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Chapter Overview
Chapter 1: AudiobookHub Recommendation
Chapter 2: — Glass in the Street
Chapter 3: — The Train Ticket
Chapter 4: — England Without a Mother
Chapter 5: — Anita in the Icebox
Chapter 6: — Two Cousins and a Haunted House
Chapter 7: — The House of Horrors
Chapter 8: — The Magic Medal
Chapter 9: — After the Virus
Chapter 10: — The Star Where We Meet
Description
The Wind Knows My Name interweaves two timelines of forced displacement: a Jewish boy in Vienna during Kristallnacht and a Salvadoran girl caught in the U.S. border family-separation crisis. In 1938, musical prodigy Samuel Adler is sent to England on the Kindertransport after his father is deported and his mother is endangered. In 2019, eight-year-old Anita Díaz—nearly blind and separated from her mother—enters the American immigration system, where her fate depends on pro bono advocates and the fragile hope of reunification.
As their paths echo across generations, the novel builds toward an unexpected convergence in Berkeley during the COVID lockdown. An elderly Samuel—now a renowned musician—opens his haunted, beautiful home to Anita through her newly discovered cousin Leticia, while social worker Selena and lawyer Frank fight to locate Anita’s missing mother. Allende’s story becomes a meditation on exile, the lifelong cost of separation, and the quiet heroism of those who refuse to look away.
Who Should Listen
- Listeners who enjoy emotionally driven, multi-timeline literary fiction about migration, trauma, and resilience.
- Fans of historical and contemporary human-rights narratives—especially stories about displaced children and found families.
- Readers who appreciate Isabel Allende’s sweeping compassion, intimate character focus, and intergenerational storytelling.