If there was a book to make me feel inadequate, it was this! The Four Winds is a heartwrenching story but it shows how truly STRONG people can be! This painful read from such a hard time in American history through the Great Depression was eye-opening to show how easy we really have it today. Even through the heartbreak, the tears, the pain, there was hope.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Kristin Hannah has done it again -- this is a fantastic book. It both takes you back and in time and is incredibly relevant in today's world. It also gave me a new viewpoint into the era of the Great Depression - and made it more 'real' to me than it had been before.

This book is a love story between a mother and her children. It is also the story of how people survive when faced with twin environmental and economic calamities - the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression in the thirties. Generally, I prefer books that were written during or close to the period depicted in the book rather than reading historical fiction. However, in this case I think the author did a very good job of recreating the atmosphere of the 1920s and 1930s without making me feel like they were just regurgitating facts learned during research.

The author relied a lot on memoirs written by women, and she managed to write very compelling descriptions of farm life in the Dust Bowl in Texas and of the lives of migrant workers living in tent cities in California. At the heart of the book is the story of Elsa and her two young children Loreda and Ant who try to survive in a place that was not at all welcoming to Okies. The depiction of the mother/daughter relationship felt particularly realistic. There were definite tear-jerker elements to this book, and at times it did feel like “one damned thing after another”, but on the whole I thought it was very good. 4.5 stars If you haven’t done so already, you should also try the John Steinbeck books, “The Grapes of Wrath” and “In Dubious Battle”.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Excellent story as is expected from Kristin Hannah. Delving into the backdrop of the little written about Dust Bowl, the novel's setting plays a supporting character similar to Alaska in The Great Alone. Her characters are easy to love (and hate) and as a reader, I was continually rooting for their relationships and their survival. As always, Hannah offers multiple heartbreaking plotlines that makes the reader quickly turn pages to find what comes next and how it will work itself out. Well done Kristin Hannah on another epic novel.

I give the book 2 stars. Not my favorite. I feel that this could have been written better. I didn’t enjoy the narrative nor the main characters.

I loved this book. This was my third book from this author, and maybe my favorite? Boy, it's hard to say. What I can say is that I absolutely could not put it down. I read, and read, until everyone in my house was asleep and the tears were rolling down my cheeks. And now I miss these characters, as if they were real people. I have read some things about the Dust Bowl before, and I thought I had a pretty good understanding of its horror, but this book proved me wrong. It is amazing what these people lived through, and the author does an incredible job making this time come alive for the reader. But the heart of this book, and what made it so special for me, lies in the mother-daughter relationships between Rose and Elsa, and Elsa and Loreda.

WOW! Kristin Hannah does it again. This author is quickly becoming my favorite. The time, research and story line that goes into her books is incredible. She has the ability to transport you right back to that time period.

During the Dust Bowl Era and the Great Depression, you must do anything to survive. Families are dying, people are slowly starving to death, people are losing everything they own. You are forced to make changes and sacrifices that you don't want to. You must be brave. Which is what Elsa's grandfather always told her. When her son becomes sick- she is forced to make a decision. You go on this journey with Elsa and her family and their struggle to survive.

it is a must read for all KH fans, any fans of historical fiction... or any one. The must read of 2021!

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The subject matter of The Four Winds is not uplifting, nor are the main characters. Kristin Hannah has researched the Dust Bowl, The Great Depression and the California labor camps extensively and has written an inclusive book describing them all in stark terms. Happiness is scarce in this book, so if you are looking for an escape from the 2020-2021 miasma of despair, go somewhere else. If you want to know more of this huge exodus from the scorched-earth Midwest to the land of milk and honey, this is a good starting point.
Elsa Martinelli was a sickly child who felt unloved and ignored by her family, who made her believe that her physical unattractiveness was the source of all her unworthiness. She grows into a woman to be reckoned with as the book progresses, and only finds real happiness at the end. That is sad. Over the course of this book, she faces banishment, abandonment, poverty and death. Only when she was able to overcome these obstacles did she see herself as the strong woman that she had become.
As Elsa’s grandfather said:
“It wasn’t the fear that mattered in life. It was the choices made when you were afraid. You were brave because of your fear, not in spite of it. ‘Yes.’”

Kristin Hannah’s newest novel, The Four Winds, is sure to break readers, like all of her novels do.

This story takes place in the heart of The Great Depression, following Elsa and her family on their farm in Texas. Frequent dust storms wreak havoc on their farm, home and lives. Through these hard times, Elsa must decide what is really important to her and what is worth fighting for.

This book reminded me a lot of The Great Alone, with some similar themes of family, and in particular, the mother and daughter bond. I was rooting for this family around every turn and found myself crying at the small happy times, as well as the down times. I would highly recommend this novel to fans of Kristin’s work, or anyone who wants to take an emotionally taxing journey.

Who doesn't love a Kristin Hannah book? This one is like the others as it's deftly written, carefully researched, and multi-layered with some characters we love and others we don't. Set in the era of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, we follow main character Elsa who is shunned by her family when "boyfriend" Rafe gets her pregnant out of wedlock. She is taken in by his family and raises her daughter and son as she gains a work ethic and works along side them on the farm. But when times get tough, she and the kids flee to California "the land of opportunity," only to be demeaned by the locals and labeled as "Oakies." But they will not be deterred and we see Elsa grow and love her children unconditionally--all against the backdrop of these horrible times in our history. Hannah always leaves us with hope even as her characters survive harsh circumstances and surroundings. What a pleasure!

Kristin Hannah never disappoints but here she is at her best. I cried through this ENTIRE book. It is a heart wrenching, soul crushing story, especially reading it as a mother, but it is full of gorgeous, moving, and intimate scenes of dialogue.

Though it takes place during the Great Depression it feels strikingly relevant with families out of work and the fight for justice. I love when historical fiction is able to teach you about the time period but also resonates with themes of today. The family faces cruelty and injustice but it’s the pockets of kindness they receive that allow much needed slivers of hope and make this dark story shine.

This is one of those rare gems that I got completely lost in and wished went on longer than its 450+ pages.

Kirstin Hannah's "The Four Winds" is a big old-fashioned historical novel, and I mean that in the best sense. After a bit of a shaky start set in 1921, which introduces protagonist Elsa Wolcott (amongst some pretty one-dimensional family members), the novel finds its footing and really starts to shine in the next section, when Elsa, now-married and a mother of two, works to keep her family provided for during the Dust Bowl years in the Texas panhandle. Hannah is a master at creating vivid settings, and her depictions of the struggle to survive in a land wracked by drought and dust storms, told in alternating chapters from Elsa's perspective and that of her 13-year-old daughter Loreda, bring this historical period to visceral life. And when a series of events lead the family to reluctantly head west for what they believe are the greener pastures of California, Elsa and Loreda get swept up in Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal and the fight for migrant rights, propelling "The Four Winds" to a thrilling conclusion.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC of this title in return for my honest review. I thoroughly enjoyed it and have been recommending it to everyone.

I would give this 3.5 stars.
Kristin Hannah certainly knows how to build a world. She makes it easy to picture every detail of the settings. However, I felt like there was a lack of the same care with the characters in this book. I only have a very vague idea of what any person in this book looks like.

While I have really enjoyed some of Ms. Hannah's other books, to me, this felt like just a bit too much. It was just one tragedy after another. Like, couldn't we get a wee glimmer of hope at some point? I think at least some of that could have been taken out and the message would still have gotten through.

I also struggled to believe that Elsa would have stopped and stayed at the first city they arrived at in California. They had 2/3 of their money left, why not drive a bit farther and try to find something better? For being lauded as being a strong warrior, that was a weak move and inconsistent with how we are supposed to view her.

Also, I get that Loreda is 14 but damn. Couldn't she have become less of a brat to her mom at some point? you know, before the last 20 pages?

Overall, this book is well written, but it could have been shorter and less depressing.

Elsa’s parents tried to convince her that she could never have a normal life. Not only did she suffer from the after-effects of rheumatic fever, making her too weak for marriage, she was also too tall, too homely, too thin, too smart, etc. But what she really is is too vulnerable when a man pays attention to her. She ends up pregnant by Rafe, seven years her junior—an unthinkable fate for a wealthy young woman in early 1920s Texas.

Twelve years later, her life is completely different when the worst of the depression hits her farm. A mother of two young children, she has found happiness with her in-laws and children, if not with her husband. But a devastating drought, followed by relentless dust storms and the desertion of Rafe, force Elsa to head west to California in search of a better life for her children. She finds more hardship, exacerbated by the greed of the wealthy few. Finally she is radicalized and finds brief happiness..

THE FOUR WINDS will rip your heart out and mainly put it back into your body, Kristin Hannah brings the devastation of the Dust Bowl to life. As rough as the past eleven months of pandemic have been, most of us haven’t had to watch our livestock starve to death with fears that we may suffer the same fate if the dust doesn’t kill us first. #TheFourWinds #NetGalley

In The Four Winds, Elsa Wolcott is a plain and incredibly tall unmarried woman of twenty-five. Her parents hoard their love for her making her think she is unlovable. It is 1921.

“By twenty-five, the die was cast. An unmarried woman was a spinster. ‘On the shelf’ they called her, shaking heads and tsking at her lost opportunities.”

When she gets a chance at romance with eighteen-year-old Italian farm boy Rafe, Elsa grabs it. When she falls pregnant, her family forces Rafe to marry her and wash their hands of Elsa. Little does Elsa know how bad things will get a decade later when Rafe’s family farm is literally swept up into The Dust Bowl.

Wow, The Four Winds is a heart-breaking tear-jerker. It is also a meditation on the mother-daughter relationship where Elsa gets to play both roles at different times of her life. Ultimately, it is an empowering story of resilience and the ability of humans to direct the course of their life even during adverse times. I can’t imagine a better time for this to be released. 5 stars and a favorite!

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is the first book I've read by Kristin Hannah, but I can see why she is such a popular author. This book was a rollercoaster of emotions. I cried, I was angry, I was happy, I was frustrated, I was hopeful... and that was all just in the first half of the book.

I don't really know much about the Dust Bowl or the Great Depression era, but I think this was a pretty good glimpse into what both events would have been like. Hannah did a fantastic job of making this story feel realistic. I thought the characters were well developed and had real personalities, hopes, and dreams. The story was kind of medium-paced but it seemed to fly by as I read at the same time. I was definitely emotionally invested in this story and the main characters.

With emotional stories come, well... emotions. There were parts of this book that were very difficult to read. However, I do feel they were necessary, at least most of them, to make the story feel as realistic as it did. I don't think anyone thinks of the Great Depression as a happy, easy time, and I'm glad this story didn't reflect that, even if it was difficult to read at times.

I could ramble on about this book for a long time. I really enjoyed this book, and I definitely rushed to find out what would happen. I was sad when the story was over. 5 stars, recommended to anyone who likes Historical Fiction or fantastic writing and storytelling.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy of The Four Winds! Kristin Hannah's latest is a beautiful, heartwrenching story that was hard to put down.

The Four Winds takes place in the 1930s during the Great Depression, and Elsa is a mother of two who was shunned by her parents after "disgracing" the family by becoming pregnant by a younger Italian man named Rafe Martinelli. She moves in with Rafe's family, who quickly become her own family. In Texas, the Martinellis are wheat farmers who are devastated by the Dust Bowl, and Elsa must decide whether to move her family to California, which promises better weather and job opportunities. Elsa and her family travel West, but they are met with significant challenges while in search of a better life.

This book was so emotionally gripping, and at times hard to read. I knew little about this time in history, and the poverty that Americans faced when weather events pushed them away from their farmland and livelihoods.

Elsa is a wonderful protagonist. We see her come into her own at the beginning of the book, when she won't accept the fate her family has thrust upon her to become a lonely spinster. Her love affair with Rafe changes her life and shows her what love is, through the family she inherits and her and Rafe's children. Still, Elsa has trouble speaking up for herself and also affirming her love for those close to her. I don't want to give away too much of the story, but the depiction of everything is so eye-opening and depressing in this story - poverty, illness, death of entire families to disease, unimaginable labor conditions, homelessness, and neglect of the nation toward the "okies" who came to California in search of a better life. I highly recommend this novel, but know that you will be torn apart with each chapter!

Kristin Hannah has done it again with her latest historical fiction novel centered around the Dust Bowl. For most people today, you've probably heard of the Dust Bowl...but this books make you live it and makes you FEEL it. Hannah tells the story not often taught in school by bringing to life the struggles of the women on the farms during the 30's. If you want a book with strong female characters, this is the book for you. In this story Hannah beautifully touches on issues related to race, religion, beauty standards, gender, and class. It is powerful and heart-wrenching: it makes you sad, angry, hopeful, and grateful. It really highlights the point that those who do not know the past are doomed to repeat it.

DESTROYED.

I'm not sure what to say. Kristin Hannah has done it, yet again.

She's managed to thoroughly gut me - ripping my heart out while simultaneously hugging me til I can't breathe.

I'll just be over here crying stars instead of tears.

Well done.

I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Kristin Hannah has written an American Classic. Hannah has the gift of transporting you to the time and into the character's lives so you feel as if you've experienced it yourself. The book starts in the Texas Panhandle during the drought in the 1930's. As brutal as life on the plains was at that time, it was even more brutal in California as the family moved to find work and better times. The book displays the tenacity of those Americans struggling to put food on the table at that time and all that they suffered. Loved, loved, loved this book. Highly recommend. #thefourwinds #netgalley #kristinhannah