Review: The Four Winds
By Kristin Hannah
464 pages, publication date February 2, 2021
St. Martin's Press
Note: I received this book directly from the publisher via Net Galley to facilitate my review. All opinions are my own and I received no other compensation.
From Goodreads:
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.
Kristin Hannah has become an auto-read author for me, so I was super
excited to read The Four Winds. When I first started reading the book,
I'll admit I wasn't hooked right away. But then...I fell in love with
Elsa, Loreda, and Ant. Hannah is such a gifted writer--it is so easy to
make a personal connection with her characters and care about them as if
they were real. The struggles described in this book were absolutely
heartbreaking, yet ironically relevant to what many are struggling with
today in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the every day life of
immigrants.
In addition to the characters, what really got me
invested in this book was the time frame. Loreda, Elsa's daughter, was
born in 1921 in Texas. My grandma was born in 1920 in Kansas. It really
got me thinking about her experiences as a child and if she experienced
any of the dust storms. She also moved to California, just like Elsa's
family, though she moved significantly later. I called my mom while
reading this book to ask her about what she remembers my grandma telling
her, as unfortunately my grandma is no longer alive.
One of my favorite quotes:
"Elsa
knew that a library card--a thing they'd taken for granted all of their
lives--meant there was still a future. A world beyond this struggle."
While
this wasn't my favorite Hannah novel (my favorite is The Great Alone)
this is absolutely a five star read and one I recommend to anyone and
everyone. It's a heartbreaking yet beautiful book set in a time in
American history that is so important and relevant to today.
Happy Reading!
I've never read a Hannah novel, but everyone really seems to love her writing. It is so interesting to see the parallels between this history and our present. It truly does repeat!
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