3.5 stars, rounded up.

The Four Winds follows Elsa, whose family has taught her that she's unlovable. Things begin to change for the better when she meets Rafe, but then becomes much, much worse as the Great Depression begins and the Dust Bowl rips through Texas.

This is a really challenging book to rate because I absolutely loved the first 10%, and I loved (and cried through) the last 10%. Hannah creates such a strong sense of place, especially on the farm and amidst all the dust storms. I empathized with Elsa at the beginning and my own heart was breaking as she tried to overcome her families' prejudice against her.

Unfortunately, the middle dragged for me. It's very bleak, and felt pretty repetitive. Something bad happened but Elsa was strong, then another bad thing happened and Elsa was strong, etc. While Elsa did change and grow, most of that growth happened at the very end of the book.

I also feel like I need to caveat this with saying Kristin Hannah's books have been hit or miss for me. I absolutely loved The Nightingale but The Great Alone wasn't for me. Which is an unpopular opinion, so others might love this one too!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's press for a copy of this book!

Kristin Hannah's latest novel delivers her signature style: a woman seizing her power, chasing her dreams, and realizing her identity in the face of huge challenges and trying circumstances.

The novel follows Elsa, a misunderstood ugly duckling in her family of small-town Texas socialites in the 1930s. Chasing her dreams leads her out of her parents' control and in leaves her in the family way. Her mother and father refuse to shelter her from the scandal and leave her with her new in-laws, the Martinellis, who reluctantly accept her into their home for the sake of their unborn grandchild. As they get to know Elsa's work ethic and fierce love for family, their resentment transforms into a closeness that nourishes them all.

But times are tough in the Texas panhandle. The depression squeezes the economy, while wind and drought raze the land and starve the crops. Elsa and her daughter Loreda alternate narrative points of view, Elsa trying desperately to hold her family together, and Loreda dreaming big dreams that founder on the rocks of reality.

Hannah writes with an earnest style that feels organic to the novel's time period, but can feel a little ingenuous to a modern reader. Once you sink into the story, though, it's easy to identify with the characters, and it's a profound look at an America that weathered recession, illness, depression, fearmongering, and migrants' and immigrants' rights issues. In those aspects, it's astonishing how much the modern American reader will feel right at home.

Really good read! Insight into a part of history I didn't know much about. It would have been interesting to hear how these people/areas were affected by what was happening in Europe, too. I also would have liked more closure around Elsa's birth family - it seemed unlikely that she'd never hear from/see any of them ever again (especially her sisters).

I had high hopes for this, but I didn't love it. The first half was interesting, but the second half was a slow, bleak slog. Little actually happens and the ending is so manipulative even though I knew it was coming. Too predictable.

The following review was posted on my blog (www.blogginboutbooks.com) on 12.02.20:

Because of a childhood bout with rheumatic fever, 25-year-old Elsa Wolcott has long been treated as an invalid by her wealthy family. Lanky, awkward, and shy, she figures she'll always be a spinster, slowly suffocating to death in her parents' home. She's shocked, then, when she meets Rafe Martinelli, an Italian-American farmer, who pays her the kind of attention she's only read about in romance novels. The Wolcotts will never accept him as a suitor—he's a blue collar worker, a penniless dreamer, and a "foreigner" to boot. Elsa and Rafe's secret romance turns into a hasty marriage when a pregnant Elsa is kicked out of her parents' home. Although the Martinellis are not thrilled with the situation either, they accept Elsa into their fold, soon recognizing what the Wolcotts never have—Elsa is a quick learner, a hard worker, and a person adept at making the best of a bad situation.

By 1934, Elsa is a poor farmer's wife, who is beloved by her in-laws but ignored by her parents and treated with indifference by a husband who is increasingly distant and depressed. When Rafe abandons Elsa, their young children, and his family's farm, she is left to struggle along with the senior Martinellis to turn a profit from the dying land. Between the choking dust, the country's desperate financial situation, and the constant work of farming and caring for a family, Elsa is at the end of her rope. Many of the residents in her Texas town have already fled the Dust Bowl, headed for California, the land of opportunity. Should Elsa stay or go? Can she really find salvation in The Golden State? What will become of her, her elderly in-laws, and her young children?

Kristin Hannah has become known for writing sweeping, emotional sagas about families fighting to survive in difficult situations. Her newest, The Four Winds (available February 2, 2021), is no exception. With a setting so vivid you can feel grit stinging your eyes, Hannah paints a grim, gut-wrenching picture of life in the Dust Bowl during The Great Depression. There's no more sympathetic character than a tireless mother who will do anything to save her children and Elsa is absolutely that. She's a complex, brave, admirable woman whose determination makes her relatable and root-worthy. While I found Hannah's depiction of "Okie" life in California fascinating, her descriptions are so vivid, so heartbreaking, that I'm not sure I'll ever forget them. The Four Winds concludes with an interesting twist, one I didn't much care for; still, the ending feels not just satisfying, but also hopeful. Despite its bleakness, I found this novel absorbing, moving, and memorable. It's because of books like this that I've become a big Kristin Hannah fan over the last few years. I can't wait to see what she does next!

(Readalikes: Reminds me of other stories about the Dust Bowl and The Great Depression, like The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, I Will Send Rain by Rae Meadows, and A Promise to Break by Kathryn Spurgeon)

Grade: B+

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG-13 for language (1 F-bomb, plus milder expletives), violence, sexual content, and disturbing subject matter

To the FTC, with love: I received an e-ARC of The Four Winds from the generous folks at St. Martin's Press via those at NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

What a book, the best I have read in a long time. The story of Elsa Martinelli and her family is a beautifully written piece of historical fiction set during the 1930’s. Elsa’s strong character helps them survive through the Dust Bowl, starvation and finally helps her make the decision to go West looking for a better life for her son and daughter. In California, the family endures homelessness, poverty and hard work in the cotton fields for little pay. The author vividly describes the hopelessness, grief, and despair that people were going through, it brings tears to your eyes. Hannah brings the raw emotion of her characters to the words on the page better than most authors. Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC from NetGalley.

Do you have an auto-buy author? Kristin Hannah is my auto-buy author.

Kristin Hannah has been a long time favorite author of mine. Almost every book that I have read by her has rated 4 or 5 stars. In my opinion, her books are worthy of owning. They are well-researched and detailed. Because of these things, I was excited when I heard about The Four Winds and read it quickly.

Unfortunately, this book missed the mark for me. I found it to be long and bleak. There were many points where I wanted to skim the book, but since Hannah is a favorite author of mine I pushed through.

The plot in the second half of the book takes a sharp turn as the main character gets involved with the communist party. The book went downhill from there. The didactic dialogue between characters was tiresome. I also wanted to hear more of the struggle in Texas during the Dustbowl years, but the story moves to California. The Four Winds was almost like reading two different books and it felt disjointed.

This book held many beautiful phrases and moments, but it was also emotionally manipulative. I do not like to be emotionally manipulated by an author who is trying to prove a political point.

The best thing about this book was that it drove me to research for myself this time period in history and for that I am grateful. I do love when historical fiction leads you to your own research.

My heart hurts giving Kristin Hannah 2-stars, but I feel it necessary. I will continue to read books by her in the future and hope for more 5-star reads.

Hannah’s descriptive words transported me to Texas during The Dust Bowl, California during the Gold Rush and the rise of the communist party. I felt the shards of glass when they scraped Elsa’s neck or the longing Elsa had to be loved by anyone in her life. Hannah did an amazing job at capturing the essence of discovering one’s self, the power of one’s voice, the power of mothers. The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl is an important time period in American history and Hannah did amazing job explaining this world through her description as well as through Elsa and Loreda’s thoughts. I cried when Elsa finally felt love for the first time with Jack. I cried when Elsa had to say goodbye to her children. I cried when we saw what Loreda did for her mother. I think this is a book that JBH’s readers would love because the essence of the story is the power of mothers; what mothers will do for their children, how to survive. I’ve known about Kristen Hannah because her name is quite recognizable but I’ve never read her.

I have read Kristin Hannah books in the past and am familiar with her ability to thoroughly research and represent a period of time. In this case, she writes about the conditions of the dust bowl, which contributed to the great depression. The second half of the book is spent in southern California where the migrants from several states are forced to work for lower and lower wages, just barely enough to fee their family. And where the residents of California are resentful of the thousands of migrants coming to find a better life.
The main character, Elsa, has had a hard life, both physically and emotionally and Hannah portrays her emotions as well as her iron will with skill, helping the reader to really feel the pain in Elsa's soul. Above all else, Elsa loves her two children and will do anything to protect them, even when her own life is threatened.
While one reviewer stated that through all the misery, there was still hope, I did not leave this book with much hope. The situation on the farm in Texas was untenable, as was the situation in the migrant camps in California. There is great pain and sadness in this book, and without revealing the ending, I would just say that Hannah portrays real life, which is often not neat or pretty and there are no happy endings. While I can't really fault Hannah for this writing, I was hoping for a little bit more light.

It is 1921 in the Texas panhandle town of Dalhart, Elsa Wolcott the oldest of 3 daughters is a 25 yr old spinster who has spent years in enforced solitude due to a childhood illness rheumatoid fever which has left her “fragile”. She takes comfort in her books and her ability to blend into the background. She dreams of having a family with a husband who understands and loves her and having a life. She meets 18 yr old Raffaello Martinelli the day she rebels after cutting her waist length hair chin length and runs out of her house in a red silk flapper gown heading to the speakeasy in town. He was so handsome and he asked to take her on a ride and she was helpless to resist. A couple of assignations later she is pregnant and is disowned by her parents and dropped off at his family home and they are married.
It is 1934 and it has been 4 years since there has been rain in in the plains and they now have 2 kids, a girl Loreda who is 12 and Anthony who is 7. The great depression is in full effect and they can’t grow anything with no rain. Every day they are just trying to survive until the rain comes which is never does. People are starting to flee and head to California where work is supposed to be there for everyone. Elsa has to make a choice should she stay and fight for there land or should she head out like all their neighbors to try to make a better life for her kids.

Oh man this was so good. I really love historical fiction and I forgot how much I love Kristin Hannah’s writing. It was really well researched and just immersed you into that world. It was so engaging and you just feel in love with Elsa, Rose, Tony and especially Loreda and Anthony. It was just so heart-wrenching to read about dust pneumonia from all the dust storms and all the poor people that were just trying to get somewhere they could survive and thrive and be treated like garbage by the townsfolk. It was so sad how these people had to live in tent cities and shacks because people wouldn’t rent to them or consider them for other jobs other than field work. And the greedy growers that knew they could pay the workers whatever they wanted and they would take it because they had families to support and couldn’t turn down the money. I’m not afraid to admit that I was crying while reading the last chapter. It was such a bittersweet but satisfying ending.

Thanks to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book in e-book form. All opinions in this review are my own.

All I can say is OMG!!!!!! Kristin did it again. This book will shake you to the core. So beautifully written. What a tear jearker..

I felt this was a little slower to start than the rest of Kristin Hannah's previous books. However, as always, the reader is transported into the book and experiences everything that the characters experience. I could feel the dirt falling on me as I read about the dust storms. I felt fear and despair as they traveled into the unknown, in search for a better life. Kristin Hannah never fails to amaze me with her writing and her ability to submerse the reader into everything that the characters are feeling.

I always enjoy Kristin Hannah's book, her characters always have such depth and the story lines are so well researched and written. It took me a little longer than normal to get through this time but I believe that was because of the way some of the depression era stories of heartbreak, division and devastation mirror some of the trials of today. I just had to take longer breaks from it as I like to read as an escape from reality and this was just such an emotional read and at times just plain heartbreaking. I loved the character Elsa so much with her lack of confidence, low self esteem and yet such strength and grit to keep on going as well as helping others and sacrificing along the way. The historical information also has me wanting to learn more about the depression and the dust bowl eras.

The Four Winds is a masterpiece work of historical fiction, but it wasn't an easy read. Kristin Hannah succeeds in bringing this gritty moment in history to life; as a reader, it was difficult to vicariously experience every horrible moment of the Dust Bowl, as well as the fear and poverty of the Depression Era. This is not a "lost my business and have to eat canned soup" poverty, but an unbelievably terrifying, "will my children die?" reality that so many mothers lived through during this era.

Elsa Martinelli is born to a wealthy family, but she is unloved and lives a lonely, isolated life. When she meets the dashing dreamer Rafe Martinelli, she finally finds a sense of belonging through his loving and kind family. After several good years of prosperous farming and family life, the dust storms arrive in Texas and their lives change forever. Hannah writes so vividly and with so much emotion, that I felt like I was living through the pain right along with this family. She also does an amazing job writing about the migrant workers in California, and the prejudice and poverty they faced. I don't want to spoil any plot points, but this one is a must read for fans of historical fiction. Just be sure to read with a hankie (or two) nearby.

Thank you to St. Martin's and to NetGalley for the librarian preview copy!

I was holding off on reading this novel, thinking it may be too romantic or too historical and I was too restless, but I'm glad that I finally read it. Elsa Martinelli, our main character, starts out in the novel as the "homely" too tall sister who will never marry, and is basically housebound with her wealthy parents that are overly-protective of her because of her "weak heart," never showing her any encouragement. Fortunately, the sappy beginning changes quickly after, at twenty-five, Elsa, sneaks out of the house to go to a speakeasy, meets a cute eighteen year old Italian boy, and just like that has sex with him on his truck bed. Just like that, she's pregnant, and her parents dump her at the home of the boy, and his parents are heartbroken, since their son was leaving for college in three days, something that made them very proud.

We get through the slow opening of the novel, and the boy's parents grow to not only respect Elsa, but love Elsa, as Elsa becomes a vital part of their family during the Great Depression, working hard on their farm, which is basically in the middle of the Dust Belt, and nothing is growing, it never rains, and their son leaves her a note to say he's left to find a better life. He did ask his wife if she, and their two kids, would join him by going to California to find a better life, but she declined, something their older daughter never forgave her for doing.

The novel picks up when Elsa finally does leave for California and they live in migrant camps, hungry and broke, but she discovers that she is capable and liked by others. I found the historical details interesting of the "communists" who were supporting a strike, and how they organized, and how much they had to risk to fight for a living wage. Our author does love romance, so we did have a whirlwind of romance during all this turmoil and agitating, and we did get the Lifetime ending, but that wasn't necessarily bad, since it did bring the novel full circle.

Another great historical fiction!! I love this author's historical fiction writing. And to have read this story at such a volatile, but relatable time is so awesome. I loved the stories within the story and I love that Elsa fell in love.

Never miss a Kristin hannah book. Never disappointed. This one is as good as all the others. Great plot and character development.

A painful and poignant depiction of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. It dragged a bit in the second act, but I never stopped rooting for Elsa. I'd love to see a sequel that follows Lareda. And it seemed that seed may have been planted.

One of the best books I have read this year. Kristin really captures the fighting spirit it must have taken to survive the Dust Bowl. Going through history classes, you don't really grasp what actually happened and what that meant for those living through it. Even though all characters were fictional, it really gripped me and opened my eyes to the horrible conditions these people must have lived and died through.

Texas, 1921. Elsa, desperate for the love she can’t find in her own family, seeks solace in the arms of a younger man. When she gets pregnant, they marry, and she finally has a real family with her in-laws.
Texas, 1934. With the Depression and Dust Bowl, Elsa must decide between staying and fighting for her land or seeking better opportunities in California. What happens is raw, heartbreaking, and yet hopeful.

This was so good! Kristin Hannah has done it again-written a novel with a strong female protagonist who endures unthinkable challenges. Difficult times reveal what our true character is, and there is no stopping the fierceness of a mother’s love.