There are lessons to be learned from this book and it tells an important part of American history. It's a great story, well researched and told with great talent. I really wish I could have enjoyed it more in a different time as it is a heavy tale and contains so much grief, loss and hopelessness that it was really depressing to read given the current situation of the world. In fairness, I don't want to take anything away from the author or her wonderful storytelling, I just need to read something to help me escape right now. So I'm very much looking forward to what gifts Kristin Hannah brings us in the future.

The Four Winds is a pivotal novel by renowned author Kristin Hannah. This story begins in 1921. There is a boon in the Texas panhandle after the success this area had with growing grain for the war effort. Businesses are thriving, farmers are having record crops, and life is looking good.

However, Elsinore (Elsa) Wolcott, on the eve of her 25th birthday, is distraught at the future that is unfolding for her. Having had rheumatic fever as a young teen, she is treated as an invalid and only has an isolated and lonely life living in her parents house in her foreseeable future. She asks to go to college and is swiftly met with denial. To take a moment to live out some of her own dreams, Elsa sneaks out at night to sample the speakeasy and flirt with life.

Striking out for herself, Elsa encounters the handsome young Rafe Martinelli. Rafe is out to sew his wild oats before heading to college, the first of his family to do so. After several encounters together, still harboring no thoughts of him caring about her long term, the unthinkable happens, and Elsa’s future is forever changed when her mother realizes Elsa is with child. That night, Elsa is told to pack her belongings. Her father then takes her and dumps her at the Martinelli farm.

This is the beginning of an epic journey for Elsa and the Martinelli family. As they endure the Great Depression, the major midwestern drought and the effects of the dust bowl, Elsa proves her disowning parents wrong on every count. And when the only choice is to escape, Elsa finds the strength to make sure her family can survive. All the while, Elsa hears her beloved grandfather tell her to be brave. Perhaps this is the best legacy she can give her children.

This story is well researched, beautifully written, and so reflective of our current times it is heartbreaking. So much of this story is mirrored in the events of today. As the saying goes, if we don’t learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it, and Ms. Hannah is a wonderful history teacher. Having begun this book well before the events of 2020, the timing of this release is perfection. I have been captured by each of the books by Ms. Hannah that I have read, but this one, this character, will be here with me for awhile. I very much enjoyed this book and wholeheartedly recommend it!

It’s 1921 and we meet Elsa. My heart was with her from the start. Lacking the beauty of her sisters, she’s a young woman who has never known the feeling of being loved as her wealthy Texas family treats her coldly. Hope for happiness is found with a young farmer whose family shows her kindness and welcomes her once the couple marries. Elsa adapts to the hard working life on the farm and learns the meaning of love once she becomes a mother. But the Dust Bowl in Texas combined with the Great Depression makes life unbearable. Many headed to California with visions of a better life. As we know from history, what awaited those who migrated west was poverty, sub-human living conditions and alienation. But the hope for a better life still survived.

Heartbreaking, poignant, beautiful, sad. The Four Winds, the latest book from Kristin Hannah, is all that and more. It is a bleak story about a time in history where nature was cruel but people were even crueler to those simply trying to survive. It’s hard to read about so much suffering but Hannah does justice to those who lived through this period. And she shows that amidst all the hardship and despair, strength and resilience prevailed.

Not an easy book to read but one that will surely stay with me.

Rated 4.5 stars.

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah is the story of the Great Depression and one family’s fight for survival. The story begins in Texas, 1921 when 25 year old Elsa Wolcott spent most of her time indoors, deemed too weak to venture outside by her overbearing parents. She is now considered unmarriageable until fate steps in and with one act of rebellion, Elsa’s world is turned upside down. Her act of rebellion leaves her married to Rafe Martinelli, a young man she barely knows and begins life on a farm she knows nothing about. Fast forward to 1934, the world is in a deep depression. Millions are out of work and a devastating drought has ravaged the once bountiful Great Plains to a wasteland. Everyone is faced with a choice: stay or take a chance on a better life elsewhere. Elsa is determined to stay on the land she has come to love. But when a horrific dust storm causes her young son to become gravely ill, she has no other choice. She packs her two children and takes the perilous journey into California. What will she find there? Will it be a land of plentiful? Will they find a way to survive?
Growing up I knew my maternal grandmother lived on an Oklahoma farm during the Great Depression. Once I sat down with her and talked about her experiences. I have never forgotten what she told me. Her stories were in my mind as I read The Four Winds. It is a story about love, heroism and hope during a time when all hope seemed to be lost. The Four Winds is a story about the will to survive and a hope for a better future. It was a time of crisis and the harsh realities that divided the people and the battle between the haves and the have-nots, the powerful and the needy. Images from John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath (1939) also came to mind as Ms. Hannah described the conditions these people had to endure. It is also the story of a woman who thought she was nothing but discovers she is someone important. I had a love-hate relationship with Elsa and many of the characters. But they felt real with real flaws and made life and death decisions. The end was truly beautiful, a tear jerking moment, a thank you to those who fought and endured the Great Depression. I recommend The Four Winds.

The Four Winds is available in hardcover, eBook, and audiobook.

I absolutely adored this novel, Kristin Hannah is such a pleasure to read. Her books are always hard hitting, emotional, and place you directly into a time period. This book is no different, taking place during The Great Depression and Dust Bowl the main character Elsa is a Texas girl. Her family believes she will never amount to anything and is too ugly to find a husband. One day she meets Rafe, an Italian, he turns her whole world upside down. Living with Rafe and his parents, Elsa learns to really work on a farm. Flash forward to the peak of the depression and dust everywhere, Elsa picks up her children and traveled to California to help her children have a better life. The perspectives in this story go back and forth a bit from Elsa and her daughter.

This book brought many things into perspective, how a mother’s love can withstand anything. Loreda and Ant her kids are such great characters. Loreda is so strong willed and I can just picture where she would go in life after this story.

I rarely read Author’s notes unless others tell me it is needed, but I read this one. And I am so glad I did. Kristin Hannah talks about writing this at the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 on the rise. I couldn’t help but think back on the story and see how there are so many parallels. Reminding everyone that if the US can prevail through the Great Depression, we can get through this pandemic.

5 stars!!!

Historical fiction is not typically my genre of choice but this book grabbed my attention from the very beginning. Kristin Hannah has such a beautiful writing style and you really feel like you are there as the story unfolds. This is the story of a mother’s bravery and strength to give her children a life they deserve. You see her passion, perseverance and her willingness to do everything for her family. I laughed and I cried. Likely the best book I will read this year! Highly recommend this new novel! Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and Kristin Hannah for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

he Four Winds by Kristin Hannah was an emotional story told during the Great Depression and what it truly meant to live during these times. Elsa has been living a hard life and then suddenly finds herself having to make a difficult choice. She was a strong and determined woman who loved her family deeply and would do anything for them. This is a story about choices, perseverance and so much more. It is not an easy read, but it is compelling and captivating.

Happy reading!

In the Four Winds we read about a woman Elsa, who at an early age was rejected by her family because they thought less of her and we read of her journey. Always trying to find love and in that journey she finds herself in so many ways. We read about her struggles in an America that wasn't so nice to poor people.


WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the most moving, empowering novel I have read in a long time. I was rooting for the main character & crying for her at her tragedies and her triumphs. If you miss out on reading this book it is a huge loss. I learned so much about poverty, union workers, & the struggles of the poor in this book. In my opinion this fiction story was better than the stuff you learn about in history books in school. Even though it's fiction I'm sure the facts are in there too and that's what makes it such an amazing story.  I highly recommend this book as a must read of 2021.

Wow, my first five star read for this month!
This story was captivating, epic and powerful. Reading this book was a reminder of why I love historical fiction and Kristin Hannah’s books, she’s an amazing storyteller, and The Four Winds was breathtakingly beautiful. I loved it.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

http://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeepleasemx

Kristin Hannah is one of those authors who always manages to pull me directly into her stories in a quick manner. She is a master at world building and setting a tone. In The Four Winds she hooked me on page one.
The Four Winds opens with Elsa, a formerly ill girl who has grown into an entirely unexceptional woman. On the cusp of her twenty-fifth birthday she is now solidly destined for spinsterhood. But, despite her rigid upbringing and judgmental parents, Elsa does have a streak of strength far below her submissive demeanor. One daring decision is all it takes to set her on a path that will both challenge her and show her true resiliency.
The Four Winds is a story set against the great depression and the dustbowl migration when poverty spread across America and people were forced to make hard choices in an effort to survive. Elsa finds a new life on the farm of her husband’s family. But when the drought and failing crops force them to follow a promise of a better life, she discovers that California isn’t the escape she’d hoped for. Despite every adversity, Elsa proves herself stronger than the sickly little girl her parents saw in her. She’s got a ferocious will to live and will face any horror and suffer any injustice to survive and secure a better future for her children.
Kristin Hannah has done another magnificent job of setting the scene and reaching out to grasp every emotion in your body. Every one of her books leaves me an emotional wreck and The Four Winds is no different. While Hannah does a great job of capturing the essence of the setting and time period, there’s a slow build in the story line as we travel with Elsa from her parent’s home to the farm and through the drought. Despite the slower build, it’s a fantastic and emotional journey. This is perhaps the bleakest of her books, simply because it’s a true reflection of what people endured during this era. What a great story about resilience, love and hope though.

*I received a copy of The Four Winds from Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review*

I found this book to be a very well written, thought provoking story that takes place for the most part in the 1930’s. Although this is a work of fiction, there is a lot of truth in the history of the book.
This is a story about what real life farming was like in Texas during the Great Depression. Although farming in this make believe area was thriving right after the stock market crash, the story shows just what happens when there is a four year drought and an entire community is left in despair. People have to make hard decisions, stay and fight for the land or pack up and move west, to California, in search of a better life. The story centers around one woman, Elsa and what she will do for her children even when she doesn’t think she is strong enough to do it. She shared the little she had with others, even if she couldn’t afford to. Elsa proves to be resilient and much stronger than she ever gave herself credit for.
This is definitely not a light read, this is a heavy topic but important one. I think the author did an amazing job with the description of just how hard farming life was. It never was an easy life for any farmer, then or now.
I was blown away at the ending. I never saw it coming. I can’t say any more without giving anything away.
The negative thing about the book are that I wish there had been real closure regarding one of the characters (I don’t want to give anything away).
#TheFourWinds #NetGalley

Four things you’ll want to do after finishing The Four Winds:

1. Drink a ginormous glass of water. Kristin Hannah has created such a vivid portrait of the American Dust Bowl in the 1930s that you can almost feel the dirt in the back of your throat. It’s hard to imagine the ground being so dry and the weather so ferocious that you could catch dust pneumonia, yet you’ll believe it after only a few pages.

2. Look up photos of the farmers and migrants of the era. You can probably close your eyes and easily picture the famous “Migrant Mother” portrait taken by Dorothea Lange in 1936, but it took me reading this book to really grasp the helplessness of her situation.

3. Hug your mom. The relationships between our heroine Elsa and the women above and below her on her family tree are touching and unexpected. The ties that bind them together are at turns solid as the ground beneath them or frail as the animals on their land.

4. Read everything Kristin Hannah has ever written. I’m one of the rare souls who didn’t adore The Nightingale, but The Four Winds has solidified her “must read” author status with me once and for all.

I’m grateful to St. Martin’s Press and Ms. Hannah for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy via NetGalley. The Four Winds is now available.

Kristin Hannah is an auto-read for me because she never disappoints! The Four Winds brings the Dust Bowl to life in ways documentaries and history classes never did (for me). This is a classic KH novel about family and female bonds that just happens to be set in the past.

4.5 Stars

Kristin Hannah's latest novel, three years in the writing, has released at a time when the USA again faces the greatest adversity in decades. Set largely during the Great Depression in the dust bowl of Texas, we follow Elsa Martinelli and her daughter Loreda, as they struggle in their individual ways, to forge a better life and future. The novel opens in 1921, when Elsa has the great fortune of escaping her family due to a scandalous pregnancy, landing her in the family of her heart, the Martinellis. In spite of their dashed hopes for their son Rafe, the Martinellis find over time that Elsa is one of the best things that has happened to their family. She works hard, loves the land as they do, and manages to fully embrace their way of life, and their family, after never fitting into her own. She and her daughter Loreda struggle as Loreda hits her teenage years, when Rafe, as was all too common during this era, abandons his family. The story of how Elsa and her children, Loreda and Tony, seek a better future is both stirring and heartbreaking. The mother-daughter relationships in this novel are poignant, as is the story of how Elsa finds her strength and voice.

Kristin Hannah has a gift for giving us stories of strong women. This novel is timely, coming deep into a pandemic that has derailed lives and fortunes.

The audiobook is narrated by Julia Whelan, who also narrated Hannah's novel The Great Alone.

Kristin Hannah's newest release is a beautifully written story that captures the heart breaking despair that occurred during one of the darkest periods of American history. Elsa Martinelli comes from a well off family however her life was one of loneliness and neglect as she was never afforded the love and attention she truly needed to thrive. While her two sisters have since gone on to marry, Elsa is led to believe this will be an impossibility for her. However a night of celebration on her 25th birthday leads to love and a family and a sense of true belonging for the first time in her short life. However times become tough for Elsa and her growing family and other members of their farming community. The Great Depression hits in addition to the Dust Bowl and the worst drought to ever plague the great plains. After years of starvation and waiting for rain that never seems to come, Elsa makes the heart breaking decision to leave the family farm with her two young children and head to the land of milk and honey, California. However everyone during this time seems to have the same idea and work is hard to come by. Deplorable living conditions, slave like labor and poverty become her new daily existence however Elsa is tough and determined to make a new life for herself and her children in this bleak new world. Elsa finds that even in the darkest of times one can find friendship, love and an important role in coming movements for change if you just push through.

Set in 1930's Texas during the Great Depression, The Four Winds expertly depicts this heart wrenching, bleak time in American history in stunning accuracy. Elsa is a strong, determined woman facing a dark time in her life and while she is purely fictional, the struggles she faces were all too real for many alive during this time in history. The story was masterfully written and captivating from beginning to end, allowing readers a glimpse into daily life for women and children during the 1930's in America. Ultimately the story is one of hope and survival, a timely message that is much needed as the harsh realities in the book echo our contemporary realities all too accurately. I highly recommend this book for those looking for a captivating historical fiction story that captures the essence of the American spirit

**Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Kristin Hannah for an ARC of this book!**

Devastating, brave, and heartbreaking!

Elsa Martinelli hasn't had an easy journey in life from the start: her parents have allowed her to believe she is plain and easily forgettable. A brazen decision one evening leads her to her husband, who is not only Italian but Catholic, and she begins to lead a new life with him, quickly becoming pregnant with daughter Loreda, and later with son "Ant' Anthony. As she settles into life at the family farm in Texas, however, their life and livelihood begins to be threatened on a daily basis, as dust storms ravage their homeland and droughts and dust-induced pneumonia become the norm. Elsa is determined to save her family and makes the tough choice to take the family out west to California in search of better (or any) prospects. After their arrival, Elsa discovers the residents of California have no room in their towns, schools, or hearts for the 'Okies' (and in their eyes, all migrants are Okies) and Elsa and her children band together with another family, picking cotton until their fingers bleed, and being bled dry by the greedy landowners who continue to pay less and less while expecting more. An unlikely comrade, "Communist" Jack catches the ear of headstrong daughter Loreda, determined to take a stand for worker's rights and to urge her reluctant mother to do the same. When the activism takes a turn for the dangerous, though, can Loreda inspire her mother to show her inner strength to fight this last fight -while there's still time?

Coming into this novel, I had been forewarned by other early reviewers that this is a difficult read in the sense that it is heavy, sad, and incredibly depressing at times: all of this is true. I was sure to read this book when I was in the right mental space to take it in and take it for what it was, and that certainly helped me get through it in one piece! Hannah herself has mentioned that she couldn't have imagined the parallels between this tale and the world we are currently living in when she first started writing The Four Winds, and the similarities are truly stunning. Unfortunately, this reminded me that the more things change, the more they stay the same. The 'Communists' are painted as evil for expecting workers to earn a fair wage for an honest day's work. However, with the current struggle to raise the minimum wage in the United States to $15/hour, clearly this work is still not done. The wealthy and powerful are still able to lord over the average American, and in particularly in times of hardship (such as a pandemic!) the common man doesn't always have the strength or the resources to adequately fight back. Put this struggle against the battle against the elements (much like our current battle with climate change) and challenging times seem nearly unsurmountable.

The flip side to this push-and-pull? Love. It is undeniably the through line of this novel. To survive these horrific conditions without losing sense of self seems nearly impossible, but Hannah develops the character of Elsa beautifully, bringing her to realize the power she possesses simply being a woman willing to use her voice in an era where woman were seen and not often heard. There are certainly shades of Hannah's Nightingale here, in that women fittingly take the lead and demonstrate their unshakable resilience. I was in desperate need of some indomitable women in my reading, and Elsa and daughter Loreda certainly fit the bill.

As far away at the past can feel, it never truly leaves us, and although The Four Winds might seem like a tragedy from a bygone era, if there's anything 2020 has taught us a global community? We need each other. We need compassion and strength, And above all else, we cannot survive without love. 4 stars

Kristin Hannah’s new novels are eagerly awaited by her readers. With today’s publication of The Four Winds, I am sure that many will be purchasing her latest title.

Ms. Hannah has written books about WWII (Winter Garden and The Nightingale) and has established a solid reputation as an author of historical fiction. This time she turns her keen eye to the U.S. in the early to mid 20th century, a time of much pain in the country. The characters in this novel are horribly and deeply affected by what came to be known as the Dust Bowl, and by the Great Depression.

The book opens with a beautifully rendered scene of a small and prosperous Texas town. This depiction immediately draws readers into the world of the story. There are social classes within the town but life is good for its citizens. Of course, this changes as the 1920s turn to the 1930s.

The primary character in the novel is named Elsinore (I’m sure not by accident). She is also known as Els or Elsa. Elsa grew up as the ugly duckling in a family of swans. Sickly, lacking in self-esteem and dominated by her family, she finds escape in the world of books…and one night in the arms of Rafe, part of an Italian family that has a farm outside of town. Their meetings lead to their eventual marriage, one which seems to disappoint them both.

Elsa becomes quite close to Rafe’s parents, has two children and lives an orderly life. All of this changes when the droughts come. The depictions of what this calamity did to both the land and its people makes readers aware of the incredible tragedy and hardship that families faced. What happens to these characters and the impact of their decisions forms the basis of the novel.

Hannah’s readers will most likely think of their own difficulties during Covid as they read this title. This makes the timing of the book feel quite prescient.

Overall, I recommend this novel highly. I did at times feel frustrated, early in the book, by Elsa’s passivity and lack of confidence but the reader must remember that these traits go with how she was raised. Bear with her. Hannah’s fans and new readers will be glad that they do.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

There are just some characters so special that they stay with you long after you read about them.

I will always remember Elsa Martinelli. Hannah’s writing and development of Elsa’s character was breathtaking and so special that I felt I lived through her suffering, sadness and small joys as I read this book. Though a fictional character, she embraced and embodied the strength of every woman and mother who wants to protect her family.

For the Martinelli’s, the American dream is to work hard, and never ask for a hand out. They believed that working the land would always provide food on the table, and roof over their heads. Never did they expect how their land would bring them so much hardship.

The story is set during the depression where America was not only in a financial crisis, but also in the midst of an ecological and environmental catastrophe. Years of drought and poor farming practices caused an erosion of the top soil causing dust storms killing people and animals. This has forced farmers to foreclose on their properties to migrate west - to the land of milk and honey, California.

What the migrants experienced instead were horrific as they were treated as outsiders, experienced poor working conditions, denied basic services, and suffered hardships.

The Four Winds is immersive, well-written, a masterpiece, and by far the best from Kristin Hannah.

I highly recommend and cannot be missed.

I received an ARC. All opinions are my own.

Kristin's books always seem a little daunting to me when I pick one up—they are all a bit hefty. But the subject matter she writes about is always so interesting to me and I find myself flying through the pages. The Four Winds was exactly that and so much more. So many pages but oh, it was so, so good!

The Dust Bowl and the Great Depression were devastating times for the United States, especially in the Plains states. The Four Winds personalizes the hardship and struggles of the time, through the lives of Elsa Martinelli and her family. What they, and others like them, had to endure was heartbreaking—everything in their lives was either lost or taken away.

I absolutely loved this story and learned so much about the time period and the unimaginable conditions that everyone had to endure. I know I will be thinking about Elsa and her family for a very long time. This is a story that I highly recommend, especially for lovers of historical fiction or American history.

Kristin Hannah’s books are designed to be savored. They are not meant to be read quickly before moving on. The writing is too good to miss the intricacies of the characters and the nuances of the story that are woven within.

The dust bowl and its consequences had a much further reach than people realize. The extent to which people would demean themselves for a few coins to buy food is vividly portrayed. The horrors that Elsa and her family endured are made that much worse as they become the norm. Poverty, homelessness, hunger and unsanitary conditions that are hyper annoying in the beginning are not even noticed once they family assimilates into a community.

Four Winds will hit you in the heart and stay there. It is unforgettable. The story is told with such clarity, the reader feels as if they are experiencing life’s incredible lows along with Elsa. In doing so, it is hard to understand how she can be so positive while we are feeling devastated.

Kristin Hannah has an amazing ability to bring historical events to readers that are immersed into the story until they can’t help being moored by the characters and circumstances. This book is just as good as The Nightingale, The Great Alone and Winter Garden.


I received an ARC from St. Martin Press through NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion or rating of this book. I am voluntarily submitting this review and am under no obligation to do so.