Richard calls Lucia, saying “A hysterical Latin American woman has invaded my house and I don’t know what to do with her. Later in the evening of the accident Evelyn shows up at Richard’s door but is unable to communicate. Richard throws his business card in Evelyn’s car as she drives off. She is in the country illegally, driving the Lexus without the boss’s knowledge and is horrified when the accident occurs, refusing any help from Richard. Evelyn works as a nanny and helper for a wealthy family in Brooklyn. As he is returning home, he rear ends a Lexus, which is being driven by a Guatemalan refugee, Evelyn. When we meet him he is rushing one of his cats to the veterinarian during a blizzard. He leads a solitary existence and has rejected Lucia’s advances. Lucia is divorced, has a daughter, Daniela in Miami and is secretly in love with Richard Bowmaster. Richard is also a professor at New York University and arranged for Lucia to teach at NYU and to live in the apartment. She is living in the basement apartment of Richard Bowmaster’s Brooklyn brownstone. Lucia is 62 years old, originally from Chile and teaching on a one year contract at New York University’s Center for Latin American Studies.

Through a compelling mix of history, mystery, romance and humor, Allende emphasizes the resilience of the human spirit, as her characters transform from their histories of tragedy to their futures of love, hope and humanity. “In the Midst of Winter” is an extraordinarily enjoyable novel, beautifully written, about three people brought together for a few days due to a snowstorm. “In the midst of winter, I finally found there was within me an invincible summer.” Albert Camus

In the midst of winter book