5 captavating stars! Kristin Hanna is the Queen of historical fiction and a master at portraying fiercely strong female characters.

“Be Brave”

I went into this the same way I did with the Nightengale, which was for some reason intimidated but in the best way possible.
The Four Winds is a beautifully written, heart-wrenching story of life and resilience during the 1930’s. The Great Depression, the Dust Bowl and fighting for the American dream. A MUST read for fans of Kristin Hanna, historical fiction, and ugly crying. Easily one of my top reads for 2020.

“A warrior believes in an end she can’t see and fights for it. A warrior never gives up. A warrior fights for those weaker than herself. It Sounds like motherhood to me.”

The Four WInds, guaranteed to be a best seller, will be avaialble 2/9/2021.

I received an e-ARC of The Four Winds for an honest review. Many thanks to Kristin Hanna, NetGalley, and St. Martin’s Press for this opportunity.

The Four Winds
by Kristin Hannah

This is a story about love and bravery - and above all, endurance. Kristin Hannah has done a wonderful job here showing the reader the terrible reality of the dust bowl in a country already plagued by the depression. She also creates a vivid picture of what it was like for millions who lost everything - and for the "lucky" ones who felt so threatened by the sea of migrants trying to find a home.

This is the story of a young woman, unloved by her own family, who finds a place for herself and her children in another family, only to have the ecological disaster in the great plains take it all away. Elsa gathers up her courage and travels with her children to California looking for a better life. But her family- and thousands like them - were treated like pariahs by the native Californians, who saw them as parasites. This vivid picture of the dichotomy between the "haves"" and the ""have nots" in America provides an understanding of why the appeal of communism and labor unions grew in this country during that time period.

I would recommend this book to readers who know little of the history of that time - and to those trying to understand the divisions in America today.

A part of American History that you don't read about often.
A compelling,emotional story about the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl and the people who lived through it.
About love ,trust,Family and hope.
Good hard read get ready to cry.
Voluntarily reviewed.

My thanks to St. Martins Press, NetGalley, and to Kristin Hannah for providing an ARC for review.

Having heard a lot about the author in the past few years, I jumped at the opportunity to receive her new work and I am glad I finally took the plunge.

The characters and the time period are very well flushed out and show the research that would have gone in the subject matter. The book and the time period make for a very heavy reading. However, this is ultimately a story about love, family and hope.

I thoroughly enjoyed the work and would be reading all her previous works in short order.

This is a powerful book and I really enjoyed it. In the biggest picture it's about living through the 1930s in the Dust Bowl, and then a very difficult migration to California in search of a better life--Steinbeck fans will definitely think of The Grapes of Wrath. It's well-written, with characters that are well-fleshed out and seem real. I worried about them. I felt like I was there, struggling through horrendous dust storms, and then being looked down upon for no reason other than being a migrant in search of work to feed the family. Struggling to find back-breaking work. Living in terrible conditions, unable to pull my family up and out of it.

But there's a lot more going on in this novel. It's about strong women. It's about a mother and her teenage daughter finally coming around. It's about believing in yourself.

I picked up this book having just finished reading the book The Blue Castle, by L.M. Montgomery, and I was struck by the similarity of themes. Like Elsa in this book, Valancy in The Blue Castle is in her 20s. Her family, too, tore her down with constant, unwarranted disapproval, and left her with no confidence. While the books are about very different eras and have very different plots, both show the protagonist having to learn to believe in herself and be strong.

Great book.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC.
Excellent and relevant historical fiction. Kristin Hannah is a master of historical fiction and this book is eminently readable. The compelling story of Elsa and her children who live through the Dust Bowl in Texas and become a migrant laborers in California is an easy read, but the ease hides the depth of the story. Hannah explores the plight of migrant laborers in California during the Great Depression through memorable characters and a driving story. Family dynamics and motherhood, as well as the union movement are explored as well. As always her books are well written and engrossing.

The author's afterword lends poignancy and relevance to this story--as she wrote it during the pandemic. Another superb book of historical fiction from a master of the genre.

Another great book by this author. I didn't want it to end! Heartwarming and heartbreaking it's a rollercoaster ride. Highly recommend this book.

An incredible story of the Dustbowl and the Great Depression in the 1930s. It was heartbreaking and compelling account of what the prior generations had to deal with. I think every American should read this book to understand the depths of despair and heartbreak. It was a great and knowledgeable read

Wow! This is a beautiful book. The emotional ride while reading it is still with me 4 days after I finished it. I cried and laughed through most of this book.
It was interesting to read a book set in Depression/Dust Bowl era.

Important subject matter, giving interesting insight into the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl and the California migration of the 1930s. It also provides a disheartening reminder that we as humans don’t really change or learn from our mistakes. It is clear that Americans will always fear “the outsider,” even if the outsider is American as well.

This book is absolutely amazing. I had so many emotions. It’s depressing, but I found myself totally immersed in the story. The author is really able to bring the setting to life through her beautifully descriptive words.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book. I'll be posting my full review a little closer to its pub date!

Thank you in advance to NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing Group for this eARC of The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah.

Kristin Hannah has once again woven a historical fiction with a setting that feels so real that you are tasting the dust and the dirt that suffocated everyone and everything during the Dust Bowl. I found myself even taking notes to further research this challenging time in American history. As a mother, I can't imagine worrying about your family's next meal and the air that you will breath in the swirling winds of such a devastating ecological and economical disaster. Hannah always has a knack for creating memorable and relatable characters, and I found myself shedding tears for their losses. I'm thankful to have read this book, and can't wait to discuss it with my fellow Kristin Hannah fans once it is released.

In a way, "The Four Winds" is an antidote to this grim year. If we think these times are hard, read this. If we think there's no. more work to be done, read this. If you don't believe in climate change, read this.

The remarkable courage of these people, particularly women, is almost hard to believe. And here we are, with armed groups threatening to kidnap a governor because gyms can't open in a pandemic. What's happened to this country?

"The Four Winds" is a tough read, but a good one. Kristin Hannah is developing into a very interesting writer!

~~Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader

Set during the Dust Bowl in the Panhandle of Texas, Kristin Hannah’s novel, The Four Winds, tells the story of Elsinore Wolcott Martinelli, a woman driven from her in-law’s wheat farm in Lonesome Tree, Texas, by the dust storms, crop failures, and financial hardship. When Elsa’s young son’s life depends on moving out of the Dust Bowl because of his dust pneumonia, she and her two children migrate along Route 66 to California in search of The American Dream. Like the classic novel The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, this novel explores themes of poverty, discrimination, social justice, and sacrifice.

Both novels are social commentaries on the experience of migrants struggling to survive in their historical moment. Like Steinbeck before her, Hannah has done considerable research including a visit of the FSA “Weedpatch” camp in Arvin, California, where she also spoke to former residents of the camp. She reviewed the same interviews conducted by Sanora Babb, whose own novel Whose Names are Unknown was put aside for the release of Grapes.

The four winds blew people from all across America into California, where they were not wanted and were labeled “Okies” by the residents. Elsa had not always been poor. She came from a wealthy family in Dalhart, Texas, who disowned her when a shotgun wedding to Rafe Martinelli was warranted. As times got harder and harder on the Martinelli farm thanks to the drought and the dust storms, Rafe abandoned his family to pursue his own dreams.

On their own journey to a second chance, Elsa imagined a new home and a new job in California. She had not pictured a “ditch-bank camp” for a home, nor had she expected poor pay for long hours doing menial jobs. Even her children ended up picking cotton to make ends meet, which never happened, as the company store prices gouged their little earnings.

A devastating flash flood took what little they had and left them with nothing but their truck and its contents. They could not go back to the Panhandle because of the son’s health, but it hardly seemed they could succeed in California where they were not welcome.

Communists who are trying to organize workers to unite and to strike where pay and work conditions are lacking come to the forefront at this point in the story. While Elsa’s teenage daughter realized the validity of the concerns of the would-be strikers and wants to take up their cause, Elsa remained fearful about getting involved in the work actions. At a pivotal moment, Elsa’s decision and its consequence drive the story to its climax.

Hannah echoed Steinbeck’s unforgettable closing scene in The Grapes of Wrath in her novel as she brought it to a mighty closing. I found myself thinking back to Steinbeck’s powerful novel at various points throughout this book.

Kristin Hannah, one of my favorite authors, is the bestselling author of The Nightingale, Goodreads best historical fiction novel for 2015, and The Great Alone, Goodreads best historical novel of the year in 2018.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting December 10, 2020.

I would like to thank St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for an early reader copy of The Four Winds.

In this book, Kristin Hannah introduced me to a part of American history I knew very little about. The hardships of the Dust Bowl & Great Depression era were quite heartbreaking as seen through the eyes of her characters. Hannah is very talented at creating characters to root for, and fans of her work will certainly be drawn into this latest release.

As the author’s note says at the end, this was at times a difficult book to read given the parallels to the havoc from the coronavirus, economic recession, and unemployment many face today, but at the same time it was a great homage to strength and resilience that I appreciated.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me early access to Kristin Hannah's The Four Winds in exchange for an honest review.

I have recently become a new fan of Kristin Hannah's work. I was introduced to her when I read The Nightingale after it was recommended by a fellow book club member. She has a distinct way of building characters that are simultaneously strong and vulnerable. The Four Winds was a novel that certainly did just that. We are initially introduced to the main protagonist, Elsinore Martinelli, or Elsa Wolcott as she is introduced to us. She is a young woman by today's standards, but by the standards of 1921 a woman on the brink of spinsterhood, living with her wealthy parents in a small town in Texas. She has spent her entire life being told that she was fragile due to a childhood illness that left her with a weak heart. Thus, she was also considered not worthy of marriage or husband. One night, in a fit of rebellion, Elsa meets Rafe, a young italian man of lesser means, at a local dance. It is not long after that Elsa finds herself in the motherly way. As a result Elsa is banished from her parents' home and brought to Rafe's home where she is left. Stuck in a loveless marriage, Elsa finds herself once again struggling to make a place for herself in the world. As the story progresses Elsa is faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles as she and her little family struggle to stay alive during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression. Abandoned by her husband and feeling as though her only choice to save her children, Elsa makes the difficult decision to pack up her entire life into the back of a pick up truck and head west for California.

Historical fiction is one of my most widely read and preferred genres. I love a book that can give me an inside look into a different time and teach me something that I did not already know. Hannah was successful in recreating the world in which the people of the Great Plains lived and struggled in with such vivid detail that there were times where I felt like I could look out my window and see a dust storm blowing in. You really feel the character's sense of despair and hopelessness every time a crop failed or an animal died due to having dirt in it's lungs. Hannah definitely did not shy away from the tough realities of life on the plains during that time as well. I will always remember the scene where Tony and Elsa are forced to euthanize one of their last cows due to it's declining health. It was scenes like this that really made this book and built that atmospheric tension that runs so thick from start to finish. I actually found myself having to put the book down at times because it felt so heavy. This is by no means a criticism of the author or the book. In fact, I mean it as a compliment. That was an indication that Hannah had accomplished what she set out to do, which was to draw the reader into the story and make them feel the fear, hunger and downright oppressive worry that the characters were feeling.

What really made the book for me were the characters of Elsa and Loreda, her young daughter. Their relationship was so relatable and will touch a wide audience due to how real and raw it was. Both women were so headstrong and stubborn at times that it created this palpable tension between the two that it will be hard to find a female reader that can't relate in some way. One of the most striking aspects of Elsa and Loreda's characters were how similar they were within once you got past the differences displayed on the outside. Loreda acted, in many ways, as the foil to Elsa's character. Elsa had always been a strong woman, but she needed that extra push to believe it herself. She spent most of her life being told that she was ill and fragile. That she would never be a "woman." When Rafe leaves her, she is forced to pull herself back up by her bootstraps and become a leader for her children. Without Loreda constantly challenging her and pushing back against her, I do not believe that Elsa would have blossomed in the way that she did in the end and found her voice. There were a lot of characters in this story, but they were so well developed that I did not feel that any of them were lost in the story. You feel a connection to each and every one of them. Even the unlikeable ones.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel immensely. With the exception of Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, I have never read a book set in this time period, but if I were to be asked to recommend a novel on this topic, The Four Winds would be at the top of the list. You will feel every emotion from sadness and anger to overwhelming joy. It certainly is not a happy feel good read on the surface, but once you dig underneath and connect with the characters and their stories, you will find it hard to put this novel down.

Kristin Hannah's, "The Four Winds," introduced me to a time in history that I knew very little about. We begin in Texas, 1934, during one of the darkest periods of The Great Depression. Hanna's descriptive language gave this novel such a strong sense of place...helping me gain some understanding of a time where many feared for their lives yet refused to leave the land they owned, worked, and loved. It was their legacy.

My emotions moved with Elsa Martinelli and the desperate choices she must make not only for herself but for generations to come. Truly excellent!

Kristin Hannah's newest book is another period drama, but this time it's set in the 1930s Texas panhandle. It follows the life of Elsa Martinelli, a young woman who finds herself thrown into precarious situations both in her personal life and as her family tries to survive both the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. As someone who knows very little about the Dust Bowl, the descriptions are so engaging/horrifying. Reading this book now, during another American crisis certainly puts another spin on the trials the characters go through and the refusal of both local and federal governments to help their own people.

My only complaint about the book is that the pacing felt a little off to me. There's a lot of time spent discussing the dust storms on the farm, but then the end in California on the Welty farm felt super rushed. However, it's a really engaging story and fans of Hannah's other novels will love this one.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC of the book.

Kristin Hannah is an automatic-buy author for me so I was so excited to read this. And it did not disappoint! I loved it! It tells the harrowing tale of a mother struggling to keep her two children safe during the Dust Bowl and as they move West to find a better life in California. This book is trademark Hannah: great characters, and writing set in a fascinating historical context with lots and lots of emotion. I could not put it down!