This book has a strong female lead like many of the author's other books of the author's other books.. It was not my favorite of hers but I'm excited for a future book. I felt like a dragon towards their trip to California.

3 Stars

TW: Animal death & lots of it

If you are looking for an emotional book, Kristin Hannah is your go-to. I have found that most of her books tend to have me sobbing on the floor late at night. WhileThe Four Winds deals with heavy subjects, that wasn't the case for this book.

While I did enjoy the emotional aspects of The Four Winds, I struggled with it a bit. The first half of the book was hard to get through, I found it incredibly boring. It wasn't until the second half that the pace picked up. By then it kind of felt like it was too late. The pacing being slow for more than half the book kind of ruined it for me.

The problem with historical fiction for me is the amount of suffering an author puts their characters through. I understand this book was well researched but it felt like that overpowered the book. I know this book isn't meant to be an easy read, but so much suffering for one group of people? It was just a lot all at once. It didn't feel authentic, just carefully written sad plots tossed into one family.

While the ending did frustrate me, I think a lot of people will still like this one. It just wasn't for me this time around.

Thanks to Netgalley for a electronic ARC of this book.

I'm usually a Kristen Hannah and eagerly await the release of her books. Unfortunately, I found The four Winds to be just....OK.
It's set in Texas during the Dust Bowl. Elsa's parents show her no love. She's made to marry someone she doesn't want to be with. Then, here comes the Great Depression and drought. Reading it felt like slogging through mud with a cloud hanging over my head. I know this was a harsh time in history and there wasn't much to be happy about, but a tiny pinpoint of lightness would have been appreciated. I thought she did a much better job developing characters dealing with troubles in The Great Alone. I'll revisit The Four Winds at some point and hopefully will find it a little brighter.

None of my relatives are from the areas the Dust Bowl took place in. I have no first hand knowledge of it and have not had the privilege of hearing stories of this tragedy passed down from generation to generation so to gain knowledge of it I read fantastic and very highly researched books such as this one.
This book hits where it hurts, the heart. The characters are realistic and believable and you come to know them as though they are friends and they are in your corner.
These people could be your people, when they hurt you hurt as you become very invested in the character's lives both good and bad.
The Dust Bowl in the 1930's was a tragic time, many men were cowards and killed themselves or ran off to leave their women and children alone to fend for themselves.
The banks closed, everything did people didn't have the money to buy anything .
Dust covered everything, filling people's lungs ,killing off the livestock and making life an impossible hell!
Scraping together money for gas to make it to California they are in for a shock when they meet the land of broken dreams there.
Unfair wages for many hours of backbreaking work and having to live in tents where people carry diseases and total discrimination while trying to find and honest job are what they are met with.
The book was overall bleak but realistic for it's time period and I can't fault the book for that because I enjoy reading about realism.
There are pockets of sunshine and a renewed sense of hope along the way though.
I can't recommend this book enough!
This is my first book by this author but you better believe it won't be my last!

Pub Date 02 Feb 2021
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own.

I am always nervous when I see a book written about farming/agriculture because it is normally a misrepresentation. I am so glad to say Kristin Hannah really nailed it on this one.

At this point most people know the general story line of this one and I feel like the most common criticism of the book is that it is "too sad". The thing is the Great depression and Dust Bowl was not a sunshine and glitter time period and while it was sad, this is what life in farming is like even today. The realities described in this book are still effecting farmers today and dismissing them as unrealistic just shows how removed most people are from the realities of farming not only in the US but the world.

If I could I would give this book 10 stars simply because it is the first book I have ever read where I feel seen in.

This was heartbreaking, beautiful, and so sad. Loved it, another great one from this author. 5 stars!

This was a beautifully written book with strong historical content. I loved learning more about this era, and was drawn into her characters.

Another lovely book by Kristin Hannah!

This book made me cry, which was not unexpected given the author’s previous works. But especially in a pandemic year, the tragedy recounted in this novel — natural disaster and poverty — strikes another chord. It says so much about our society today and so eloquently that I couldn’t recommend it enough.

Wow what a story! The book begins with in the pre-Dust Bowl of North Texas and sets the stage with a ton of character and setting development. Because the author is so thorough, it feels like the book is a slow starter. However, every detail is in the book for a purpose and Hannah weaves all of them to create a deep and engaging story that is full of emotion. I cried the last 50 pages!

Kristen Hannah's popular new book The Four Winds is a richly detailed Historical fiction set in Texas during the Dust Bowl, the story has elements for everyone to enjoy.

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah is a beautifully written book, but is one of the most depressing books I have ever read. Was very disappointed at the ending.

Growing up, Elsa thought her life wouldn't amount to anything. Her family stifled her, she didn't have the nerve to stand up to anyone, and her health wasn't strong. After meeting a man and becoming pregnant, both of their future plans unravel as they are forced into a marriage that starts out loving, but becomes one sided as the ravages of the Dust Bowl take away their livelihood. Elsa, now parenting 2 children on her own, is encouraged by her in laws to depart for California. On their way they face hardship after hardship. It was difficult to read, as such stories are. If you're pining for a narrative of the Dust Bowl and migration to California, Grapes of Wrath is another classic to consider. Weaving into the story are themes of parent/child relationship, family ties between natural and formed relations, and the role of government in crises. The ending was both a satisfactory ending while still being realistic to the circumstances Elsa had found herself in.

I am so glad that I read this book! I have had mixed experiences with Kristin Hannah's books in the past, and while I did love The Nightingale, Historical Fiction isn't always my favorite genre and I just wasn't sure I cared all that much about the dust bowl. I was wrong. This story was phenomenal. It had it all. Amazingly strong female characters -- I LOVE Loreda, and hope my daughters are just like her. Tear-jerking story lines -- I cried no less than 4 separate times. Fast-moving story -- I was intimidated by the long book, but since it spans a few years, there was always something happening to make me want to pick the book back up and see what happens. I ended up reading this switching between print and audio and both were excellent.

Like many American students, I read The Grapes of Wrath in high school, and loved it. It was my favorite book for years and I had such a strong emotional reaction to reading it at that time that I've been hesitant to reread it and possibly upend that powerful connection I had.

And then along comes this book...

It's The Grapes of Wrath for women. Hannah's The Four Winds takes all the power of The Grapes of Wrath and places a warrior of a woman at it's center. You're along for the ride as she grows and develops into that warrior and when she yells "No more" you will feel it in your soul.

Hannah's strength is writing the kinds of woman to woman relationships we all want. She's crafted several interesting characters and builds strong, loving, and uplifting relationships between them. It's worth reading just for that.

The audiobook is exceptional. Julia Whelan does such a marvelous job with voices and accents. Each character has a distinct voice.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Four Winds is the newest novel by Kristin Hannah, the author of the Nightingale and Firefly Lane. This one is historical fiction set during the Great Depression in the dust bowl. Elsinore Wolcott survived rheumatic fever when she was fourteen. Unfortunately her family never let her move on and we find her at 25, unloved and unmarriageable. So it is no wonder that when she meets Rafe Martinelli, a young Italian farmer, she falls for his charms. Unsurprisingly she finds herself pregnant and disowned by her wealthy family. The Martinellis reluctantly take her in and Elsa finds love, for her unborn child, her new family and the land they care for. It turns out that Elsa has a knack for farming. The saga sweeps through the Texas dust bowl and throuh the Great Depression as Elsa must decide whether to stay and fight for her family and her land, or pack it in like so many others and head west to California to scratch out a better life.

Like Hannah's other novels, Four Winds is rich in detail - you can almost feel the dust in the air as you read. This would be an excellent selection for book clubs. Anyone who enjoys Hannah and exceptional historical fiction will find this one hard to put down. I recommend Four Winds to anyone who wants well-crafted, engrossing read. Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

How would we. / do we treat people who are experiencing the worst of what life can offer. Great book that I hope encourages readers to think about how they treat fellow humans.

Wow!! Unbelievably captivating! I enjoyed Elsa and her journey, not only was this book a fabulous read, but also educational. I learned so much about our history. This was worth the over 400 pages!
Elsa is a warrior, fighter, lover, strong af woman!! I learned a lot from this book in so many ways, I am not a historical fiction fan but this was one to go down in my list of top ten books of all times.

I love this author's writing style, so I was excited for this book! It follows Elsa as she grows up and starts a family during the Dust Bowl. I LOVED reading about this time period! I never had before, so it was so interesting (and heartbreaking). I also really loved her relationship with Tony and Rose. I thought it was so wonderful, and to be honest I would have read an entire book about Elsa and the kids staying with them and riding out the dust storms and such. I wasn’t expecting this book to be quite so depressing. I know it is set during the Great Depression, but I really wasn’t expecting things to be quite so dire the WHOLE time. That did make it a bit tough to read at points, but that was the way things were sometimes, so it did fit the time period I think.

It was tough to read, but I will say that I did like it now that I have finished. I am always down to read a Kristin Hannah book, so this one didn’t disappoint in that regard. If I had known about how sad and depressing it was, I may have waited until real life wasn’t quite so bad :).

I was given an advanced reader's copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Fans of Hannah won't be disappointed in her latest book. Beware, however. This is a dark read and might not be something you want to pick up if you are looking for a life affirming story to get you through a pandemic.

Amazing (as always). Kristin Hannah’s newest novel did not disappoint! This was really a story about the courage and resiliency of women to persevere during unimaginably difficult times. Set during the Great Depression of the 1930s in Delhart Texas and California, the story follows Elsa, a woman underestimated and unappreciated by her family. When she gets pregnant out of wedlock her family disowns her and she is forced into marriage with her lover (against his and his family’s wishes). With her new Italian-immigrant in-laws, Elsa finds the love and connection she craved growing up. But when the times get tough in the early 1930s, her husband Rafe can’t handle it and abandons his family to search for a better life out West. Eventually Elsa too decides life out West has to be better for her children so she sets off on her own with her son and daughter. Hannah does an incredible job bringing to life the stark poverty and deprivation of the migrant worker experience in California. “There was a deep and abiding shame that came with asking for handouts. Poverty was a soul-crushing thing, a cave that tightened around you, its pinprick of light closing a little more at the end of each desperate, unchanged day.” Considered the lowest of the low, these migrant workers were forced to endure horrible working conditions, social prejudices, forced debt (bordering on indentured servitude or slavery) and little recourse for greater rights. Despite the hardships though Hannah also highlights the power of female friendship and how small acts of kindness can help make life more bearable during difficult times (a lesson for us all). Ultimately this is a novel to make you appreciate the many things we have to be grateful for and how important being kind to one another is, especially in these particularly trying times. I really loved Elsa and Jean’s friendship and how Elsa realized “How one person could lift your spirit just enough to keep you upright,” and it’s important to have someone to “get bad girl drunk [on gin]” was (and still is?!). Highly recommend this book - and it pairs greatly with Melanie Benjamin’s The children’s blizzard - also set in the American midwest during a horrific natural disaster.