Book Review: In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende

About:

In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende is a novel about three people who need each other’s help during a snowstorm in New York City. As most of Ms. Allende’s stories this one also has a connection to Latin America.

• 352 pages
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 150117813X

My rat­ing for In the Midst of Winter  — 3
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More Books by Isabel Allende

Thoughts:

The problem with finding a good book, but a good author, is that you are always on the lookout for the next one. A similar experience which takes you into a different time and place and allows you different perspectives.

I knew Isabel Allende can write such books, I read them and am always happy to pick up another book from this masterful storyteller. I can honestly say that I can think of very other few authors that can pull a story like In the Midst of Winter.

While the story was enjoyable, I really appreciated how Ms. Allende took three disjointed stories and tried to weave them together. I felt that she had separate stories to tell and was trying to tie them all together using a New York City snowstorm as a vehicle to do so – then threw in a love story.

It almost seemed as if someone threw this story together, hoping it will sell based simply on the name of the author (and I’m sure it will). I felt, actually I know, that this book could have been so much better than what was delivered.

Synopsis:

Richard Bowmaster, a lonely scholar, gets into a traffic accident with Evelyn Ortega, a young illegal immigrant from Guatemala on during a big snow storm in New York City. At first the accident seems like a small inconvenience in a city that’s literally came to a halt but Evelyn comes to the professor’s apartment seeking help.

Unable to speak the language, and being a nervous individual to begin with, the professor asks his tenant, Lucia Maraz from Chile for help. Lucia is a lecturer in the university and the incident sparks a lurking love story between the two educators.

Buy In the Midst of Winter from Amazon.com*
More Books by Isabel Allende

Zohar — Man of la Book
Dis­claimer: I got this book for free
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account