Más allá del invierno

by Isabel Allende

A raíz de una tremenda tormenta de nieve en Nueva York, Isabel Allende nos presenta a tres personajes que se hallan en el invierno de su vida: una atrevida mujer chilena, una joven guatemalteca indocumentada y un cauteloso profesor universitario. Pero todos ellos, unidos por una dramática aventura, descubrirán su fuerza interior y el verano invencible que llevan en el alma.

Isabel Allende parte de la célebre cita de Albert Camus -«en medio del invierno aprendí por fin que había en mí un verano invencible»- para urdir una trama que presenta la geografía humana de unos personajes propios de la América de hoy que se hallan «en el más profundo invierno de sus vidas»: una chilena, una joven guatemalteca ilegal y un maduro norteamericano. Los tres sobreviven a un terrible temporal de nieve que cae en pleno invierno sobre Nueva York y acaban aprendiendo que más allá del invierno hay sitio para el amor inesperado y para el verano invencible que siempre ofrece la vida cuando menos se espera.

Más allá del invierno es una de las historias más personales de Isabel Allende: una obra absolutamente actual que aborda la realidad de la emigración y la identidad de la América de hoy a través de unos personajes que encuentran la esperanza en el amor y en las segundas oportunidades.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Book Club, Audiobook, Romance, Contemporary, Literary Fiction

349 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2017

About the author

Isabel Allende Llona is a Chilean-American novelist. Allende, who writes in the "magic realism" tradition, is considered one of the first successful women novelists in Latin America. She has written novels based in part on her own experiences, often focusing on the experiences of women, weaving myth and realism together. She has lectured and done extensive book tours and has taught literature at several US colleges. She currently resides in California with her husband. Allende adopted U.S. citizenship in 2003.

Reviews

[Elyse Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smiling ear-to-ear!!!!! Awwwwww that was fun!!!

Isabel Allende - "QUEEN OF STORYTELLING"....born into a Chilean family - blends many of my favorite topics in this story .....
.......love, aging, pessimism, optimism, humor, seriousness ( political - social issues), history and personal background stories taking place in some of the most fascinating places on earth: Brooklyn, Brazil, Guatemala, Canada, and Chile,
.......chaos & drama, great chemistry between her characters, atrocious weather, ( challenges with the elements), fleas, ulcers, food poisoning, mystery of a dead body found in the trunk of a car, Magic Brownies, adventure trip with friends, crappy hotel, moose shit, and a chihuahua named Marcelo.

Richard Bownaster, is a human rights scholar at NYU. He lives in Prospect Heights. Lucia Maraz is his tenant - living in the basement -from Chile- a visiting professor teaching Latin American and Caribbean studies. Her one daughter, Daniela, lives in Miami. Richard is her boss.

Both Richard and Lucia have experienced the joys and failures, loss and grief of life. They aren't young puppies. They are in their 60's.

Richard has been living like a hermit.....he takes green pills for anxiety- is a vegetarian- stays away from gluten- has 4 cats ( their purpose is to digest the rodents), has stomach problems, and lives in a controlled careful environment.

Lucia might be close in age as Richard - also experienced loss and grief - failures and hurts - but she's clear she still wants to live passionately while aging...as much as possible. She's bright -outspoken -seductive- sensual - with contagious energy.

Evelyn is a very small thin young woman......a nanny for a young boy name Frankie with multiple sclerosis - also a diabetic. Her employers- Cheryl and Leroy have marital problems.
Evelyn is undocumented.
The weather was cold - windy - the road was icy.....when Evelyn takes Leroy's Lexus without permission to the drugstore--( Leroy - her boss -was out of town).

After the minor car accident.....an engaging, sometimes whimsical, adventurous enjoyable story, takes place between three memorable characters: Richard, Lucia. and Evelyn. ...... a little love touches your heart too!

I HAD A BLAST READING THIS STORY!!!! When's the movie coming out?

Thank You Atria Books, Netgalley, and Isabel Allende

[Angela M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a fan of several of Allende's earlier books and this one seemed so promising at the start . Two fascinating, heartbreaking stories of Lucia and Evelyn both making their way to the US from horrific circumstances from two different places and two different times. They become connected through Richard whose story was intriguing and heartbreaking in its own right.

Richard is a university professor, landlord, acquaintance, and employer of Lucia , originally from Chili and a visiting lecturer. Evelyn is a young woman from Guatemala working as a Nanny. Their three lives converge when during an awful snow storm in Brooklyn, Richard's car hits the car that Evelyn is driving. It is when the three of them are together that we get the stories of their pasts. I really liked each of these characters, and was taken by their experiences, but what didn't work for me was the present circumstances that keep these three characters connected over the course of several days. That part of the narrative just felt contrived and in some way it took away from the importance and gravity of the issues covered here - the horrible experiences of Evelyn in fleeing poverty and drugs and gang violence in Guatemala. Her story as a refugee was so relevant, and I was most drawn in to what happened with her. Lucia, too had a tough life with precarious political situations in Chili.

I can't give it more than three stars because of the thing I couldn't quite buy which made this a little disappointing. Thanks once again to Esil and Diane whose thoughts on the books we've read together are so much appreciated, as well as the ones we don't read together.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Atria through NetGalley.

[Brina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isabel Allende has been a favorite author of mine since I read her House of the Spirits for the first time when I was in high school. Allende will always hold a special place in my heart because with her magical realism brand of writing, I gained entry into the world of Hispanic women writers, and have been Latin America and its writers ever since. Having read many of Allende's novels and memoirs at this point, I always find myself captivated by her writing, immersing myself in the novel for many hours until completion. It came as no surprise that when my library finally had a copy of her newest novel In the Midst of Winter that I wanted to read the book in one sitting, as I have with her other novels in the past. Even though this is a contemporary rather than historical novel and does not contain much of Allende's trademark magical realism, In the Midst of Winter shows how Allende's writing has evolved over the years and ended up being a treat to read.

Allende always begins writing her novels on January 8, the anniversary of the day her daughter Paula slipped into a coma. She began this practice as a means of writing a letter to Paula and has continued to use this date as a point of entry for her books for the past thirty five years. By 2015 and a lifetime of writing and adventures, it almost seemed as though Allende had run out of stories to tell, that is until she met her son and some friends for coffee on New Years Day and together pieced together ideas that would become the basis of this book. Crowdsourcing is a vital part of 21st century living, and it is amusing to see that Allende has adapted to the times, especially with the longevity gene in her family. She cites her son's generation as being crucial in coming up with the story surrounding this book, and, after forming the general ideas, also includes elements from her own family history, as she has in many of her past novels. While not a historical fiction novel, In the Midst of Winter does feature in some of the Allende stories I have become familiar with over the years, while also noting current events that will contain to dominate headlines in the years to come.

In the Midst of Winter takes place during winter storm Jonas and brings together three diverse people as together they cope with personal and external tragedies. New York University adjunct professor Richard Bowmaster takes an emergency trip to the veterinarian and upon returning to his Brooklyn apartment dents the car of Evelyn Ortega, a twentysomething undocumented worker from Guatemala. Assisting Ortega in getting out of harm's way, Bowmaster requires the assistance of his tenant, visiting professor Lucia Maraz. All three protagonists have known their fair share of loss and tragedy in their lives, and, as they wait out the storm, they begin to tell each other their life stories. Ortega came to the United States to escape the violence of the MS-13 gang as well as the extreme poverty that defines day to day life in their countries. Bowmaster and Maraz are both approaching their older age and have suffered from marriages devoid of love as well as personal illness and death of close family members. Even though Maraz only came to New York on a one year commitment, proximity to Bowmaster factored into her decision. Mirroring her own later in life relationships, Allende weaves the romantic interest between Maraz and Bowmaster into other plot lines that all appear to be ripped from the headlines.

While Allende can employ magical realism with the best of authors, she has also brought many critical issues to readers attention through her writing. Even if one does not agree with her politically, she leaves her readers more informed on various issues than they have been before reading her novels. From reading her early work, I am familiar with the turmoil in Chile that lead to the military coup d'état, which overthrew her uncle's government in 1973, leading to her family seeking political refuge. In the Midst of Winter discusses current events such as immigration, which will always remain a hot button issue; human trafficking; rights of the disabled to be treated as whole people; and the aging of the baby boom generation. As the protagonists tell each other their life stories, it almost appears as though Allende tried to do too much with this novel. She introduces a large peripheral cast of characters, and some, including Maraz' daughter Daniela and Bowmaster's father Joseph appear multilayered but do not receive much space within the pages. As I familiar with Allende's books, the plot also seemed to be heading toward a predictable finish, yet one I was still intrigued to read.

As this is a novel, Allende was able to tie up all her loose ends neatly upon the book's conclusion. With little magical realism and an informative yet predictable story, I was not as mesmerized here as I have been with her earlier novels. No one author is going to produce a masterpiece with each book; however, as Allende ages and writes more about current events and less about the magical realism which shaped her past, I find myself reading her novels more for posterity and less because I am captivated by the writing. I hope that before she retires completely to her house of the spirits that Allende has at least one more sweeping historical epic left in her. That is Allende at her best, and the author that made me into a lifelong lover of Hispanic magical realism.

3.5 stars

[Sherif Metwaly · Rating 4 out of 5]

عزيزتي إيزابيل الليندي..
بعد اللقاء الخامس صار الكلام عنكِ بلا معنى، تكفيني تلك التنهيدة التي خرجت تلقائيًا فور وصولي للنهاية، تنهيدة تحمل في طياتها مشاعر الحب والامتنان لكل لقاءٍ تم بيننا، لكل رحلة خضتها مع أبطالِك، ولكل لحظات الدفء التي أذابت ثلوج شتاء روحي الممتد، تلك التي منحتيني إياها بمنتهى اللطف والرقة، لأدرك ما أدركه "ريتشارد" في نهاية هذه الحكاية..
" أن في داخلي صيفًا في حالة سُبات شتويّ".

تمت.

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the monthly buddy read between Angela,Esil and I. I love many of the books this author has written, although I thought her earlier novels were the most powerful. The first few chapters of this one are meant to familiarize the reader with the characters. Then we started exploring their back stories,and at first I thought this might be her most powerful book yet. Unfortunately didn't feel that way the end. She introduced something that seemed like a gimmicky artifice to me.

I asked myself why she told the story in this way? Why another body? All I can think is that she was trying to include interludes between the back stories. Quite frankly I think she included too much, too much grimness, too much sorrow. Why do we have to learn everyone's back stories, Evelyn's employees horrible story. Why to explain the body of course. I think any one of these individuals could have made their own story, their own book.
The writing is wonderful, I even liked the characters, how could you not. But it lacks cohesiveness, taken as a whole it is overkill. The few places where humor is displayed, the old dog, the moose, is only a small relief for which is a terribly sad story of a group of people who have suffered greatly.

Also, I am getting a little tired of all these so called timely novels, about refugees, not that I am unsympathetic, but the theme has been way overdone. Think how many we have read lately, Exit West, Salt house, the authors are even putting this subject in their mystery novels.

Will probably also rate three just for the writing, but I am very disappointed. I'm sure many will have a different opinion, and as I said it could be the surfeit of refugee/immigrant writing out there. Have just read too many lately, but really I think even if that was not the case, my opinion would be little changed.

ARC from Netgalley.

[Esil · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's frustrating to read a book that feels like it could be so much better. Isabel Allende's latest book, In The Midst Of Winter, has a lot of promise but as it turns out I felt like it delivered a fairly disjointed uneven narrative. Lucia is a 62 year old Chilean, living temporarily in New York. Richard is Lucia's landlord, and he had lived for many years in Brazil. Evelyn is from Guatemala. One stormy night, Lucia, Richard and Evelyn are thrown together, and they end up telling each other their life stories. So Allende structures this one to be three stories within the story of what brings these three characters together. Unfortunately, it doesn't hang together very well. Parts of the characters' back stories -- especially Evelyn's and to a lesser extent Lucia's -- are deeply moving. They highlight the realities of what has brought so many people to leave their home countries to move the the U.S. -- no doubt a timely topic. But the event that brings these three characters together and keeps them together feels almost farcical. The lightness doesn't mesh well with the darkness. It feels like Allende had a good story to tell about the different experiences of immigrants, but not enough work went into polishing this one so it stands well as a novel. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy. Thanks also to Diane and and Angela for the experience of reading this together -- the buddy read aspect made this one much better than it would have been otherwise.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Life seems to dole out hopelessness like the flight of a wingless bird.

Richard Bowmaster looks out the window of his three-story brownstone in Brooklyn with much apprehension. Abundance is to be embraced unless it is the form of a snow storm. The city has all but shut down with its streets almost impassable. As a professor at NYU, no classes can be a point of celebration.

Tucked under another abundance in the form of blankets in the freezing basement apartment, Lucia Maraz considers her options. She, too, teaches at NYU and knows that nothing will draw her out of this cocoon come hell or high water.....make that mounds of snow. Her precious Chihuahua is snuggled by her side like a hairless growth with a bark. Perhaps she'll make some homemade soup and invite her landlord Richard down for more than a spoonful.

Meanwhile, Richard is shocked to find that one of his cats is throwing up pools of lime green curdles. Looking under the kitchen cabinet, he finds evidence of anti-freeze tampering and little paw prints. He calls the vet and takes off in his meat-locker of a vehicle. Ol' Tres will be kept for observation. Richard keeps a sob at bay and takes to the road again.

Snow has a particular loveliness from afar......until you slam into the back end of a Lexus on an icy street. Oh, dear readers, this will now be a collision of tragic human beings and their precarious lives from here on out.

A young Hispanic woman is behind the wheel of that Lexus. She says but few words. Richard hands her his card and tells her to contact him. His insurance will take care of everything. But no insurance could possibly cover the damages that will yet surface in the coming days.

And now three planets will align in this system of mishaps and misfortunes. Young Evelyn raps softly on the door of Richard's brownstone that evening. She stammers and appears quite shaken. Having no other recourse, Richard calls Lucia downstairs and demands that she come up. He desperately needs back-up. Throughout the night each of our unlikely trio recant the stories of their pasts. Evelyn reveals that she is an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala. Presently, she is working as a nanny for a young boy with CP. The Lexus is owned by her employer. In her past, Evelyn suffered unspeakable attrocities in Guatemala. But she's here on Richard's doorstep to reveal the heavy weight of one more dark secret.......a dead body in the trunk of that Lexus.

Isabel Allende reins as queen of my author favorites. She is, at her very core, the ultimate storyteller. If you have ever read any of her other works, you know whereof I speak. My favorite has always been, Paula, which tells the heartbreaking story of the death of her beloved daughter. She enhances each of her stories with the breath of magical realism in which the trail of well-chosen words takes on the spark and brilliance of another life.

But it is here within the pages of In the Midst of Winter that I find myself still yearning. The initial formula for this storyline was encased in jars of overflowing tragedies. Those jars of life experiences by Evelyn, Lucia, and Richard were told beautifully and breathlessly and they provided a solid mosaic of the resilience of the human spirit for which Allende is renowned. She allows you into these locked rooms to observe the multi-degrees of each individual's personal sufferings with the dimly lit linings of their souls.

This "sacredness" was somehow up-ended with the unraveling of the chase story and the questionable explanations that followed. It jolted us from the odyssey of transformation to the almost implausible set of irregular motions at the end.

But hear me out: An offering by Isabel Allende is still a treasure. There was humor and pithy dialogue wrapped up in very complicated characters. There are descriptors that will rim your eyes with tears. I will leave you with a quote from Allende herself: "A woman like her took up a lot of room." And so does the highly, highly talented Isabel Allende.

[Dalia Nourelden · Rating 4 out of 5]

رائعة كعادتك ايزابيل
🤩🤩😍😍

بداية أدين لك باعتذار لانى كدت فى البداية ان اترك الرواية

لماذا ؟

لانى لم اكن مستعدة لما تناولتيه فى بداية الرواية. فايزابيل تنتقل بنا وبشخصياتها ريتشارد ولوثيا وايفلين مابين التعرف على الجثة المجهولة فى الحاضر وكيفية تورط كل منهم للتعامل مع هذه الجثة ومابين ماضى كل منهم

قصة ايفلين وجدتها واخواتها وماحدث لها فى بلدتها غواتيمالا متضمنا تردي الاحداث هناك وماحدث مع عائلتها ومأساتها واحداث تهريبها من هناك وماعانته حتى وصلت الى امريكا لنتاول خلالها قضيةالهجرة غير الشرعية ومايواجهه من يلجأ اليها .

ولوثيا و اخيها وظروف وفاة والدها وتاثير ماكشف بعد وفاته على والدتها وعلى لوثيا واخيها ، وماحدث فى تشيلى من اوضاع سياسية واحداث واسباب خروجها هى ايضا من بلدتها و قصة حياتها فيما بعد وقصة زواجها وحياتها فيما بعد الطلاق وماعاشته وماعانته والدتها .

وريتشارد وقصة حياته هو الاخر وحدته وماضيه ومآسى حياته هو الاخر وماحدث معه

ونخوض مع ثلاثتهم قصص حياتهم ومآسيهم وهو ما لم أكن مستعدة له بجانب كيف سيتعاملوا مع هذه الجثة ؟؟ ومن صاحب الجثة ومن القاتل ؟؟
وفى ظل هذا الجو الثلجى والعاصفة الثلجية



وكيف سيتعامل ريتشارد الشخص العقلاني ، الوحيد ، الذى لا يفعل اى شئ دون ترتيب مسبق ، الملاحق من اشباح ماضيه وماذا ستفعل لوثيا معه وكيف ستخرجه من قوقعته ليساعد ايفلين الفتاة الخائفة المتلعثمة التى وضعتها الظروف السيئة مع جثة

ولن تتركنا ايزابيل طبعا دون ان تنسج لنا قصة حب غريبة ، جميلة ، تدعو للتفاؤل، و ان الحب لايهتم بالسن فايزابيل هنا تنسج قصة الحب ليس بين شابين لكن بين رجل وامراة كلاهما فى الستينات وكلاهما عاشا احداث فى الماضى شكلت شخصياتهم والامهم ومخاوفهم فى الحاضر

الرواية رائعة بكل ماتضمنته وكل ماناقشته ايزابيل
والعاصفة الثلجية والبرد فى وقت دخلنا نحن فى الصيف والحر بجانب طبعا احداث الكورونا

ولازالت ايزابيل تحتفظ بمكانتها الخاصة بقلبى
وحتى نلتقى مرة اخرى سأشتاق اليك يايزابيل
😍😍
١٥ /٦ / ٢٠٢٠

[Eman Mostafa · Rating 4 out of 5]

تعديل : للأسف أنا مش حابه حد يستعمل صوري في المراجعة لأني بعتبرها حاجة شخصية ، و أ/هدى الغردي من المغرب استخدمت الصورة وبعتلها إني مش حابه ده ومردتش عليا ، شكرا لكِ 👍🏻

إيزا بقيت عزيزة عليا جدا 💙
أخيرا النحس اتفك وبدأت السنة برواية جميلة :D


تبدأ أحداث الرواية بعاصفة ثلجية في نيويورك لم تشهدها البلاد من قبل، وعلى أثرها تنزلق سيارة ريتشارد ويصطدم بسيارة إيفيلين محدثاً تلف في الصندوق الخلفي .. اصطدام أدى إلى تشابك مصائرهم إلى الأبد ..


ثاني عمل اقرأه ليزابيل بعد "سفينة نيرودا" الذي سلطت فيه الضوء على الحرب الأهلية في أسبانيا وهجرة المدنين إلى تشيلي فراراً من الجنيرال فراكنو ، هنا إيزابيل تحدثت عن تاريخ تشيلي بعد وصول أول رئيس مدني منتخب سلفادور ألليندي والانقلاب عليه، الفوضى والظلم والقمع الذي شهدته البلاد بعدها نقلته لنا إيزابيل في قصة لوثيا ..
أحسست العملين مكملين لبعض بشكل ما، وأحمد الله أني قرأت سفينة نيرودا أولاً لافهم الأحداث جيدا، ولا أعرف هل كل كتابات إيزابيل ستتناول الجانب التاريخي لبلدها الحبيب تشيلي؟

الروايات التي يغلب عليها كثرة السرد مخيفة، لأنه قد يوافق مزاجك وذوقك وقد يتسبب في الضجر وحذف الرواية من النافذة معلنا استسلامك والانسحاب منها 😂
وهنا وجدت السرد متعة و ونس ودفء في الليالي الباردة من شهر يناير 🌼 ولم يسبب لي أي مشكلة أو ملل على الإطلاق :D


××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××

= الاقتباسات :

«ووسط الشتاء ، أدركت أخيراً أن في داخلي صيفاً في حالة سُبات شتوي.» البير كامو - العودة إلى تيبازا.


كانت تعرف القدرة العلاجية الغريبة للكلمات، ولتقاسم الألم والتأكد من أن آخرين لديهم نصيبهم منه ، لأنها جربت ذلك عندما كتبت وتكلمت بشأن مصير أخيها إنريكي ، فالحيوات تتشابه والمشاعر هي نفسها.


«قررت أن أمنح نفسا لقلبي المكسور » قالت لدانييلا عبر الهاتف بنبرة لم تخرج ساخرة مثلما أرادت لها ، وإنّما شاكية ..


تفكر في أن تستغل جيدا سنوات عافيتها المتبقية لها قبل أن تهزمها الشيخوخة. تريد العيش في الغربة ، حيث تحديات الحياة اليومية تبقي ذهنها مشغولا وقلبها في هدوء نسبي ، أما في تشيلي ، فسيسحقها يقل ما هو معروف ، والروتين والمحدودية . هناك تشعر بأنه محكوم عليها بأن تكون عجوزا وحيدة ومحاضرة بذكريات سيئة غير مجدية ، بينما تتوافر في الخارج إمكانية وجود مفاجآت وفرص.

«أرسل أناك العليا إلى اللعنة يا رجل. فهذا التفخص لكل عمل ماض أو آني، والعيش وأنت تجلد نفسك، هما انحراف وخطيئة عجرفة. لست شديد الأهمية. عليك أن تسامح نفسك مرة واحدة وإلى الأبد ، مثلما سامحتك آنيتا وبيبي»

أحسّت لوثيا ، في أول الأمر ، بالانفصال كفراغ. لقد كانت معتادة على الغياب العاطفي ، ولكن حين ذهب كارلوس كليا صار لديها فائض من الوقت ، وأصبح البيت هائل الاتساع ، وكانت هناك أصداء في الحجرات الخاوية. تسمع في الليل وقع خطوات كارلوس المكان ، والماء يتدفق في الحمام. وسبب لها انقطاع العادات والطقوس اليومية الصغيرة إحساسا عظيما بالهجران ، إضافة إلى قلق تلك الشهور التي خضعت فيها لمساوئ الإكثار من تناول الأدوية من تجوب أجل التغلب على المرض. كانت تشعر بالمهانة ، بالهشاشة ، بالعري فكانت دانييلا تظن أن العلاج قد قوض مناعتها الجسدية والروحية. واعتادت أن تقول لها : « لا تضعي قائمة بما تفتقرين إليه يا أماء ، وإنما بما تملكينه» ، إذ إنها كانت ترى أن تلك فرصة فريدة لشفاء الجسد وشفاء الذهن ، بالتخلص من الحمولة غير الضرورية ، والتطهر من الضغائن ، والعقد ، والذكريات السيئة ، والرغبات المستحيلة ، وأنواع كثيرة أخرى من القمامة ..

7/1/2022 ✅
.

[Sawsan · Rating 4 out of 5]

متعة السرد في رواية تفيض بالإثارة والجمال
اللحظات والمفاجآت التي تُقرب بين البشر وتفتح القلوب للحب والصُحبة والسند
تفاصيل الحياة والناس والمشاعر تحكيها ايزابيل اللندي بسلاسة ومهارة
ودائما واقع أمريكا اللاتينية وأحوالها الاجتماعية والسياسية لهم نصيب في كتاباتها

[PorshaJo · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, you know when someone puts a plate in front of you and says 'It's hot. Don't touch the plate.' and you immediately touch the plate. You just had to see for yourself. Yeah, that's how I felt with this one. I read so many less than stellar reviews of this one but I had to find out for myself. I wanted to read this one since I first heard about it. Then I saw the wonderful Isabel Allende talk about the book and I couldn't *WAIT* to read it. Perhaps despite all the reviews, I still had such high expectations.

The story rotates between three people Evelyn, Lucia, and Richard and a minor accident that brought them all together. You move back and forth in time hearing the backstory of each and then moving back to the present time. There is just too much going on. Each one of these four story lines could be their own book. Just putting them all together gets confusing. Just as you get drawn into hearing for example Evelyn's story you are roughly brought back to a different story. And it's too much. Also, it's utterly depressing. Nothing good happens and so much of it I started to think 'oh come on, really'. It just kept piling on more and more bad things happening. I also read books to escape....going to different countries, a time in history, and more. I don't really want to read something about current events. This is just me. Perhaps another time the refugee story would be fine, hearing about MS13 gangs, political issues, etc....just all in the news right now.

I switched between print and audio, and sorry to say, I did not like the audio. I had to put this one aside for awhile and take a break, seeing if that helped. Maybe it was not the right time to read this one. I might even have gone a bit lower on my rating but tried to balance out my nit-picking (not wanting to read about current events - and perhaps going with 3 due to my love of Allende). I look forward to reading another book from Allende. And looking forward to a sweeping saga with lots of magical realism.

[Hadeer Khaled · Rating 2 out of 5]

علاقتي بالكتب و القراءة، غريبة، و لا أستطيع تحديد ميولي الحقيقية أو ربطها بجدول زمني، و لكنّ ما أستطيع أن أعترفَ به بكل يقين، أن الكتب تختارني و في أوقات معينة، بلا عجلة، بل بكل أناة و انتقائية منظمة، إذا حكيت مثلًا دوامة الأحداث التي أوقعتني في حبال هذه الرواية في هذا الوقت بالذات، فستكون حكاية خيالية مُبالَغ فيها، و لكنّي لم أرغبْ في قراءتها، لم أكن أرغب في فعل القراءة أصلًا.

..............................................................

الخواء الفكري الذي يتملّكني في أوقات محددة، يدفعني لفعل أي شيء، أشعر بمقت رهيب لرتابة الأيام و تكرار نفس الوجوه و الأحاديث، لا أدري، و لكني شعرت بهُوّة غريبة، جعلتني أرغب في قراءة شيء معين و لقلم معين، فانصرف ذهني لأقلامي المفضلة، فتذكرت أني لم أشاهد حتى الآن الفيلم المأخوذ عن روايتي المفضلة ( بيت الأرواح ) فشاهدته و أعجبني، ثم شعرت بظمأ كبير لهذه المرأة، و تذكرت أني تملكتني رغبة قوية لقراءة آخر أعمالها، و وقعت يداي على هذه الرواية.

إذا كنت عزيزي القارئ قد استمتعت و حلّقْتَ بعيدًا للغاية في أروقة العالم الخيالي الملحمي لثلاثية بيت الأرواح، فأنت في هذا العمل، ستقع في أشواك الواقعية المؤلمة لعالم غريب و لكنه حقيقيّ، عالم أبعاده تتكون من آلام شخصيات موجودة حولنا و لكننا فقط لا نستطيع الوصول إليها و فهمها، العالم السري للهجرات غير الشرعية من دول أمريكا اللاتينية إلى سحر العالم الجديد، الشماليين، الولايات المتحدة، سمِّها كيفما تشاء، فستظل هي الملجأ الوحيد لهؤلاء البائسين، فقد سمعتُ عن هذه القصص من بعيد و بتفاصيل قليلة للغاية، و لكن شعور جميل أن تكتشف جهلك عن طريق عمل أدبي، فأنا شخصيًّا كنت أجهل موقع غواتيمالا على الخريطة أساسًا، و تكونت عندي فكرة مبهمة حول معاناة هذه الشعوب.

في بدء حديثي صنفت الرواية على أنها واقعية بحتة، ثم تحدثت عن جانب واحد فقط من أصل ثلاثة جوانب أخرى تمركزت عليها الرواية، الرواية لها قطب تشيليّ يتمثل في شخصية لوثيا، ثم قطب أمريكي من أصل فرنسي و هذه شخصية ريتشارد، لا يمكن لأي قارئ أو ناقد قرأ مذكرات إيزابيل أن ينكر أن هذه المرأة نسيت خذلان أبيها لها، أو الانقلاب الذي حدث في تشيلي عام ١٩٧٠ على المرشح الاشتراكي الديموقراطي الأول سلڤادور ألليندي، أو تجربة النفي في فنزويلا ثم الولايات المتحدة، أو موت ابنتها پاولا، إيزابيل تكتب و جراحها مازالت تنزف، فكلماتها كلها مليئة في هذه الرواية بالذات، بصرخات ضعيفة معترضة على ما شهدته، و كأنها بفعل الكتابة هذا تحاول أن تغيّر الأقدار، أن تخلّد الذكرى ثم تقتلها!

الفكرة ليست في تماثل بعض المواقف بين شخوص الرواية و بين حياتها، بل في كيفية توظيف إيزابيل لهذه الوسيلة كي تشفي جراحها، كي تعكس لنا محاولاتها الساعية لتغيير هذا القدر، فإيزابيل عاشت حياتها تبحث عن الحب، كل هذا الحديث لا يعني انبهاري بالعمل للأسف، فحتى الآن قد تحدثت عن العمل من وجهة نظر نفسية، أو منهج النقد البيوجرافي، و لكن، هذا العمل غريب عمّا اعتدته من إيزابيل، و لا أفهم أي سبيل بالنسبة لي كي أقع في غرامه مثلما حدث مع كل تجاربي مع الكاتبة.

لماذا؟...ببساطة، قلم إيزابيل قد تحول إلى قلم أمريكي، و أنا أكره الأقلام الأمريكية، كان يعجبني للغاية شدة اعتزاز إيزابيل بتاريخها و بهويتها التشيلية، و ربما حاولت أن تعكس هذا في شخصية لوثيا، و لكنّ هيكل العمل في الإجمال، كان مثل نكهة الوجبات السريعة الجاهزة، شيء شهي يجبرك على الانتهاء منه في نهم، و لكنك بعدها تشعر بنوع من أنواع الفراغ، أو عدم الفهم و التشرُّب الكامل لأبعاد الرسالة المنطوي عليها العمل، لا أعلم، أهذه مشاعر نابعة من سخطي الشديد على ما يمت لأمريكا بأي صلة، أم أني بالفعل غاضبة من خيبة أملي في إيزابيل؟

أحب الروايات القديمة الكلاسيكية و لي صبر على تتابع الأحداث البطيء، حتى لو قارنّا بين بوليسية دان براون و أجاثا كريستي، ترى رغم أن كلا الكاتبين يكتب أعمالًا من نفس التصنيف، ترى الفارق صارخًا، براون يكتب كي يربح، يلفت النظر، يحبس الأنفاس، يجذب الفضوليين المتعطشين للمعلومات العميقة السريعة السهلة التي تصنع لهم أغلفة من الفكر الأجوف، فبعد رواية شفرة دافنشي، ستجد ملايين الأشخاص معدومي الميول التاريخية، يحدثونك عن سر الكأس المقدسة بكل حماسة و يكررون نظريات الرواية و هم لم يقرأوا كتابًا يتحدث عن التاريخ العيسويّ، النكهة الإنسانية الحقيقية، تنعدم في هذا الأدب، أما أجاثا كريستي، فإني أحظى بمتعة بوليسية، و ثراء معلوماتي، و الأهم، مصداقية إنسانية، ثراء في الفلسفة البشرية، و اللعب على أوتار فعلية، كلنا قد يرتكب جريمة قتل لإنه تعرض للابتزاز، أو للانتقام، و لكن جرائم قتل تتم في معبد الماسونيين لاسترداد الكأس المقدسة، هذه حيل تاريخية تجارية سوقية.

عودٌ على بدء، ما أراه أن الذوق الجديد الأمريكي اعتاد على نقطة الانقلاب الروائي التي تجعل القارئ يفغر فاه بكل تشويق، حتى لو لم تكن رواية بوليسية، المهم أقرأ أشياء تجعلني لا أصدق نفسي و لا أستطيع ترك الكتاب حتى أنتهي منه، أمّا تتابع الأحداث بجريانها الطبيعي و بمنطقية و مصداقية إنسانية، فهذا لم يعد متوفرًّا في الذوق الأمريكي، حتى قصص الحب التي تُكتب في هذا الأدب، تثيرني بالغثيان، سرعة و تشويق و لا يهم أي شيء آخر.

ربما كلامي هذا بسبب تأثري بكلام المسيري رحمه الله، و لكني فوجئت من ضحالة هذا العمل، هذا الكلام الكثير عن تجديد الطاقة و إيجاد روح الحب الأزلية الخزعبلية لسر الوجود الكوني الأبدي، هذه المصطلحات العميقة الغريبة التي أصبح كل الأمريكيين مولعين بها، قد أثرت في إيزابيل، لا أنكر أن الرواية فكرتها العامة حازت إعجابي، و لكن، هشاشة البناء و التناول كانا طافحيْن و مُخذِليْن، و لم أستطع تجاوز الأمر، كما أن حدوث الحب فجأة في قلب ريتشارد المُمزق لمجرد إمضاء كم ليلة مع لوثيا، غريب، و سريع، هذه رواية تخضع للقوالب.

و أزعجني بالمناسبة، تكرار إيزابيل لأفكار ضعف الرجال و قسوتهم في كل عمل، و دائمًا المرأة عندها قوية للغاية و تستطيع التحكم و التصرف في أشد الأمور عسرةً، الرجال عاطلة و لا تنفق و تضرب و تخون أو ضعيفون و طفوليون و فاشلون، المرأة مظلومة، ثم تصحو لتجدد طاقتها و تضع الأمور في نصابها، أفهم القلم النسوي و لا أملك أي غضاضةً معه، و لكنّي لا أحبذ تكرار القوالب، و الملل الشخصوي و كأن العمل مُكرّس لمراد معين، و المفترض أن العمل الأدبي يُكتب لذاته، دائمًا تخلق إيزابيل عالمًا تنتصر فيه المرأة ضد جلّاديها، بواقعية شديدة و بلا مبالغة أو تخييل يلوي عنق الحقائق، و أنا لم أستسغ هذا لإن تكرار الأفكار هو عدوي الأول في عالم الأدب.

لا أنكر متعتي بالسرد المترابط في بعض الفصول، و تحليل إيزابيل للأحداث، و لكن نبرة الاتهام الخفية الدائمة تجاه النماذج الرجولية و محاولة إبراز الدور القيادي للمرأة، أمور نغصّت عليّ الكثير، وجعلت هذه الرواية شتاءً لا صيف له!

تمّت.
١٢ مارس ٢٠١٩

[Heba]

هى.. قلبها بين يديها دائماً ومع ذلك تتمتع بروح شجاعة ، تعشق المخاطرة ، ابتسامتها مواربة يغلب عليها طابع المرح ممزوجاً بلكنة ساخرة تضفي عليها مزيداً من الجاذبية ، تتمتع بذكاء وجرأة تبعث على الأندهاش ، في محاولة للتحرر من الماضي والبدء من جديد...
هو.. عقلانياً منغلقاً على نفسه...مُحتمياً وحيداً بقوقعته..، يلتزم بالقواعد والقوانين ، يسير وفقاً لقوائم صارمة ، ابتسامته جادة ترتسم بانضباط ..ينكفىء على حياته متوجساً..تلاحقه أشباح الماضي وذكرياته لا تنفك عنه..
هنالك شيء غريب يحدث له، يداهمه ولا يستطيع مقاومته بالرغم من حذره ، يشعر بسعادة لا يمكن تعريفها ..أو تسميتها..هل وقع في شرك الحب ؟..
هل يمكنه حقاً أن يستعيد الحياة معها هى ..يهرما معاً بينما كل منهما يمسك بيد الآخر ؟...
الكاتبة "ايزابيل الليندي" تُحيك قصة حب رغماً عن خيوطها المتشابكة والمعقدة لكل من طرفيها إلا أنها تنتهي بين يدي قارئها بسيطة ..سلسة ..ورشيقة..
ولكن هذا ليس كل شيء ..هى تتقن الحديث عن المهمشين ..والمجهولين ..عن عوالم غامضة مأساوية تغرق في ظلام دامس بلا قوانين ولاانسانية ..عوالم مخيفة ..وحشية ولكنها موجودة...

[Nour Allam · Rating 4 out of 5]

الكتاب الثّاني عشر لعام ٢٠٢٤.
من الكتب الّتي تأسرك بحقّ❤️





كتابي ال (97) لعام 2018.


"وأدركت أخيراً، في وسط الشتاء، ��ن في داخلي صيفاً في حالة سبات شتويّ..."

في ليلة عاصفة باردة، جريمة قتل غامضة تجمع مصائر ثلاثة أشخاص بعيدين عن بعضهم في كل شيء... نعود إلى الماضي لنتعرف إلى قصص كل واحد فيهم، لنشعر بآلامهم وأحزانهم ونكشف عن الأحداث التي أوصلتهم إلى هنا.

التقييم:

🌟🌟🌟🌟 4 نجوم، الرواية بديعة بحق، هادئة جداً وذات ايقاع لطيف💓

القراءة الأولى لإيزابيل ألليندي ولن تكون الأخيرة بالطبع😍

[محمد خالد شريف · Rating 3 out of 5]

"ليس هُنالك ما هو مُثير للأسى أكثر من صوت الشوكة في بيت مُقفر، وتناول الطعام وحيداً، والنوم وحيداً، والموت وحيداً."

التجربة الأولى لي مع الكاتبة التشيلية "إيزابيل ألليندي" ودعنا نقول إنها كانت بداية متوسطة، ولكنها تعد بالكثير والكثير.
فالرواية وعلى الرغم من سرد "إيزابيل" الأكثر من رائع الذي سيجعلك ترتبط ارتباطاً وثيقاً مع شخصياتها، إلا أنها رواية قد تنسى محتواها بعد فترة بسيطة.. لم أشعر أن الرواية أثرت في بالشكل الكبير إلا في تلك الحادثة الخاصة بـ"ريتشارد" ورُبما لضعفي الشخصي تجاه الأطفال وبراءتهم.. دائماً ما أجد نفسي ضعيفاً في حضورهم الحزين، وخصوصاً عندما يكون الكاتب عنهم جيد جداً، مثل إيزابيل بالطبع.

رواية ذات أحداث شتوية بامتياز، ثلج وصقيع يجعل أوصالك ترتجف، وثلاث شخصيات جمعهم تاريخهم القديم في نفس الطريق صدفة، وحتى الطريقة التي وظفت بها "إيزابيل" ماضي كل شخصية كان ذكي جداً، بعدما نعيش قليلاً في المُستقبل نعود إلى الماضي لنفهم شخصياتنا أكثر وأكثر ونتعمق في وجودهم وفكرهم وحكاياتهم وأسرارهم في بلدانهم المُختلفة كغواتيمالا وتشيلي والبرازيل والولايات المُتحدة.. وفي كُل بلد كانت "إيزابيل" تنقلك إلى الأجواء بطريقة سردها المُختلفة لكل شخصية.. فحتى لو لم تقرأ عنوان الفصل ستعرف عن أي شخصية نتحدث وأي بلد، من فحوى السرد.

"جنود الجيش يقترفون فظاعات ضد أناس مثلهم، من العرق نفسه، من الطبقة نفسها، ومن البؤس نفسه الذي لا يُسبر له غور. إنهم ينفذون أوامر، هذا صحيح، ولكنهم ينفذونها مُسممة بالمُخدر الأشد إدماناً: مُمارسة السلطة بلا عقاب."

وبالطبع تفردت العديد من الصفحات إلى جانب السياسة، وتلك المشكلات المُتعلقة بالهجرة غير الشرعية، وحرب العصابات في البلاد النامية، وكُل ذلك جميل.. ولكن أهم موضوع لمسني شخصياً.. ذلك الذي كان يخص الشيخوخة.. الحُب بعدما يهرم جسدك، وبأبسط حركة تقوم بها يُعلن جسدك احتجاجه.. فبعد العديد من السنوات عندما نصل إلى سن الخمسين، كيف سنعيش؟ كيف سنحب؟ هذا كان من ألطف ما قرأت عنه، وأصدق. لأنه رُبما ليس بهذه الروعة، ولكن الحُب دائماً ما يكون لطيفاً عندما تجده، أليس كذلك؟


ختاماً..
رواية جيدة تفتح لي أبواباً لعوالم ألليندي، وسردها الرائع، وتعدني بروايات ذات مستوى أعلى وأفضل.
يُنصح بها.

[Nada Elshabrawy · Rating 4 out of 5]

خير بداية لعام سعيد ان شاء الله.

[Sandysbookaday (taking a step back for a while) · Rating 3 out of 5]

EXCERPT: Richard Bowmaster was Lucia’s boss at New York University where she had a one year contract as a visiting professor. Once the semester was over, her life was a blank slate: she would need another job and somewhere else to live while she decided on her long term future. Sooner or later she would return to end her days in Chile, but that was still quite a way off. And since her daughter, Daniela, had moved to Miami to study marine biology, and was possibly in love and planning to stay, there was nothing to draw Lucia back to her home country. She intended to enjoy her remaining years of good health before she was defeated by decreptitude. She wanted to live abroad, where the daily challenges kept her mind occupied and her heart in relative calm, because in Chile she was crushed by the weight of the familiar, its routines and limitations. Back there she felt she was condemned to be a lonely old woman besieged by pointless memories; in another country, there could be surprises and opportunities.

THE BLURB: 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.

MY THOUGHTS: What happened to Allende's beautiful lyrical writing? It is MIA in In the Midst of Winter. I think I only stopped twice to roll a passage of the text around my mind and my mouth. The writing felt flat, unlike the previous books by this author which I really enjoyed.

I found this story quite depressing, both in its characters and the plot, both of which frequently left me feeling annoyed.

The story is mainly told about the three central characters, Lucia, Evelyn and Richard and over several different timelines, past and present. This doesn’t flow seamlessly and I found myself getting irritated by the constant tooing and froing. It was like a film that has been badly spliced. Disjointed.

I was disappointed. But perhaps she was just having a bad year. I may just reread The Japanese Lover to banish this from my mind. Definitely not what I have come to love and expect from this usually brilliant author.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster via Netgalley for providing a digital copy of In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the 'about' page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system. This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

[Rahaf Potrosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

ما وراء الشتاء
ما وراء الصقيع ، ما وراء الثلج ، ما وراء التجمد 😅
ما وراء الجدران و الأبواب المغلقة ، ما وراء النظرات ، ما وراء الكلمات ، ما وراء العبرات ، ما وراء الحرب ، ما وراء السنين المعتمة ، ما وراء الفقر والحاجة والظلم

حملت هذه الرواية الكثير بين دفتيها
الحب ، الحرب ، الظلم ، الجوع ، الرغبة ، الأحاديث الكثيرة التي بقيت مكبوتة لسنين في نفوس اصحابها ، احتاج الأمر فقط إلى التعثر بجريمة قتل ، لتبدأ الألسن بالثرثرة عن سنوات صمت خلت ، ومشاعر اختبئت خلف جدران الماضي
" القلب لا يكسر مثل بيضة ، وحتى لو كان مثل بيضة ، أليس من الأفضل كسره كي تنسكب منه المشاعر"


ثلاث شخصيات مختلفة تمام الاختلاف ، تركيبة غريبة من تركيبات الليندي ، ريتشارد البرفسور الجامعي ، سلبي جداً وضعيف الشخصية ، مذبذب حد الهوس وهو ما مكن لوثيا ، جارته التشيلية بشخصيتها القوية و ذكائها و سرعة بديتها  من إحكام سيطرتها عليه لاحقاً والوصول إلى قلبه ، المكان الذي تطمح إليه من سنوات ، و الوسيلة كانت جسر صغير يدعى ايڨيلين ، تلك الفتاة التي جاءت من أقسى مناطق الظلم والإهانة ، تلك الخيال الصامت التي اجتازت أيام وليالٍ  من القهر والحرمان والعذاب والوحدة .
"( إنكً مؤثرة رهيبة في حياتي يا لوثيا ، قبل أنّ أعرفك كنت رجلاً نزيهاً ، جدّياً ، و أكاديمياً لا تشويه شائبة ...)
- أنت ثقيل و مملّ يا ريتشارد ، ولكن انظر كيف وقعتُ في حبك على الرّغم من ذلك .
- لم افكر قط في ان ينتهي بي الأمر إلى عرقلة سير العدالة .
القانون قاس ٍ والعدالة عمياء "
صدقت لوثيا بكل كلمة قالتها ، ولا يحق لريتشارد التذمر او النواحي فهو من سمح لها بالقيادة 😁

ايڨيلين ، الجزء الموجع في هذه الحكاية
للعنف والاضطهاد وجه واحد مهما اختلف الزمان والمكان

بدأت بقرائتها لاعتقادي بأنها بوليسية ، وتوقفت عندما اكتشفت الخدعة ، لاتابع قرائتها لاحقاً وقد تغيرت نظرتي كلياً
من الرائع ان نقرأ رواية تحوي اكثر من قصة وأكثر من حدث بأكثر من زمن

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the Midst of Winter features three distinct individuals who are brought together during a crippling blizzard. All of Brooklyn is shut down. Richard Bowmaster, a 60-year-old academic, is on his way home from the emergency vet clinic when he rear-ends a vehicle driven by Evelyn Ortega, a youthful, fragile-looking undocumented Guatemalan. To his surprise and chagrin, she knocks on his door later that evening seeking help. Claiming limited Spanish-speaking skills, he enlists the aid of his tenant, 62-year-old Chilean lecturer and writer, Lucia Maraz. In truth, it is not so much Lucia’s language ability he requires as her presence, for he has long admired and desired her; in this situation, he feels uncomfortable about dealing with his obviously disquieted visitor. She is wide-eyed and fearful. She is silent, numb, and appears shell-shocked. When she does speak, she stammers. He needs wisdom and experience of a Latina woman.

What Evelyn reveals shocks him. Scares him. But he knows there is something else, something she is not saying. I must say, it startled me.

In alternating chapters, each character shares bits of his and her past while passing the time. Lucia grew up in Chile; she was in high school in the late sixties when her brother Enrique joined a group supporting Salvador Allende’s Socialist Party candidacy for president. She was a bit of a radical herself. In the chaos following Allende’s death, she fled Chile.

Richard Bowmaster is only slightly younger than Lucia. A widower now, he married a Brazilian woman and lived there so she could be near her family. A human rights scholar, he lives a solitary, seemingly lonely life in Brooklyn. He has a stomach ulcer that gives him trouble and plenty of quirks; mostly he is unable to forgive himself for the mistakes of his past and considers himself unlovable.

Evelyn seems like a broken doll – until you hear her entire story. Then you realize just how strong this young woman really is. She was raised by her grandmother is a poor, tiny village in Guatemala. After suffering a terrible ordeal, the local priest arranged to have her smuggled to the US to be reunited with family. Since arriving in New York, she has been working as a nanny for a boy with cerebral palsy. The boy’s father, Frank Leroy, has rejected him, ignores him. He beats his wife. The mother, Cheryl, dotes on her son but works out incessantly and drinks to escape the tortures of her marriage. Young Frankie and Evelyn are practically inseparable.

The present day story, frankly, is weak by comparison. I have to say that while not a total surprise, I liked the twist at the end. The whole thread just didn’t fit well with the other pieces of the story. However, I do think that Ms. Allende successfully created discomfort, certainly for me as a reader, and for Richard and Evelyn, forcing them to think and act outside their comfort zones. Evelyn, despite everything she had witnessed and survived, is still terrified. Why? For one, she has no credentials. Also, in her experience, law enforcement personnel are not friends of people like her. She doesn’t know who is trustworthy and who is not. Yet, she forges ahead. And Richard – he wants to do what is legal and moral and safe. He also wants Lucia in his life, and he is scared to death. He, too, keeps moving. Lucia. I love Lucia. She seems fearless. She’s a “just do it” kind of gal.

Even though the plot seemed incongruous to me, I think that it served its purpose. During the time that Evelyn, Lucia, Richard (and the Chihuahua, Marcelo) spent together, we learn who each of them is, what he or she has been through, and what makes each one strong. If you don’t want to read tough details about life in Central and South America or about immigrants crossing the border and adapting to life in America, then you may want to skip this book altogether. Allende writes with grit, with heart and spirituality, and also with humor. One of my very favorite scenes in the book was when Lucia’s mother Lena was dying. It felt like a sacred moment, and I was in the room. There is another moment like this near the end of the story that involves Evelyn. Although Richard was my least favorite of the characters, I love the image about his hibernating heart. In retrospect, one of the things that strikes me most about the characters is the contrast between the real life experiences of the two women and Richard’s understanding of human rights as a scholar. While it is true that he lived and worked in Brazil and his wife Anita was Brazilian, he didn’t experience first-hand the poverty, torture, and rape that Lucia and Evelyn witnessed, suffered, and feared in their daily lives. Yet, he is damaged by tragic events of his own past and shelters himself from anything that might cause him discomfort. Then comes the thaw, in the form of Lucia. In the Midst of Winter was my introduction to Isabelle Allende’s writing, so I cannot compare to any previous works. Is it perfect? No. But I found it a very worthwhile read.

Thanks to NetGalley, Atria Books, and the author for making this book available to me. The views expressed in this review are my own.

4 stars

[Debbie W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, Isabel Allende proves she is a master storyteller of character-driven historical fiction! In this story, she thrusts three unrelated people together in mysterious unforeseen circumstances. During the time when they plot about how to deal with their "problem", they share their heartbreaking life stories with each other. I especially developed an affinity to middle-aged Lucia. I felt a kinship to her when she describes her relationship issues and her mother's poignant death. This book lends itself well to interesting history lessons of Brazil, but especially Guatemala and Chile. I will definitely continue to read more by Allende!

[Dorie - Cats&Books :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been a fan of Ms. Allende ever since I read “Daughter of Fortune” many, many years ago. I was looking forward to this book and the premise was a good one, but in the end it didn’t work for me. It seemed to me that Ms. Allende was trying to write an immigrant story but also a present day story filled with an unbelievable plot and three individuals who are all deeply scarred from their past. If this had been any other author I don’t know that I would have finished the book but I was looking forward to the end, to see how everything resolved. I rated it a three because there is, of course, still some great writing here.

The three main characters are Richard Bowmaster, Evelyn Ortega and Lucia Maraz. Richard lived in Chile for many years, married a woman there and had two children. Now he is a professor living in Brooklyn after terrible tragedies destroyed his marriage and the life that he had. He is quite solitary and lives alone with his cats, doesn’t have any friends and seldom goes out aside from work.

Evelyn Ortega is an illegal immigrant who lived in a tiny village in Guatemala and was being raised by her grandmother. Her mother left for the United States when she and her two brothers were young so that she could work and send money back to her mother to provide for the children. Evelyn was always a quiet, obedient child who never learned much English. Though her grandmother tried to raise all of the children with strict discipline and religion, the elder brother takes up with a gang and afterwards there are horrific consequences. A priest in her village arranges for Evelyn to illegally cross the border and then be reunited with her mother. Things don’t go very well for Evelyn during this ordeal but she is finally here and working for a family, the LeRoy’s who have a disabled son. She cares deeply for the boy but his father terrifies her.

Lucia Maraz has another story of deep sadness. She grew up in Chile, married and had a child. When the fragile marriage falls apart and her daughter is living in the states she immigrates to the United States. She has not only been through much political turmoil and upheaval but also suffers from an illness which scarred her emotionally and physically. Though in her sixties she has started a new life for herself as a lecturer and writer working at the same university as Richard, in fact he is the one who hired her and offered her the basement flat in his building as a rental.

The three are brought together, as the blurb for the book tells us, “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.”

There were so many stops and starts in this book that the flow was terrible. The sweeping, beautiful, descriptive language that I admire so much from this writer didn’t come through in this book. The present day story had some humor and love but it wasn’t enough to keep me turning the pages and the ending was too easily brought together and not really believable.

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher and Edelweiss, thank you.

[Maria Bikaki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ευκολοδιάβαστο. Ψιλοσυμπαθητική ιστοριούλα για να περάσει η ώρα παρόλο που δύσκολα θα καταφέρεις να συνδεθείς με κάποιον ήρωα. Όταν όμως το βιβλίο το υπογράφει η αγαπημένη Ιζαμπέλ Αλιέντε αυτομάτως γίνεσαι πιο απαιτητικός. Για το μέγεθος των δυνατοτήτων της και συγκριτικά με παλαιότερα δείγματα γραφής της, μέτριο. Όχι κακό αλλά ούτε πραγματικά ζηλευτό. Σαν να χει χάσει λίγο την ζωντάνια στην πένα της η Αλιέντε τελευταία.

[Margitte · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have always been a Isabel Allende reader and admirer. As one of her millions of devoted followers, I feel blessed to have read her latest book.

Two people slowly fall in love; the reader is taken on a historical tour through Chili, Brazil, Guatemala, Canada; human trafficking; drugs and alcoholism; a murder mystery; and a few I might have forgotten. The story is packed with adventure, nostalgia, remorse, and so much more.

I was thinking about the associations we make between elements of our experiences. The role of music. How memories are evoked when certain songs play on the radio. Some recall good, and others bad memories. This is Allende's style. She feeds the reader amazing, very often shocking stories, in rhythmic poetic prose. There is always music in her words. Honest, autobiographical elements combined with mysticism and hard historical fictional facts.

Human trafficking is strongly spotlighted in this tale. This 'industry' followed the same route as alcohol through history. Where prohibition kicked in, the activities went underground. Where slavery was legally abolished, it became next to drugs and gun smuggling, one of the biggest, unregulated monstrosities of the underworld. While providing an avenue for money laundering, human exploitation, illegal immigration, and political corruption, it leaves its consequences for the tax payer to face in the form of higher taxes to cover the cost of policing, drug and alcohol rehabilitation services and everything else falling within the parameters of its vast networks. It's unstoppable and thriving.

Nevertheless, Allende throws in a romance and all the other sweet thrills to provide a contemporary, enjoyable read for various genre lovers. The atmospheric tale did not grip me as much as her earlier works such as House of Spirits and Eva Luna, which captured a global audience with her magical realism. There is a strong element of “literary elephantiasis” ( Stephen King's term for his books which tend to bloat), as well as crowd-sourcing present. Too many issues to attract as many readers as possible. It can be found in many authors's works of course. Louise Penny is doing the same and it leaves me wanting for the old charm of their previous books. However, her wit and charm remains classic Allende in all her sweet, compassionate and mesmerizing self. Sadly, I felt like reading headlines in novel form.

Apart from that, Allende went through enough tragedy, challenges, and misery herself, which enables her to portray her characters with so much depth. Like Lucia in the book, Isabel is blessed with liviano de sangre - a Chilean expression for someone who is good natured and loved without meaning to, or for no obvious reason. Her stories are laced with her humor and wit which adds more soul to her work.

THE BLURB
New York Times and 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.

From the Introduction to the Reading Group Guide for the book

A blizzard in New York City brings together three strikingly different people, each burdened with a difficult past. Lucia, an aging Chilean writer who has survived political exile, disease, and betrayal, is marooned with her dog in a basement apartment in Brooklyn. Richard, an academic chairman at NYU, is a broken man haunted by guilt for his fatal failures as a husband and father. And Evelyn, a brave young Guatemalan woman, is an undocumented home health aide who fled her native country due to gang violence, which claimed the lives of her two brothers and very nearly destroyed her own. Over the course of several days, these three—each a misfit in a different way—are forced by circumstances into a rare level of intimacy. As the result of a shocking crime, they depart on a precarious epic journey that reveals their painful inner demons and ultimately enables them to forge a tentative peace with their pasts.

[Ola Al-Najres · Rating 2 out of 5]

يكفيك تمرغاً في أحزان الماضي ، العلاج الوحيد لكل هذه النكبات هو الحب ..

لم أكن في حياتي من المتحاملين على الحب ، ولا وقفتُ مرةً ضد الجانب العاطفيّ للبشر ، بل لطالما آمنت بالحب كمُنقِذ ، و بالإنسانية كمبدأ وحيد لترتيب فوضوية العالم .

لكن ما قدمته لي هذه الرواية كان باهتاً ، بارداً ، و أعتقد أنّ أسوأ ما تُنعت به علاقة بين اثنين - أيّ اثنين - هي أنها باردة ، خاصةً إن كانت تُعنى بالفُرص الأخرى و إمكانية البدء من جديد .

عاصفة ثلجية ، و جريمة قتل ، و تشابك مصائر لبشر لم يلتقوا ... ، هي المكونات المثالية لطبق أدبيّ لذيذ ، بشرط أن تُعد الأفكار جيداً ، و تُترك لتنضج بأناة ، فُتجبر القارئ على التهامها بشهية مفتوحة ، و التلذذ بها حتى بعد الانتهاء .

و هذا ما لم أجده في عمل الليندي ، فبرغم سلاسة سردها ، و جودة بناء الشخصيات ، إلا أنّ الربط بينهم جاء ساذجاً ، و الطريق متوقعاً ، و الحبكة تحمل الكثير من الهشاشة وعدم الاقناع .

و لكونها القراءة الأولى لالليندي فأنا أشعر بخيبة أمل ، حيث لم تلامس الرواية سقف توقعاتي ، ملأتْ وقتي ، و ربما أمتعتني قليلاً ، لكنها للأسف لم تُبهرني ..

[Marisa Sauco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tres personajes diferentes, unidos por una situación excepcional, casi tragicómica.

Una novela que tiene todos los condimentos característicos de las historias de esta autora. Amor. Humor. Amistad. Madurez. Ironía. Crítica social y política. Emoción. Realismo mágico. Espiritualidad.

Esta escritora me puede. Siempre.

[Esraa · Rating 5 out of 5]

الست ايزابيلا الله يرضى عنها جمعت واحد امريكي مع شابة من جواتيمالا مع ست تشيلية (تجربتها فيها كتير من إيزابيلا نفسها) عشان يتصرفوا في جثة شابة مقتولة اتورطوا معاها بالصدفة. أثناء القلق ده كله جابت تاريخ العنف في تشيللي وجواتيمالا ومشاكل المهاجرين واللاجئين، وبلطافتها المعهودة، برغم الألم، دعمت التجارب بشرح مشاعر مختلفة.. خوف، حب غير مشروط، تضحيات، خناقات بين خير وشر، يعني ايه عدالة إلهية، الخروج من منطقة الأمان ومواجهة المخاوف وحاجات كتير جدا صعب تتشرح في مراجعة.
الجميل أن قصة كل شخصية اتضحت وتطورت واحدة واحدة. كل فصل معنون باسم ومكان الأحداث وفي الآخر الخيوط بتتربط ببعضها.

ثالث تجربة معاها وحتى الآن لم تخذلني. أتمنى يوما ما اقدر اقرأ لها بلغتها بدون وسيط.
كانت أحلى حلويات العيد ولولا ليالي دوري الأبطال كان زمانها خلصت من يومين مثلا. بس أنا حبي للكورة ده موديني في داهية🙂

[Dawnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing was great, the idea was fantastic... the actual book a bit disappointing.

What i would recommend with this is that if you are interested in reading this book know this:
The english translation is beautifully written, but the plot itself is very wide reaching, telling four different story lines at the same time and mixing them together in a way that i personally didn't love.

But if you don't mind different plots mixing together as if they are connected even thought they are not, highly recommend this book.

If you are more like me and you do not necessarily want to read plots mixed together that makes them feel like backstories of peoples lives are compared to one another simply because they are told in bits and pieces that make it seem like "lets see who had the hardest time!", maybe don't read this one!

Things i loved:
- The "older" characters!
We have a 62 year old woman and her landlord/friend that is around the same age (maybe a few years older) and its fantastic to see a book with more characters that are not 19 or 20 years old, especially in adult books!
its nice to just have some more mature characters in a book, that don't just play the role of the batty grandmother!

- the writing
i am given a lot of credits to the translator for that one, since i have read a previous book by Allende that was written very choppily and not at all enjoyable to read. So i am guessing that Allende's actual writing style is somewhere in the middle of this beautifully written piece and the almost unreadable other book i read by her! I could be wrong about that i can't read Spanish to say for sure, so if you can, please let me know!
so points to the translator that made the entire story so nice to read! The writing just worked very nicely and made the reading super easy even in moments that i felt a bit like the actual plot dragged on.


What i didn't like:
- the constant switch between the background of three characters and the "now" where they are together in Brooklyn telling those stories
Let me explain that a bit:
I think the immigration stories of the two women are great! Very timely, very fitting, nicely done.
And even the backstory of the man was interesting.
But it was a bit much in my option to mix all those three different yet similarly toned stories together in this way. It took away from the actual stories themselves to have them basically compared to one another. (at least that it what it felt like to me!)

Also with the strange moments of them being together in Brooklyn it just felt unconnected and cobbled together in the strangest way!

That might be because i found the entire Brooklyn side of the story strange and didn't really understand why that was necessary for the other parts of the book!

To me it just felt like Allende tried to fit too much into one book.
Not sure if that was because she wanted to have the book a specific length and didn't know how else to get there, or if she personally thought it all fitted together the way it is written... i have no idea.

But for me it was too much, too wildly almost randomly mixed together that it felt disrupting and not at all like i personally enjoy my stories to be written.



Still it is not a bad book.

It has fantastic points.

I especially love that Richard (the main man) pretty early on in the book complains about all the sex scenes in movies that feel to him like the film makers just did not know what to do with those 15 to 20 minutes so strange sex scenes that have nothing to do with the rest of the movie were added into it! And how he misses the times where those moments where hinted at with closing doors or clicking of the lights.

because yes! Thank you! I felt that way for YEARS! So its so nice to see someone mentioning how unbecoming, unnecessary and stupid those many sex scenes are! Which sadly doesn't only goes with movies, but the endless amounts of books that also add unnecessary descriptive sex scenes when it is completely unnecessary or has anything to do with the story, plot or book itself and is just about as fitting as it would have been if the author would describe the main character picking his nose or sitting on the toilet!


going off on a tantrum here! Sorry.

I just loved some parts of the book, some bits of the characters immensely, i could see clear understanding between how Allende sees the world and how i myself see it.

So there were defiantly great bits in this book.
But sadly a lot of it just didn't work for me personally.

Its still the first book of hers that i actually partly enjoyed.
And even though this book wasn't as fantastic as i wanted it to be or hoped it would be or gave me everything i expect this author can do, it still showed me that i just have to try a bit harder with this author, and find the hidden gems that she surely has to offer that are perfect for me!

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

IN THE MIDST OF WINTER
Isabel Allende


MY RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️▫️
PUBLISHER Simon and Schuster Audio
PUBLISHED November 2, 2017

A relevant and lyrical novel that runs the gamut of emotions, blending humor, tragedy, depression and love.

SUMMARY
IN THE MIDST OF WINTER begins with a minor traffic accident on a snowy morning in Brooklyn. Richard Bowmaster, a depressed 60-year-old human rights professor slides on the snow into the rear a white Lexus causing some minor damage. The Lexus is driven by Evelyn Ortega, a young undocumented Guatemala immigrant who works as a nanny for a New York gangster. She immediately drives off, as Richard throw his business card through her window. The accident takes a serious turn when Evelyn shows up on Richard’s doorstep later that evening in immense distress and uncommunicative. Not knowing what to do, Richard calls his downstairs tenant Lucia Maraz, a 62-year-old visiting professor from Chile, for help. After several hours, Richard and Lucia are finally able to understand the full extent of Evelyn’s plight regarding the accident and they agree to help her. Later the next day the three travel together to upstate New York in an attempt to resolve Evelyn’s issue. During this trip the story branches into the backstories for each of three protagonists. The backstories, a significant part of the novel takes the reader to Guatemala, Chile and Brazil. Ultimately, a charming unexpected love story develops between Richard and Lucia, who both had given up on ever finding love again.


REVIEW
ISABEL ALLENDE has artfully woven a lyrical novel running the gamut of emotions. This spellbinding novel creatively blends humor, tragedy, depression and love. It takes us places we have never been and shows us things we have never seen. The backstories for each of the three protagonists are tragic, yet here they are in New York trudging though the snow and helping a stranger. The novel is informative and revealing, and at the same time gives us hope, that after the worst thing that could ever happen to you happens, good may ultimately follow, in the most unexpected circumstances.

Lucia’s character was adorable and steals the show, she is feisty and full spunk. She sums up this amazing story when she tells Richard, “Enough wallowing in the sorrows of the past. The only cure for so much misfortune is love.” Richard, on the other hand, adds much levity to the story by his eccentricities and his stomach problems. Evelyn, is in a word, resilient. She has been through more than we can imagine and she still manages to show care and compassion for others. All three diverse characters uniquely come together to form the perfect ensemble in a most relevant book.

“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.”
- Albert Camus

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tale of a middle-aged academic woman in Brooklyn, Lucia, joining forces with a male colleague (and landlord and department head), Richard, to help a young undocumented woman from Guatemala in serious trouble, Evelyn. The latter works as a nanny to a gangster figure, whose car she has borrowed turns out to have a body in its trunk. Deportation is unacceptable because the gang MS-13 is targeting her and her family. The effort to help pulls Lucia and Richard out of safe routines, revives the spirit from their youth of political action for the persecuted, and tips them toward a quirky romance. The plot in the current time for the story imitates a thriller while deflating into a situational comedy. Meanwhile, the individual backstories of the three characters takes us into diverse harrowing tales of their families’ disruption from political upheaval and personal stories of migration into exile. Lucia had to flee Chile after Allende’s toppling by CIA-backed military coup (the author’s cousin), whereas Richard’s father was a German Jew who escaped the Nazis in World War 2, and he lived through political turmoils in Brazil. Evelyn’s story of survival from events of family destruction, rape, and violence is the worst of all, and her courage and perseverance wins our heart as well as that of Lucia and Richard.

All this history is certainly educational and the characters engage the reader’s concerns, but ultimately the look backwards into their different histories diffused a lot of the drama in the tale. I appreciated better some of Allende’s historical dramas, such as her “Island Beneath the Sea”, which features lives caught up in the slave rebellion that liberated Haiti at the turn of the 18th century.

This book was provided by the publisher for review through the Netgalley program.

[Jonas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I greatly enjoy Allende's writing. In the Midst of Winter did not disappoint. It’s born from a "what if" premise. Three lives converge, whether by chance or fate, on the eve of a blizzard. The life stories of the three characters are revealed as the narrative (and storm) progresses. Their back stories are complex and are necessary to understand their motives for their actions following the event of their meeting. I am purposefully being vague because there is quite an unexpected twist in the story that launches this powerful story of love, healing, and forgiveness. At times tragic, and others horrific. The author explores loss, grief, the immigrant experience, and human trafficking. An important read at any time, but especially now, in the times we are living in.