The separation of migrant families at the U.S.-Mexico border has always caused Isabel Allende pain: When she saw it during the Trump administration, her first impulse was to help reunify children and parents through her foundation. Then, the legendary Chilean author thought, she had to write a book.
“The Wind Knows My Name,” which grapples with immigration, violence, solidarity, and love, is the latest novel by the award-winning writer who — with more than 77 million books sold — is considered the world’s most widely read Spanish-language author. Released earlier this month, it is available at bookstores in the U.S., Spain, and Latin America. For Allende, 80, the separation of children from their parents at the border evoked similarly wrenching historical moments, such as when children of enslaved or Indigenous families were wrested from their parents.
“I thought about this awful tragedy, that is not the first time that it happens,” Allende said during a video interview with The Associated Press conducted in English and Spanish from her office in Sausalito, California. ”It is a terrible, terrible, traumatic event for parents and for the children that grow up with this hole in their heart. So that was the origin of the book.”
Biden administration argues against trial in case of Trump-era family separations at border with Mexico. The novel mixes reality and fiction and delves into decisions that mothers make to save their children, such as sending them alone to another country or risking a dangerous journey together, despite the painful consequences these choices may entail. It is also a story about children’s resilience in the face of violence.
The original idea was to write a novel based on Juliana, a 7-year-old blind girl. Allende learned about Juliana through the Isabel Allende Foundation, which empowers women and girls and financially supports groups working on the border with Mexico. Upon arriving in the United States with her family de ella in 2019, Juliana was separated from her mother de ella and did not appear in immigration system records. Eight months passed before, thanks to the work of pro bono lawyers, she was reunited with her parents.
While Allende did not get to meet Juliana in person — the family was deported to Mexico — the story reminded her of another tragedy, albeit with different nuances, that had moved her deeply: the family separation of some 10,000 Jewish children during the Holocaust, who They were sent from Poland, Austria, Germany and other European countries to England to survive. The result of these interwoven stories was “The Wind Knows My Name,” a 346-page novel in which Anita Díaz’s character is based on Juliana, and the character of Samuel Adler represents one of those thousands of Jewish children.
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