In the Midst of Winter: A Novel

Isabel Allende

Oct 2017 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

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.

Ratings and reviews

Isabel Allende is an author who brings her Chilean-American experiences to her writing. Her latest novel In the Midst of Winter brings together an interconnecting story of three very different individuals. Richard Bowmaster and Evelyn Ortega are involved in a minor car accident that ends up being the catalyst needed to propel a long-awaited love story into reality. Richard has entered his sixth decade of life and Evelyn is a young immigrant, undocumented. They should have no reason to communicate after their accident. But when Evelyn needs help she turns to Richard, who brings in his sixty-two-year-old neighbor Lucia to help the young woman when he is at a loss as what to do. This is a memorizing and emotional novel that is not only told from past and present but also from various cities and different cultural backgrounds. The three main characters seem to have nothing in common but as they come together to help Evelyn in her situation they find that they have more in common than any of them realized. I like that Evelyn and Lucia had much in common with their immigration to the states and their past circumstances. I also found the love story between Lucia and Richard intriguing. It is rare to read about any kind of romance between a couple of such an older age. While it was refreshing, I was kind of asking myself why they hadn’t gotten together sooner. I mean they live near each other and work together. They obviously know each other, but it takes a stranger to bring them together. I wasn’t really feeling that. This was a great historical read, but I need to state that you need to take into consideration that this is a novel that is translated from its original language, and as such loses some of its meaning and emotion. Not too much but I feel that the reader should be aware. 4 stars.

Like all her books, captivating.

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About the author

Born in Peru and raised in Chile, Isabel Allende is the author of a number of bestselling and critically acclaimed books, including The House of the Spirits, Of Love and Shadows, Eva Luna, The Stories of Eva Luna, Paula, and The Japanese Lover. Her books have been translated into more than thirty-five languages and have sold more than 77 million copies worldwide. She is the receipient of the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and she divides her time between California and Chile.