I would like to start by saying I am a big fan of Kristin Hannah. I have probably read most of her books and have loved them all. This one is no exception.

The book takes place in the 1930's in Texas, where the Dust Bowl era took place during the Great Depression. Without rain, crops died, people were starving, loosing their livelihood, and were being buried alive in dust. Many headed west to California with the promise for a better life. After Elsa Martinelli's husband left her and her 2 children they decided to do the same. However after getting there they found that what had been advertised was not exactly what was happening. They were not accepted and were taken advantage of, being given low wages and no where to live but in camps. Elsa's daughter encouraged her to fight for their rights, joining others that were striking for unfair wages and unsanitary conditions. Elsa does not survive and her children wind up back with their grandparents in Texas.

It was heartbreaking to reading about what these people had to go through to live. I do not remember ever being taught about this period in History. Seems that there are a number of periods in American History that are not discussed as they should be. There are many dark periods, present day times included. I would highly recommend this book and thank Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read a pre-release copy.

This book was received as an ARC from St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I have read a lot of books on the Great Depression and have learned so much from them but this one blew my mind in the best way possible and its all thanks to the brilliance of Kristin Hannah. I expected nothing less from Kristin being a fan of hers and loving her novels but there were so many facts correlating to the storyline of Elsa and her struggle to find the best life possible for herself where all she had to do was survive the fittest and she'll have it all. This book is great if you need a good inspirational Historical Fiction to remind yourself that anything is possible no matter the conditions as long as you believe in yourself.

We will consider adding this title to our Fiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

First sentence: Hope is a coin I carry: an American penny, given to me by a man I came to love. There were times in my journey when it felt as if that penny and the hope it represented were the only things that kept me going. I came west in search of a better life, but my American dream was turned into a nightmare by poverty and hardship and greed. These past few years have been a time of things lost: Jobs. Homes. Food. The land we loved turned on us, broke us all, even the stubborn old men who used to talk about the weather and congratulate each other on the season’s bumper wheat crop.

Premise/plot: The Four Winds is a historical novel set primarily in the 1930s during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Primarily. Readers spend a brief period of time with Elsa, our heroine, in the 1920s which sets up the story.

Elsa Wolcott--when we first meet her--is twenty-five and feeling every bit a spinster. Her parents have almost molded her into that role of unlovable, unworthy spinster. But after reading Age of Innocence, she decides enough is enough is enough. She buys herself some red silk and makeup, sews herself a dress, and sneaks out of the house looking for something--anything--to make life bearable. What she finds is a younger man, an Italian, who wants to take her for a drive out to a barn for a good time. A good time is just what she's craving--though she might not have been brave enough to be blunt. A few months later, Elsa realizes she's with child--as do her parents--and she's driven to the Martinelli homestead and dumped. Elsa and Rafe marry. This first preliminary section ends with the birth of that child--a baby girl she names Laredo.

The rest of the novel is set during the Dust Bowl and will see our characters--Elsa and family--move from the Texas Panhandle to California.

My thoughts: Beautifully written. That's what I'd say first and foremost. The Four Winds is BITTERSWEET. If it didn't have that epilogue, I would say it was more BITTER than sweet, I tell you. But even when things are at their bleakity-bleak-bleakest the narrative is so compelling that the story is just beautiful and the characters fully developed. There were so many complex relationships in this one!!! In particular, the relationship between mothers and daughters and parent and child. (I love, love, love, love, love the relationship between Elsa and her mother-in-law, Rose.)

There were times when I wanted to interfere, to yell a bit. But I take that as a good sign. And it's not like I have alternative better answers that would with certainty have 'saved the day.' (I don't. Not really. Not with certainty.) But there were plenty of times I was like THIS IS A TERRIBLE IDEA. ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO DO THIS? For example, I don't see why California was seen as the one and only answer by desperate people. There are other states too. But I digress.

I think it balanced bleakity-bleak with hope quite well. But I do have to say that though the ending was completely authentically in tune with the whole novel--everything was leading up to this--it was still WRONG on a purely emotional level.

Is it clean? Would I recommend it to those looking for clean reads? Mostly. The first bit is on-screen but non-descriptive. It also doesn't take up much space. The last bit is a bit more descriptive--but again not page-consuming. I would say the purpose is realism and life-as-it-is and not in any way romance. (More time is spent describing picking cotton.) The language--I think there are a few words here and there. But again it felt natural enough and not for shock value or being there for the sake of being there.

Kristen Hannah’s book, The Four Winds, is thoroughly researched and wonderfully written. The Dust Bowl is a period in the United States history that, for some reason, is often overlooked. After reading this amazing book, you will wonder why. The story puts the reader right smack dab in the middle of a time that is filled with adversity, sadness, poverty, hunger, resiliency and hope. The amazing detail Hannah incorporates into the story line, adds to the dimension of a wonderfully crafted piece of historical fiction. The characters (especially her heroine) are well developed and completely authentic. I would recommend this book 100%!

Kristin Hannah's new novel, The Four Winds, brings the reader into the world of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. As she has with her previous novels, her well-researched writing reveals historical events and people in ways that we have not seen before. The despair and hopelessness of families caught in the Dust Bowl is raw and painful, and eerily resonates with our current state in 2020. However, in the midst of dust storm after dust storm, hopelessness and defeat after defeat, the main character Elsa finds her strength, value and purpose in her family. The fact that her treasured family is one that she married into rather than her birth family (who rejected her) reminds the readers that family is often who we choose. Elsa's continual self-sacrifice and determination to make a better way for her children capture the reader's heart and attention and make you root for her to succeed. As with other Hannah novels, the ending is not perfectly neat, tied in a bow, and happily ever after, but rather it feels rooted in reality. Fans of her previous books will love to add The Four Winds to their to-be-read (or purchased) lists.

I have been a fan of Kristin Hannah for many years, and I especially love when she dips her toe into historical fiction. While I did not find this one to be quite as engaging as some of her other stories, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Hannah tells the story of Elsa and her life on the Texas Plains during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. I found myself instantly drawn to this story as it is a period in U.S. History that hasn't been explored in historical fiction quite as often as others. Hannah paints a vivid portrait of what it was like to endure life during those times in an unforgiving environment.

Elsa's evolution of personality shows Hannah's deft hand at character development, and I feel like Elsa finally came into her own at the precise climax of the plot. The novel also showcases a host of secondary characters that were incredibly engaging. I found myself slightly disappointed that we didn't find out what happened to Elsa's husband, but, of course, this was an intentional device to show his weakness of character and ultimate inconsequential affect on Elsa's life.

Overall, I'd highly recommend this novel to others. Beautifully written, smart, and engaging!

Kristin Hannah is one of my favorite authors because her books are always deep and the stories are moving. The Four Winds is another amazing novel!

I was drawn to poor Elsa from the beginning. She was the underdog, kicked and unloved, and she stepped outside of herself to change things for the better. She seemed to always hesitate in the majority of the book, but was definitely a fighter and a momma bear for her children. I could relate to some of the feelings of insecurity and frustration that Elsa felt with her family and life.

I learned a lot about the Dust Bowl era. I felt the descriptions of the events and circumstances really filled the story out and gave helped me to understand Elsa's decisions. My favorite genre is historical fiction where I can learn a little and enjoy a good story. The Four Winds was perfect for me!

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

Another stunning novel by Kristin Hannah. I'm typically not a historical fiction fan, but Hannah's writing brings such depth and emotion to historical events that she always draws me in. Clearly, an incredible amount of research went into this novel; I remember learning about the Great Depression in high school, but the vivid descriptions of The Four Winds brought everything to life.

Overall, I found this story to be heartbreaking, yet beautiful. The way Hannah imbues her writing with the bonds of family is absolutely masterful. While this book focuses on a mother-daughter relationship, I was reminded of the emotional depth and growth of the sister relationship in Hannah's The Nightingale. The character development is somewhat expected based on the premise and characters' past, but I was eager to see it unfold. I was left in tears by the end of the novel. Highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Kristin Hannah may be one of my favorite authors. The way she weaves her stories together is (in my opinion) so beautifully done.

The book opens in an America that is in the throws of a season of hardship: the depression and the dust bowl are primarily covered, but there is also a tension between class and race that is ever-present throughout the novel. We follow the life of Elsa - a young woman rejected by her own family and who finds herself forced upon the Martinelli family. This sets off a chain of events that initially causes a rift between the matriarch and Elsa, but through it all we see Elsa learn and thrive. Her character quietly learns about herself, her new family, motherhood, and love.


There were many tears when reading this story. The tragedies were real: poverty, racism, illness, miscarriage, death, but don't let this stop you from reading because the struggle because it nourishes the story:

"We fought, we struggled, we hurt each other, so what? That's what love is, I think. It's all of it. Tears, anger, joy, struggle. Mostly, it's durable. It lasts."

Oh, it was such an amazing read.

Kristin Hannah can do no wrong in my eyes. She is a writing genius who has the ability to write a story that encompasses so many genres and character relationships, and this one is no exception. I loved learning about the Great Depression/Dust Bowl through the eyes of mother and daughter.

The raw emotional journey that Elsa goes on from child years through adulthood is timely and brought me to tears. Her daughter, a much stronger personality with big dreams, struggles to see her mother's quiet strength, and instead Elsa again finds herself inadequate. As the family travels across the country from the Great Plains to California, we are taken on a journey of hope, struggle, and courage. Right to the last page this book was purely captivating, and one I will hold close to my heart.

Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and Kristin Hannah for an early ready copy!

I just recently read The Great Alone and was blown away by her beautiful writing and research she pours into her novels. Another one of her books that I recommend quite a bit is The Nightengale. So when I saw the possibility of reading an Early Release of her newest book The Four Winds I requested it immediately.

I was NOT disappointed! I was unable to put this book down- I needed to know what was going to happen. The strong female characters that were presented in this book were amazing and I couldn't get enough of them.


I would highly recommend this author as well as her newest book!

Thank you so much for the advanced copy!

This was one of the best books I have read in while. Beautifully written, Kristin Hannah uses simple language to craft the story of Elsa and her family during the Dust Bowl. When forced to put the book down for a break, I kept thinking about the characters and their struggles. I do not want to give away too much, however I highly recommend The Four Winds. I anticipate a movie being made from this and I look forward to reading all of the authors other titles.

I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley. They were offering free downloads to the first 1000 people and I was lucky enough to be one of them.

My reviews align with my enjoyment of a book mostly and the content a little. Kristin Hannah is one of my favorite authors. I fell in love with her after reading The Great Alone and then went on a journey through her previous works, Nightingale and Night Road are two others that I enjoyed a lot.

The Four Winds paints a picture of a family forced to leave Texas because of The Dust Bowl and move to California for work and health only to face homelessness, starvation, and cruelty due to The Great Depression. The painted picture of the book is 5 stars. I couldn't imagine facing those circumstances, leaving behind the only home you know, the home you expected to grow old on, raise your family on, pass on to your children. Face the complete unknown with just the items on your back and with 2 children in tow. Seeing the hunger and heartbreak on their faces every day. I felt it. I was there. I tasted the dust in my mouth and wiped it from the corners of my eyes. The heat burned my face.

The story itself was 3 stars to me because Elsa and Loreda were both equally unlikeable and I couldn't empathize with them, not their experience, with them, the in your head stuff. Elsa's experience of being unloved and unwanted gives her the personality of a pillowcase. Loreda is so cruel, even if she was pushed to have big dreams by her father, she was still raised by her mother and her grandparents and I'm just shocked that she was so unyielding and nasty all the time. She had inner-monologue moments where she reprieved, but she stays mean on the outside and doesn't reprieve the victims of her words. So, this is who I have a meek hardworking woman and a mean brat of a teen that needs to be slapped.

Of course, like in any novel, there is growth, but it comes at the end when everything is wrapping up and being all sad and shit.

What I like about Kristin Hannah - she doesn't write the same book over and over again. This novel is set during the Great Depression in the Dust Bowl. When the rains stopped and the storms came, farmers all over the midwest headed for California in search of a better life. A little bleak but a total page turner and unforgettable.

I’d wanted a book that would make me cry, and this one really delivered. The hardships faced by Elsa are simply relentless. This is a good book for the era of Covid when many Americans are publicly bitching about having to wear their masks at the Walmart. It’s set at the same time as The Grapes of Wrath: the Great Depression combined with the Dust Bowl. Now I’m going to have to re-read that novel, although this is a wonderful story from the point of view of a female of that era. The hardships she faces make wearing a mask at the grocery store seem pretty easy, and it’s a good reminder to be grateful for all the many ways our lives are no where near as bad as what Elsa and her family have to face.

The Texas panhandle is one of the places that the Dust Bowl decimated farms, so eventually Elsa takes her children west to California, the land of milk and honey, where there is supposed to be tons of work for everybody. One of the big money makers for migrants was picking cotton—I had no idea that’s ever been a crop in California. They face disgusting discrimination from the settled Californians because of how they have to live to scrap by. “People get scared when they lose their jobs, and they tend to blame outsiders. The first step is to call them criminals. The rest is easy.”

I highly recommend this novel. It’s wonderful.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel, which RELEASES FEBRUARY 9, 2021.

Just finished The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, courtesy of NetGalley. The publication date is 2/9/2021. It is somewhat rare for me that a book can have such a strong effect on my emotions. But as I sit here wiping the tears away and smiling, I am once again struck by the amazing talent of Kristin Hannah and how she always transports me to a place and time so vivid. Just as she did with The Great Alone, in The Four Winds, she creates these incredible female characters that you want to know deeply. And with this story set during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl, she evokes feelings that are striking a chord with what we are experiencing now in our place and time. Now I need to go read The Nightingale because I’m sure I will love it just as much and will be smiling and crying at the end (I know...I can’t believe I haven’t read it yet either) #thefourwinds #Netgalley

In the 1930s, the Great Plains of the United States and Canada suffered through a punishing drought which, along with destructive agricultural practices, caused 850 million tons of topsoil to be blown into the air, decimating farms and farmers in the Midwest and driving millions off their lands. These refugees overwhelmingly migrated west with the promise of jobs and as an escape from ecological destruction.

But in the West, especially in California, they were not welcomed with open arms, to say the least. Termed "Okies" because many came from Oklahoma, they were dehumanized and exploited by the big agricultural concerns of the California valleys, who leveraged their enormous numbers to squeeze labor from them for minimal pay insufficient to provide a livelihood for their families. They pitted desperate people against one another for the purpose of extracting fortunes from their lands.

This is the story of one family caught up in this horror. Elsa is a young woman, thought both frail and unattractive by her family, a narrative she incorporates into her own beliefs about herself. She is sheltered and not allowed an education, and the assumption is that she will never marry. This leaves Elsa bereft of all hope of bettering her circumstances. But one night, she determines to go out on the town (though she hardly knows herself what this might entail) and encounters Rafe Martinelli. He is kind and gentle, which seduces her and leaves her vulnerable to his ministrations. When the inevitable happens, her parents reject her and her unborn child, forcing Rafe to marry her and give up his aspirations to a college education.

When the drought and the deadly dust storms which follow make the Martinelli farm a dispirited place that sucks the life out of everyone on it, each reacts in the way that most reflects the people they truly are. Elsa discovers in herself a strength and capacity to love she had not previously thought possible. They stay on the farm as long as they can, but eventually Elsa and her children must join the migration west, where they will face more tests and tribulations to which they must rise or perish trying.

Based as it is in the truth of a catastrophe, this story is bound to be deeply difficult for both the writer and the reader. Still, this book is so unrelentingly grim it becomes a bit dull. Without any contrast, the sadness and struggle become a monochrome portrait. I realize this is what people in this time and place truly experienced, but novels are not merely retellings of grim truths and carry an obligation to be more than just a recitation of facts and portrayal of real-life situations; there must be some variety to the fare for them to be palatable at all. Many books have dealt with this tragedy and others even more dark and managed to be compelling reads, so I don't think I am being unjust is portraying this one as only moderately successful. Elsa is a compelling character, as are many of the members of her adopted family. The relationships she has in California feel real and heartfelt. But it's just not enough to make up for the relentless bleakness of the portrayal Hannah has given us. I also felt that the drama of the ending was far out of proportion to what came before it. I will not engage in any spoilers here, but suffice it to say that it feels artificially tacked on to provide some spice, even if it is one more in a long series of grim realities.

I admire this book far more than I like it. It is clear that Hannah has done her homework and feels a great compassion for those who went through such difficult, impossible, horrifying times. In fact, perhaps a bit more objectivity would have served her well. Empathy is all fine and well and gives us some of the best literature ever written, but it must be leavened with a sense of story that keeps us engaged and interested. Unfortunately, this book falls short of those aspirations.

Omg. The book hangover is real. I can feel it starting, and the tears haven't even dried on my cheeks. My eyes are still blurry, and yet I've already gone back to re-read passages. "Love. In the best of times, it is a dream. In the worst of times, a salvation." I think I've already read that a dozen times.

The Four Winds.... as someone who writes reviews it is odd to be at a loss of words when my soul is so full of emotion. This wasn't just a book, it was magnetic - pulling me into the story time and time again, even to the point where I was dancing with motion sickness simply because I couldn't put it down and the car ride took me away from the story for far too long.

Elsa Martinelli is one of the most compelling women I have experienced in literature. What sets her apart is not that she is verbose, grand, elegant, or witty, rather that she has this quiet tenacity. She has such beauty in her soul, and wants a life of passion, of love, of desire, and most importantly of belonging. Her whole life, told that she wasn't enough (pretty, smart, desirable) she humbly took it in and moved on.

Finally finding a way and a place to belong, the Depression hits and her life is upended. Now, her in-laws, her husband, and their two children fight for survival, holding on to dignity and pride. When Texas is no longer an option they go West, and you can feel the heartbreak. And through that heartbreak you can see the essence of Elsa as a warrior, "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."

I'll end with this quote "Find your voice and use it...take chances...never give up."

Kristin Hannah is a genius! I was hooked from the moment the story began and there was not a single lull, which is common in historical sagas. Hannah’s strength is always her characters and Four Winds exceeds those expectations and so much more. Easily the best book I’ve read this year— in fact, I haven’t fallen in love with a novel like this since The Nightingale. This was so good for my soul. I can’t wait to read it again!

This epic family saga of the Great Depression spans the horrific dust bowl conditions of Texas farmlands to the sweltering California cotton fields. A story of one woman's grit and determination in the face of nearly-insurmountable tragedy and suffering, fans of U.S. historical fiction will find much to recommend in Kristin Hannah's newest novel, The Four Winds. Thoroughly researched, historically accurate, and carefully crafted, the story provides excruciatingly painful details surrounding the devastating effects of the Great Depression and the dust bowl conditions of the 1930s. Some readers may find the theme and tone somewhat maudlin and depressing, and at times the book's unredemptive bleakness threatens to overwhelm the plot, characters, and moments of sparkling insight.

Thank you #NetGalley for the opportunity to read #TheFourWinds from one of my favorite authors, #KristinHannah.