The Four Winds

Once in awhile you come across a book that is so good you don't want to put it down. The kind of book that immediately pulls you into its story, characters and vivid setting, leaving you with a lot to think about.

The Four Winds is that kind of story.

I read this large book over three days. It captivated me with its story and unique setting because going into this book, I knew very little about the Depression, the Dust Bowl and the Dust Bowl Migration of the 1930's. But through Elsa's story, Kristin Hannah brings her readers into the heart of the devastation - the dire poverty, the unimaginable destruction caused by the dust storms and droughts, and the rampant racism towards people fleeing their homes with little more than the clothes on their backs. After finishing the book, I immediately went online to find pictures of the Dust Bowl era and I highly recommend other readers do the same - you will not believe your eyes.

Blending history and well-drawn characters, The Four Winds follows the life of Elsa, a young woman living in a small Texas town. By giving readers a clear picture of Elsa's upbringing, we understand how her childhood so keenly impacts her self-worth and the choices she is forced to make to ensure the safety of her family. I particularly enjoyed the focus on the complex and changing relationships between women from different generations. The bond between Elsa and her mother-in-law managed to do what many books haven't -- made me all choked up and teary. I loved their connection!

The Four Winds is a saga that blends history with a touching and remarkable story of self-discovery as one woman struggles to find her strength to endure and prosper despite the obstacles nature and humankind continue to put before her. Equally eye-opening, poignant, and powerful, The Four Winds is a must read for 2021.

Favourite Quote:

Heartache had been a part of her life so long it had become as familiar as the color of her hair or the slight curve in her spine. Sometimes it was the lens through which she viewed her world and sometimes it was the blindfold she wore so she didn't see. But it was always there. (p117)

My Rating: 5 stars

Author: Kristin Hannah

Genre: Historical Fiction (USA)

Type and Source: Hardcover from public library

Pages: 464

Publisher: St Martin's Press

First Published: February 2,2021

Book Description from GoodReads: From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Great Alone comes an epic novel of love and heroism and hope, set against the backdrop of one of America’s most defining eras—the Great Depression.

Texas, 1934. Millions are out of work and a drought has broken the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as the crops are failing, the water is drying up, and dust threatens to bury them all. One of the darkest periods of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl era, has arrived with a vengeance.

In this uncertain and dangerous time, Elsa Martinelli—like so many of her neighbors—must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or go west, to California, in search of a better life. The Four Winds is an indelible portrait of America and the American Dream, as seen through the eyes of one indomitable woman whose courage and sacrifice will come to define a generation.