The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah Published by St. Martin's Publishing Group on February 2, 2021
Genres: Fiction / Historical / General, Fiction / Women
Pages: 320
Format: Hardcover
Source: Book of the Month
"The Bestselling Hardcover Novel of the Year."--Publishers Weekly
From the number-one bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Great Alone comes a powerful American epic about love and heroism and hope, set during the Great Depression, a time when the country was in crisis and at war with itself, when millions were out of work and even the land seemed to have turned against them.
“My land tells its story if you listen. The story of our family.”
Texas, 1921. A time of abundance. The Great War is over, the bounty of the land is plentiful, and America is on the brink of a new and optimistic era. But for Elsa Wolcott, deemed too old to marry in a time when marriage is a woman’s only option, the future seems bleak. Until the night she meets Rafe Martinelli and decides to change the direction of her life. With her reputation in ruin, there is only one respectable choice: marriage to a man she barely knows.
By 1934, the world has changed; millions are out of work and drought has devastated the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as crops fail and water dries up and the earth cracks open. Dust storms roll relentlessly across the plains. Everything on the Martinelli farm is dying, including Elsa’s tenuous marriage; each day is a desperate battle against nature and a fight to keep her children alive.
In this uncertain and perilous time, Elsa—like so many of her neighbors—must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or leave it behind and go west, to California, in search of a better life for her family.
The Four Winds is a rich, sweeping novel that stunningly brings to life the Great Depression and the people who lived through it—the harsh realities that divided us as a nation and the enduring battle between the haves and the have-nots. A testament to hope, resilience, and the strength of the human spirit to survive adversity, 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.
My Review
Have you ever read a book that gave you all the feels? This book had me at the front book flap with the lines My land tells a story if you listen. The story of our family. The story starts out in Texas the year is 1921 with Elsinore Wolcott the old spinster who is all of twenty-five living with her folks. Elsa came down with a fever when she was a young teen which the doctors believed left her heart damaged. Her parent’s response to the news was to keep her from doing anything strenuous including going to school and participating in anything that normal children and teens would do during that time. Elsa lived a good portion of her teen years and early twenties immersed in her favorite stories. This however changed when she met a handsome Italian man named Raffaello Martinelli (Rafe). Rafe’s parents Rose and Tony came to the United States from Sicily Italy in the hopes of a better life. They had dreams for their son to be the first Martinelli to go off to college but little did they know their lives would all take a dramatic change the day they met Elsa.
The Four Winds in my opinion is a story about found family, love, strength, courage, the human spirit, and motherhood. We learn this not only through Tony and Rose but also through Elsa, Loreda, and many other characters we meet along the way. The way these characters display strength through one of the toughest times in American history is absolutely amazing.
One of the things that I love about Kristin Hannah’s writing is the way that she is able to weave history into the stories that she writes. The Four Winds is no different. It is a historical fiction novel that frankly I can not stop thinking about. This is a book I will be gifting to others and one that I believe I will revisit in the future. These characters and the time period has had such an impact on me that I am left speechless. This book has me looking at my surroundings in a whole new way not to mention that it has brought to light what my family among many other families must have gone through immigrating to this country and migrating throughout the country before, during and after the Great Depression. Mainly though this book has really brought to life for me how grateful I am for the life that I have now because of the people who came before me.
The inside back flap of the book says: The Four Winds is a rich, sweeping novel that stunningly brings to life the Great Depression and the people who lived through it—the harsh realities that divided us as a nation and the enduring battle between the haves and the have-nots. A testament to hope, resilience, and the strength of the human spirit to survive adversity, 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.
I honestly believe that whoever decides to pick this book up and reads it from start to finish will be changed in some way. Really isn’t that the mark of a great book and a fantastic author, if they have the ability to leave a mark on their readers, or at least that is my opinion. Please though if you have read this book and want to talk about it let me know because I am just so moved by it. I truly hope if you read it or have read it that you love it as much as I do. Until next time happy reading everyone.