(9)The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

 

It is 1921 and twenty-five-year-old Elsa Wolcott feels her life slipping away from her. She is a spinster with no prospects in her small Texas town. Until the night she meets Rafe Martinelli. He is eight years younger than her, with hopes and dreams that are beyond Texas. Elsa makes a decision that will destroy her reputation and change her life forever. The only thing she can do is marry Rafe and move in with his family on their farm. Thirteen years and two kids later, Elsa's marriage may not be the happiest, but the Martinelli's feel more like her family than her own family. But the summer is hot, the rain is scarce, and the wind is plentiful. Their Texas home is in the middle of the Dust Bowl. With the crops drying up and jobs disappearing, people are desperate for food and rain. The dust storms are relentless and Rafe when Rafe up and leaves in the middle of the night, Elsa is determined to keep her family together. But when the dust nearly kills her young son Elsa has no choice but to leave the only home she has ever known and go west. Where the jobs are plentiful and the dust won't kill them. Elsa and her children aren't in California a day before she realizes that life in California will not be any easier than it was in Texas. Will Elsa be able to give her children the better life that she desperately wants them to have in California?

The Four Winds is one of the most gripping novels I have read in a while. Kristin Hannah paints a bleak picture of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. But it is not all that different than what our country has been experiencing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Millions of people out of work, standing in long lines for food and help from the government. Absurd amounts of people dying by no fault of their own. It was a tragic time in our country's history and The Four Winds will take you there and immerse you in the misery. I liked Elsa Wolcott. She proved to be a strong character, willing to do whatever it takes to give her children a better life. The book is told in alternating voices. One chapter is Elsa and the next is Loreda, Elsa's teen daughter. It gives the reader the complete picture of what life was like during that time. And it was ugly in so many ways. I was so surprised by the ending. The author took the story in a way that it left me speechless. - CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS. 

Bottom Line - I am so grateful that Kristin Hannah told Elsa's story. The bookstores are full of novels about World War 2, but very few historical novels about the Great Depression are available. The Four Winds is a story that will grip you and break your heart, but it is not to be missed. 

Details:

• The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah 
• On Facebook 
• Pages: 464
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Publication Date: 2.2.2021
• Buy it Here! 
• Thank you to NetGalley for the book in exchange for an honest review.