In the Midst of Winter

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 that 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 like a small inconvenience takes a 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 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 issues of human rights and the plight of immigrants and refugees, the novel recalls Allende’s landmark The House of the Spirits in the way it embraces the cause of humanity with passion, humor, and wisdom.

In the Midst of Winter will stay with you long after you turn the final page.

Endorsements

New York Times bestselling author Isabel Allende.

“Dazzling storyteller.” — Associated Press

“Humanity, and it does so with passion, humor, and wisdom that transcend politics.” — Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post