.  Would a social worker and lawyer devote endless personal time and money to help just one child?  A ring of human traffickers kidnaps women and girls in order to torture them and then murders them and disposes of their bodies?  Some connections seem rather contrived:  Frank has a senior diplomat at the American embassy in El Salvador as one of his closest friends?  Does Samuel’s love of music really have to have a parallel with Anita’s musical talent?  Frank is expected to become an expert in immigration law after completing an online introductory course?  And the ending is certainly emotionally satisfying but I imagine such endings are rare. 

With its examination of forced migration and displacement, this book is certainly thought-provoking.  The problem is that it is too ambitious; it tries to do too much in a relatively short length (270 pages).  It ends up being overstuffed with exposition.   I recommend it based on its subject matter, not because of its literary quality.