The Four Winds

I really did not know much about this story before I chose the book to read (hear).
But this was a great tale of the tragedy of life during the Great Depression.
Similar to Grapes of Wrath, I could imagine the intense pressure people must have felt at the hopelessness of their situation.
In this story, I could relate to the main character as a single parent. I also imagined that she felt a lot of guilt for those around her who had much less hope.
This is a sad story, but a great read. I highly recommend.

Wow - I felt like I was there! The dust storms, drought and flash flood! I was sad that Elsa never really found the new life she was looking for before she died!

Excellent and engaging story. Heartbreaking in many ways and a truly insightful testament to what people lived through and survived during the Great Depression and Dustbowl. Well written with characters you can relate to and want to get to know even more. So enjoyed this eye opening work by one of my favorite authors.

I really enjoyed this audio book. Although it is 15 hours long, the richness of the prose and the narrator was simply superb. You felt like you were on the farm, getting dusty and hot. This author has a gift and she uses it well. Highly recommend this book.

This was beautifully written, gripping, and had stellar characters. With all that said, it was so overwhelmingly sad that I'm not sure how much I truly enjoyed it. Will have to reflect for a bit.

The first few chapters were agonizingly slow. I found a hundred reasons to criticize the book, including some things as small as the ability of the family to eat Italian dishes during the Great Depression and the use of the words “kids” and “mom.” The people in the story just didn't sound as if they were true to the time, and that was one thing that bothered me a lot. I wanted to DNF this one.

The story picked up a lot mid-book. The setting seemed more true-to-life, and the struggles were more real.

Still, I had oodles of problems with the story. The sarcasm of the daughter would not have been tolerated among the people I knew who lived at that time (and I knew many). And was Elsa pretty? Or not? Why did Elsa's parents coddle her and then shut her out?

I gave the book generous points for the California pages, but this is, nevertheless, not a book I'd recommend. I do love reading about these times, and I'd love to read a strong novel set in the Dust Bowl. But it's not this one.

2021 has been the year for myself on expanding my reading and trying new genres out. I'm a typical scifi/fantasy reader but I have been diving into historical fiction and other genres. This historical fiction based in the dust bowl era was incredible. As a single mother myself I was rooting for her the whole way through as a mothers love conquers all. I normally don't cry with books but this one wrecked me. I haven't read anything of Kristin Hannah's and I'm glad my book club selected this one.

Wow!! Many tears were shed with this book.

Elsa who was disowned by her family after getting pregnant by teenage Rafe, makes a life for herself on the farm during the dustbowl era in Texas.

Then she ends up in California with her children picking cotton, and rising up against the crooked land owners.

But it's so much more than that. It's the the love she has for her children, it's the strength she has to do this all on her own. It's the length women go to to protect and provide.

It's a beautiful book. One that will stay with for a long time.

A story about hard times and the key factor of persevering through them: love. This book is a roller-coaster of emotion from joy and hope to deep sorrow and loss. Though the story is fictional it is based on true events that occurred in 1930s America. The author provides an enlightening perspective of one of the most difficult times in American history.

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah was my February 2021 Book of the Month choice. I also purchased the audiobook via my monthly Kobo audiobook subscription. I read the physical book while simultaneously listening to the audiobook. This is a remarkable historical novel that tells the story of a modest, quiet woman who was stronger, braver, and more beautiful than she truly realized. The audiobook was narrated by actor/author/narrator Julia Whelan (one of my top 5 favorites). I've listened to over 400 audiobooks and this was one of the best book narrations I've had the pleasure of listening to. I guarantee this will be one of my most recommended books of 2021, and I'm sure I'll be suggesting it to my friends, family and colleagues for years to come. WARNING: Have tissues handy!*** 5 + STARS ***

Kristin Hannah says “I'll see your pandemic with your I-can't-go-to-my-favorite-restaurant whining and raise you one Dust Bowl Depression. That's some real suffering, bitches.” I have to admit that as I read the saga of Elsa and her daughter Loreda (plus a son, but he's not important) confronting black dust storms, failing crops, crossing the desert in a dilapidated pickup truck, prejudice against “Okies,” hunger, floods, and greedy landowners - well let's just say that I felt a little guilty complaining about the inconveniences of staying well-fed in my nice warm house for the past (gulp) year. Hannah also shows that the fear and prejudice faced by “others” hasn't changed much in the past hundred years or so, which is always a necessary reminder. And the nominal hero is a Communist labor organizer who rails about the evils of capitalism! Fuck yeah! Women's Fiction goes radical! While I applaud Hannah's intentions, the execution was just a tad lacking. Elsa felt more like an archetype or a Dorothea Lange photograph come to life than a real person - a sickly, emotionally neglected woman who finds reserves of strength she never dreamed she had. Loreda is a moody adolescent who reads more like a modern teenager than a genuine early twentieth century girl. Their relationship is supposed to be the heart of the novel, and while I admired it, I never completely felt it. And fair warning: this is not a romance, even if there is a bit of a love story (romance readers know the difference). Hannah has come a long way from her start as a romance novelist, and a happy ending for all is not guaranteed. I'm sure this will be a bestseller, and the theme of enduring hard times is certainly relevant in 2021. It's not an easy read emotionally, but especially for those who don't know anything about this chapter in American history it is worth the effort. FYI, if you want to know more about the Dust Bowl, read Timothy Egan's [b:The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl 40961608 The Worst Hard Time The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl Timothy Egan https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1532715955l/40961608.SX50.jpg 3222858], one of the best pieces of non-fiction I have ever encountered. And if you don't know who Dorothea Lange is, google her haunting photographs.

In her book The Four Winds, Kristin Hannah has written another heartbreaking historical fiction novel that educates as well as entertains. The story of Elsa Martinelli's journey from unloved daughter to underappreciated wife and mother to brave warrior standing up for justice is beautifully told. While the story is difficult to read at times, it is worth it.

Elsa Martinelli and her children can no longer survive in the dust storms of Texas, so she packs them up and heads west in the hopes of finding work and a home in California. What she finds instead is discrimination, unfair wages, unlivable conditions, and back-breaking labor. Add to all this an angry daughter who challenges her constantly, and you end up with a woman almost completely beaten by life. However, Elsa finds the strength to keep working in an attempt to provide for her children.

This book is hard to read, not because it is poorly written or boring but because it is so incredibly sad. It contains one sorrowful event after another. Injustice is followed by more injustice. After surviving hardship in Texas, the characters face worse hardships in California. While reading, I kept hoping to see something good for these characters, but instead there was just more sadness. Honestly, I almost stopped reading it because it was depressing me. I kept reading, though, because I was invested in the characters.

Kristin Hannah is talented at developing characters. Each main character in this book (Elsa, Loreda, Jack) is vividly depicted. Elsa and Loreda's emotions are believable and understandable in their circumstances. The reader develops real sympathy for them.

This story is one of survival, bravery, and love. The characters persevere through the worst of circumstances, and they do so without losing sight of who they are. They stumble at times and almost give up or stop believing in themselves, but they fight their way back and find a way to keep going. Love is the one constant that helps them through it all. As Elsa states in her journal, “Love is what remains when everything else is gone.” Love for her children is what makes Elsa a warrior in this book, fighting for a better life for them. She “believes in an end she can't see and fights for it.”

I did not love every second of this read because of the sadness, but in the end I recognize the beauty of this book. This tale is well-crafted and teaches some valuable lessons. It also educates the reader about a very grim time in history. I would recommend this book to all Kristin Hannah fans and any historical fiction reader that appreciates a well-researched and well-constructed story. Just be prepared to be emotionally impacted.