Beautifully written and heart wrenching "historical" fiction about the Dust Bowls and Depression era. At times I felt like I was actually experiencing all the hardships the characters were experiencing. As Hannah mentions in the end, she completed this book when the COVID pandemic started and it was certainly a reality comparison as to what is going on today - loss of jobs, businesses closing, illnesses and the collapse of our economy.

I was given an opportunity to read an advantage copy of The Four Wind by one of my favorite authors Kristin Hannah. Thank you all for giving me this wonderful opportunity. And once again Kristin has written a book, that brings us right into the life of Elsa. Her family who rejects her and to a new family who loves her and teaches her how to survive. Her husband Raff who entered a loveless marriage because her daughter was on the way. And the struggle with her.daughter. I hate to give to much away, but she brings us back to the Dust Bowl, the Great Depression,,the immigration of the people to find jobs and the creation of unions.
This book was a three time cry for me...That’s one of the reasons I loved how Kristen writes.this book will be a best seller the first day of release and it will be read by many book clubs. Can’t wait for this book to be release so I can recommend it to my book club and read it again. It’s one of those books you will read more than once. Wish I could give this book a 10 star rating.

Riveting from beginning to end. I am a huge Hannah fan, and Four Winds may be her best yet. I knew little about the Dust Bowl, but Hannah brings it to life in a manner I won't soon forget. Elsa ranks at the top of my all-time favorite characters list. Kudos Kristin Hannah. The wait was well worth it.

Kristen Hannah draws you in from the first page and doesn’t let you go until the last. Her latest historical fiction follows the story of Elsa who is rejected by her family due to being ill as a teenager. At 25, she is considered a lost cause, so she takes matters into her own hands to have a more fulfilling life. She does so by secretly having a relationship with an Italian and gets pregnant. Her parents disown her and makes her move out to live with her boyfriend’s family. She is finally accepted and loved. The Great Depression and The Dust Bowl disrupts her life and pushes her to make hard decisions about survival. Does Elsa find that fulfilling life or does it remain heartbreaking? Kristin Hannah writes a heartfelt story that captures what life was like during those events in history! Definitely a must read!

I have always enjoyed Kristin Hannah’s books and this ranks up there with her best. The subject matter of the Great Depression and the horrible treatment of the people seeking a better life in California was heartbreaking.
I really appreciated the time and setting of the book. This is not a subject I have not read about in contemporary literature.
Great storytelling, vivid characters and a strong sense of place.

Elsa ignored by her prominent family seeks and receives attention from a young Italian wheat farmer,thinks she’s in love and surprisingly becomes pregnant. A marriage,a baby, a whole new life sets the trend for this story. Set against the Depression. It details the strife of sand storms and survival in a time of very little. Fearing for her sons failing health, she leaves a place she has come to love and in-laws that have come to love her in ways her own parents never did. Thinking her only hope is to leave Texas for California, Elsa and her children battle constantly with circumstances shared by many along the way. Settling in the farm camps ,doing back breaking labor only to be at the mercy of owners , who offer goods and services ,and shelter at prices they can change at any time. Rules they make on a whim. A rising tide of union and Communist organizers infiltrate the camps and Elsa finds herself in a battle at home with her elder daughter and internally with herself.

Kristin Hannah can always lure you into a new world and populate it with relatable characters. This time the world is quite familiar to anyone who read Dust Bowl fiction and has seen Dorothea Lange's photographs of the era. Added factors are Italian immigrant families in Texas, a protagonist who feels unloved and unattractive, and a complicated dynamic between mother and daughter.

Most interesting to me was the last section about the migrant farm workers (all of whom were called Okies no matter where they hail from) and their struggle to be seen as human, not filth, in towns, schools and door-to-door. The American dream is a nightmare to them, and there was absolutely nowhere to turn. No wonder the ruling class of agricultural barons were so vehemently against the "Commies", as fair wages would cut into profits.

The story is not quite put together as well as her others, but because of the enjoyable deep dive into daily life on a Texas farm, and astonishing visuals of the dust in the years of drought, I rate it as an excellent read.

Wow. Kristin Hannah does it again!! I absolutely could not put this book down. I mean that almost literally as I was reading it on my kindle WHILE doing busy work at my job (shhhhh).

The content matter of this book is obviously not joyful but it’s important and it needs to be read. I could FEEL the pain (emotional and physical) through Elsa and Lorena. To think that Americans have gone through such hardships and have persevered is such an incredible thing, especially today, when we are faced with this pandemic. This book really put things into perspective for me, and makes me SO incredibly grateful for what my family and I have and how blessed we are.

If you’re looking for a gritty, passionate novel that will give you “all the feels”, this is it!! Ms. Hannah knows how to work those heartstrings!!! ❤️

Huge thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to snag an ARC of this gem!! I devoured it every chance I got (and with working full time, kids, etc - that means I had to sneak it in at times lol)

This is a heavy read. It deals with the stock market crash, the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl and the farmers who turned west for a better life when their farms failed them. What awaited them in California was being turned away from room, board and work because of where they came from. Most ended up squatting or working for wages so low they could never get by.

Elsa and her family live on her in laws farm in Texas. The 20s brought great crops that left everyone jovial and confident. But the crash happens and there's years of drought. When Elsa can take it no more she takes her family and heads to California for a better life. She is met with discrimination and doors slammed in her face. Despite what she faces she keeps fighting and staying strong for her children. When will it end? How will they ever have enough money to survive the winter when the crops have all been harvested?

This book needs to be digested slowly. It is heavy with hope, devasting heartache, disappointment, shame, anger and the unconditional love of one mother. Hannah has taken her subject matter and created a story that twines through your heart and delivers blow after blow. She has taken a chapter from American history and painted it in a bittersweet light. I think we could all do with a story about hope and not giving up in the uncertain times, don't you think?

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Dear Kristin Hannah,

Well, you have done it again! You have written about an incredibly difficult era and created a strong female character(s) in a completely engaging story!

The time was the 1930s...Elsa, a young 26-year old woman is living with her parents in Texas. Diagnosed at 14 with a heart condition, her parents treated her with great caution. And not only did they treat her with disdain because of her previous condition, but they were also incredibly outspoken of her plain (and unattractive) looks.

Elsa met a young man, Rafe Martinelli, who was eight years younger than her. At that time she was so starved for love that she engaged in illicit shenanigans ... and, of course, we all knew what was to happen next.

While the Martinelli family embraces Elsa, Rafe is unsettled with life on a farm in Texas. He wants to see the world and he shares his dreams with his daughter Loreda; Then the drought and dust storms came, leading way into the Great Depression.

This story portrays the struggle of a family trying to stay on their land, while struggling with the lack of work on their farm due to severe drought. In essence: No money, a shortage of food, and loved ones moving west for work. Some men even abandoned their families just to survive on their own... only themselves to look after and feed; And one woman's strength to keep her family together no matter the cost.

Elsa worked her fingers to the bone to provide for her children. And her struggle proved to be raw and merciless. Adding fuel to the fire was her daughter — a preteen with condemnation for her mother and her mother's complacency.

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This book pulled me in so many directions emotionally. I've read about this era; But, Ms. Hannah made it more personal writing of a family to follow, pray for, cheer for and cry for throughout this story.

I've heard mixed reviews about this book; But I, for one, thought that it was excellent! I could relate to Elsa, her mother in law, and her daughter. I was angry for their circumstances and that which they had to overcome to succeed... but the way they fought for their livelihoods made me joyful.

Difficult times show strength when you least expect it. A mother will always die trying to take care of her children; And a woman will always gather support from dear (and new) friends.

This lesson was (hopefully) learned by a generation that had everything taken away and continued to persist. Reading this under the circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic, I particularly appreciate the notion that we can ALWAYS learn from the past.

Thank you Netgalley for an advanced copy! Thank you Kristin Hannah for writing another heartfelt book! Now I will have to purchase the hard copy in February 2021 (when the book is released), for my growing collection of your fabulous novels!!

Kristin Hannah's The Four Winds is a beautiful and heartbreaking novel set during America's "worst hard times". It's hard to imagine an event like the Dust Bowl, but we are put right in the middle of it through Hannah's captivating storytelling. Elsa is an amazing heroine and protagonist, tough and likeable and relatable. I felt the love she had for her family in every difficult choice she made. Emotionally, this is not an easy book to read, but you will have been made better by reading it. I recommend it if you have enjoyed Hannah's previous works or if you are a fan of historical fiction. It's a gem.

Read this in one 24 hour period. I haven't read a book that captured my interest like this in a long time. Loved the strong characters. Loved the time period. I am already recommending it to friends already.

Wow. I have read a few of Kristin Hannah's later works and this one just blew me away. It follows the lives of Elsa, Loreda and Ant Martinelli as they travel from the dust bowl of the Texas panhandle to California during the Great Depression. It follows the growth of Elsa as a woman, a mother and someone just trying to survive. The descriptions of both the dust storms and the hardships of the migrant workers were heart rending. I devoured this ARC and was in tears at the end. This is definitely my favorite of her books and I was not ready for it to end .

I loved Kristin Hannah’s Nightingale and Night Road. I did really enjoy Four Winds, but not as much as the other two books. The end made me cry as I just couldn’t imagine enduring as much as the Martinelli’s did with this ending.

High level synopsis: This story is about a farm family that living in a time that is post stock market crash of the last 1920, and during the dust bowl and Roosevelt eras. The drought in the plains and the convergence of people into California, the Land of Milk and Honey. The poverty, hunger and strife families from all walks of life hand to go through is captured is this amazing book.

I’m sure that families that went through this era in real life most likely felt their stories were never going to change. In a way, I felt the same way during parts of this book. I also struggled with the changing of Point of View right in the middle of a chapter.

Overall, this is a really good book. Great character development! It made for a story that broke your heart while rooting for the families involved.

This was a solid 4 star read for me.

Pub date: 2/9/2021

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was amazing as usual for Kristin Hannah. I love how it was set during the Great Depression era. The characters seemed so real and the story was addicting. I couldn't get through the book fast enough. Well done Kristin Hannah!

A generational saga that begins in the Great Depression, the dust bowl. Heartbreaking yet fulfilling.
Strength and determination feature prominently. I didn't expect to enjoy this story to be honest but I'm a fan of the author and she did a fabulous job telling the story. I loved it.

Kristin Hannah has done it again! She keeps getting better and better. What a beautiful and heartbreaking story. This book was a hard one to read and had me googling a time in history that I didn't know much about. I loved the characters, it was very atmospheric (you could almost feel how hot and dry that part of U.S. was at that time) and an emotional read. This will be at the top of my books of the year.

This was my first Kristin Hannah book that I have read (I'm way behind the times apparently) and this book has been everything I've been searching for in a book in 2020. It is heart wrenching, heart warming, laughable, cryable and so much more. The emotions of the characters felt real, raw and the imagery and description used in the book allowed for so much visualization that I felt present with the characters throughout their journey. This book is officially in my top 5 books overall and has made me want to explore other titles written by Kristin Hannah. If historical fiction is for you, please read this book when it is released in February, you won't regret it. A big thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to receive this book in exchange for an honest review.

This novel will make you weep and cheer and be thankful for all you have. If it doesn't, you have a very heard heart. This story was so real that tears came, more frequently than any other book I've read in years. The courage the main character had was phenomenal. Kudos to the author for giving us a book that reminds us, in the middle of a deadly global pandemic, that we are not facing hardship alone and that we can survive, especially if we hold each other up and share any scrap of grace.

I thought this book was beautifully crafted. I recognised parts of myself in the pages as the story unfolded. This novel, in the end, is a wonderful story of triumph!