In the Midst of Winter is the new novel by Isabel Allende. It brings together three very different people during a snowstorm in Brooklyn. An American professor in his sixties, a young Guatemalan illegal immigrant and a Chilean woman and fellow academic. Their lives intersect after an accident leads to unexpected discoveries that throw them all together.

Told in past and present, Allende is, as always, a brilliant storyteller. However, I have read all of her books and this is probably my least favorite and most likely to be forgotten. It’s missing Allende’s usual lyrical passages and magical charm.