In The Midst of Winter by author Isabel Allende crosses boundaries of time, cultures, history, and countries

In The Midst of Winter by author Isabel Allende crosses boundaries of time, cultures, history, and countries to bring the readers a compelling story of three main characters in need of human kindness. As the story progresses, we learn the background history in stages of our three people who have been brought together during this winter storm.

Lucia Maraz is a 62 year old feeling the cold of a sudden winter storm as she finds out classes at NYU have been cancelled. This means she has an unexpected day from her lectures and she comforts herself in her basement apartment by making a traditional Chilean soup. Later that evening she decides to call and ask Richard Bowmaster, her landlord and NYU colleague, if he would like to share her soup. Richard is 60 years old, lives alone, and declines her invitation. Lucia would like to be more than friends with Richard. Richard is a rather complicated person who enjoys his solitude. The next day Richard is involved in a small auto accident after taking one of his cats to the vet. Although the tiny young woman in the Lexus acted strange, Richard dropped his insurance information card into her car as she hurriedly drove away. Now begins a mystery when the young Latin woman appears at his door later that night, seemingly unable to speak, but is in distress. Richard calls for Lucia to come up and help him communicate with her. Lucia learns the small Guatemalan, Evelyn Ortega, is afraid of her employer. She had taken the car without permission and fears Frank Leroy because he can be very violent. But that is not all…there is something odd in the trunk of the car!  Lucia and Richard embark upon a plan to help poor Evelyn so she will not be implicated in a crime and deported.
The sad personal histories of Lucia and her family in Chile, Richard and his family in Rio de Janeiro, and Evelyn with her family in Guatemala is heartbreaking. The stories of broken humanity which are told among the three stayed in my heart and mind long after I finished the book. The will to survive is a strong asset when you have no other option but to try and go forward, even into the unknown.