In the Midst of Winter
Ratings5
Average rating3
15
Ratings5
Average rating3
New York Times and worldwide bestselling author Isabel Allende returns with a sweeping novel that journeys from present-day Brooklyn to Guatemala in the recent past to 1970s Chile and Brazil that offers “a timely message about immigration and the meaning of home” (People). During the biggest Brooklyn snowstorm in living memory, Richard Bowmaster, a lonely university professor in his sixties, hits the car of Evelyn Ortega, a young undocumented immigrant from Guatemala, and what at first seems an inconvenience takes a more serious turn when Evelyn comes to his house, seeking help. At a loss, the professor asks his tenant, Lucia Maraz, a fellow academic from Chile, for her advice. As these three lives intertwine, each will discover truths about how they have been shaped by the tragedies they witnessed, and Richard and Lucia will find unexpected, long overdue love. Allende returns here to themes that have propelled some of her finest work: political injustice, the art of survival, and the essential nature of—and our need for—love.
Reviews with the most likes.
This one wasn't great. It just didn't work for me. It considerably picked up by the end, I liked the inside look and reality of asylum seekers, and it had many of the parts of her books that I love. Unfortunately, by the time it picked up I just wasn't as invested in the characters. I'm definitely going to go back and read some of her older books I haven't explored yet and I still look forward to it.
I would rate this book 3.5 stars and though I liked the book, I would've made the pace of the book quicker and just progress the plot. I loved the characters and it was quite easy to follow them in their journey from Latin America and The United States. I liked how the characters' flaws were showcased and how the plot progressed as the places changed throughout the novel.
Maybe I'll try again another time. I got 31% of the way through the audiobook, and then left it alone for a few days, and it was ... easy to not pick it up again? Nothing particularly wrong with it, though the backstories could be kind of bleak. (TW: rape, gang activity/violence)
Isabel Allende is a talented writer, but this new book is disappointing.
Multiple narrators can make a story more interesting by presenting multiple viewpoints and insight into character motivations, but the multiple narrators in “In the Midst of Winter” simply created a disjointed story line. Three different voice actors are used on the audiobook, which also doesn't help (and is often a really nice way to present the audio version).
Also, I never found myself connecting with the characters. It is not because I have a different background, but because the book is rather ham-fisted. The dramatic backgrounds of the main characters should have been compelling, but it seemed as though the characters were made to carry historical context without really “living” it (and fictional characters can live!).
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