In the Midst of Winter: A Novel - Hardcover

Allende, Isabel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 150117813X ISBN 13: 9781501178139

Publisher: Atria Books, 2017

Synopsis

New York Times Bestseller

Worldwide bestselling “dazzling storyteller” (Associated Press) Isabel Allende returns with a sweeping novel about three very different people who are brought together in a mesmerizing story that journeys from present-day Brooklyn to Guatemala in the recent past to 1970s Chile and Brazil.

In the Midst of Winter begins with a minor traffic accident—which becomes the catalyst for an unexpected and moving love story between two people who thought they were deep into the winter of their lives. Richard Bowmaster—a 60-year-old human rights scholar—hits the car of Evelyn Ortega—a young, undocumented immigrant from Guatemala—in the middle of a snowstorm in Brooklyn. What at first seems just a small inconvenience takes an unforeseen and far more serious turn when Evelyn turns up at the professor’s house seeking help. At a loss, the professor asks his tenant Lucia Maraz—a 62-year-old lecturer from Chile—for her advice. These three very different people are brought together in a mesmerizing story that moves from present-day Brooklyn to Guatemala in the recent past to 1970s Chile and Brazil, sparking the beginning of a long overdue love story between Richard and Lucia.

Exploring the timely issues of human rights and the plight of immigrants and refugees, the book recalls Allende’s landmark novel The House of the Spirits in the way it embraces the cause of “humanity, and it does so with passion, humor, and wisdom that transcend politics” (Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post). In the Midst of Winter will stay with you long after you turn the final page.

About this title

Review:

An Amazon Best Book of November 2017: A fateful fender bender transforms the lives of three unlikely co-conspirators in the latest novel by Isabel Allende. In the Midst of Winter opens with endearingly oblivious academic Richard Bowmaster, who is rattled after taking his cat to the vet, and rear-ends a car driven by Evelyn Ortega. Ortega is not in the country legally, it’s her boss’s vehicle, and he's not the sort of person you want to cross (ask the dead body in the trunk). So begins a madcap adventure to dispose of the deceased and ensure Ortega’s safety, a plan hatched by Bowmaster’s tenant and colleague, Lucia. For such a zany setup, Allende does a deft job of illuminating the plight of undocumented immigrants, and readers will be charmed by Lucia and Richard—two people in the winter of their lives, who end up bumbling towards an invincible summer (a hard-won one at that). You will happily bumble along with them. —Erin Kodicek, The Amazon Book Review

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 65 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.

About this edition

• Publisher: Atria Books
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 150117813X
• ISBN 13: 9781501178139
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352