I was extremely excited to be given the opportunity to read an e-galley of Kristin Hannah's The Four Winds. It was a very interesting and emotional story about a woman named Elsa, and her and her family's experience during the dark days of the Depression. On the positive side, Hannah does a wonderful job of bringing to life the times that Elsa lived through. This includes her experience of the drought and dust storms and then the prospect of traveling to another state with her family in the hope of a better life and instead being met with fear and hatred as an outsider. I thought that the overall story was very well done, but then it was dragged down by the unrelenting negative things that happened to Elsa. I don't want to get into the details (spoilers!), but struggle after struggle after struggle made it difficult to keep going when reading this book.

So, I seem to be in the minority, as most enjoyed this book. Hannah is truly an amazing writer of historical fiction and I will look forward to reading others by her, but this one fell a little flat for me.

Thanks to the author, NetGalley, and St. Martins Press for an opportunity to read an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

Oh this is hard. I really wanted to love this book. I am drawn to the topic of the dust bowl, Great Depression and the journey west to California. But I just did not care what happened to these characters. It is a story of tragedy and sorrow. I wish I could say read this book, and some may enjoy it, but I did not.

Loved tbis novel. It was sad, and tragic. My first Kristin Hannah, and certainly won't be my last. Definitely worth the read.

I never have read much of anything about the dust bowl or the Great Depression. We didn’t really spend much time on it in school when I was growing up and, having lived in New England for my formative years, farm life happened some place far away.

I grew older not being that interested in exploring the era - perhaps because it was bypassed during school. In fact, I started reading this book 4 months ago and stopped early on. Like really early on.

I picked it up four days ago and have not been able to put it down since.

Kristin Hannah (Nightingale) is a wonderful writer. She paints characters that come to life quickly. She describes an era in such luscious detail I felt like I was there. Granted there are a few things about her dialogue that seemed a inconsistent and odd to me, but not enough for me to harp on. If this were a ten star scale it would bring the book from an 8 to a 7. But it’s a five star scale, which benefits the author.

This book is a story of Elsa- a strong, courageous woman who is in a battle with both the world and herself in her struggles to survive and truly live life to its fullest.

She grows up in the Texas Panhandle and lives through the Great Depression. This is that story.

I of course want to read more Kristin Hannah books. I know want to also read more about this era. And when this book is made into a movie, I look forward to seeing that too.

#netgalley #thefourwinds

The story is fabulous, but the writing isn't. Kristin Hannah really tells a story, but she doesn't engage you in a story. The characters were really simplistic. That being said, I really enjoyed it as I didn't know much about this time period.

The Four Winds almost feels like two separate stories put together to make one book. The first half is Elsa's story of leaving her affluent family, of marrying into the Martinelli family and learning to do things like farm and cook, of trying to make the most of life for her family during the Dust Bowl in the Texas panhandle, when they lost everything. The second half finds Elsa and her family in California, having gone west to find work and food and a better life.

I liked this story a lot. It's compulsively readable and I literally could not put it down. But the two halves were not equal. The first half was absolutely tragic and devastating, and yet I couldn't stop reading. I mean truly sad, sad, sad. I wanted to know more about living during the dust storms, more about the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the Martinelli family, who kept suffering loss after loss after loss out on their farm. I didn't sob or anything, but I have never read a story that had me shedding a few tears so many times throughout.

I liked reading about Elsa's fierce resolve and her resourcefulness during the second half too, don't get me wrong. If anything, she proved herself even tougher once she arrived in California. But I found myself a little annoyed with the sheer amount of pages in the second half that were based on issues vs story. What I mean is that there is so much time spent talking about fair wages and and capitalism and how American's shouldn't be living this way or that way. I know about this time and I know what was going on in America, and I GET IT. I really do. But I couldn't get enough of Elsa's development and relationships with her family in the earlier parts of the story, and I just wish the second half had as much of that storytelling as the first half did.

Still, it's clear that Kristin Hannah is extremely passionate about this story. Her ability to tell a tale is extraordinary. Her characters, be they likeable or not, are always so rich and three dimensional, and they make me feel things. I felt mostly heartache while I read this story, but I also felt a lot of frustration and anger, with a teensy-tiny amount of happiness, and I still feel it days after finishing the book. I also feel like I could identify at least somehow with nearly every character in this book, which made me feel fully invested.

I guess what I've said in this review makes it sound like I didn't like this book and that isn't true at all. My 5/5 rating indicates just that. I guess I was just surprised at how vastly different then first and second halves felt compared to one another, and I wish the tone and emotional impact of the first half carried through to the end.


Audiobook Notes: I 100% added the audio because Julia Whelan is the narrator and she is THE BEST. Her narration is flawless, as always. Somehow she is able to take stories that have badass female characters and a lot of emotion and elevate them exponentially. For those that are even considering listening to this story on audiobook, I say DO IT. You won't be sorry.

Title: The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
Narrator: Julia Whelan
Length: 15 hours, 2 minutes, Unabridged
Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Loved this book! Such an interesting comparison with what’s been going on in the world today. Beautifully written characters and prose that keep you reading and engaged until the end!

This book was heartbreaking, beautiful, and compelling. I could not stop reading. I loved Elsa's spirit and determination. This is an incredible book and I would highly recommend it.

Who wouldn’t read and love one of her books? Amazingly detailed, true, real life characters and a story that grabs you and doesn’t let go.

This isn’t the sort of book I usually read so I’m not sure it’s fair to give a review. If you like this type of storyline then this is a wonderful book.

The Four Winds was an incredible experience in historical fiction, that allowed me to not only learn about the dust bowl but I felt present within the story.

The characters were so well written and I felt their pain and experiences. The story was well plotted and heart felt.

Honestly my favorite book of 2021 thus far.

Something I really enjoy about Hannah's work is that she seems to have quite the gift of setting. Her descriptions of the land in Texas and the dust storms make you feel as if you too have dust in the corners of your eyes. The descriptions surrounding setting in this novel are absolutely fantastic and for that reason alone I would recommend picking this up.

What bothered me about this particular book is that, plot-wise, it felt like a bit much. The main character Elsa, is basically a Great Depression era Job. Everything bad that can happen does happen and it starts to feel over-the-top ridiculous.

A heart-wrenching story that gives us insight into a piece of American history from a vantage point that I've not read from before. Characters are diverse and interesting, all facing difficulties and struggling to rise above them. This is by far, not a happy story, but rather one of great struggles and challenges. I was left with an added understanding of a piece of my country's history, which is one of the reasons I read historical fiction, to gain an understanding of a historical event or time period.

The Four Winds tells the story of a family broken apart and healed by the Dust Bowl. A childhood illness left Elsa Wolcott sickly and weak, at least in her family’s eyes. She was destined to stay single, living with her parents, becoming their caretaker someday. However, that changed when she met and fell in love with Rafe Martinelli and became pregnant. A quick marriage gave her a new family since her old one wanted nothing to do with her. In time, she finds happiness with her children, her in-laws, and her somewhat distant husband. In that order.

The Dust Bowl winds blew apart her marriage and her future. Rafe left in the night. Her son could not survive the damage to his lungs from the wind. They were near-starvation on the farm. Finally, she moves with her children to California, the land of promise and plenty, leaving behind her beloved in-laws. There she meets exploitive farmers and becomes involved in the farmworker struggle for fairer working conditions and pay and finds herself as well as love.



I was a bit disappointed in The Four Winds perhaps because I thought Hannah does so well with creating both a sense of place and character in “The Great Alone.” That book may have set my expectations too high leading to disappointment. Perhaps I am also unfair because I think “The Grapes of Wrath” is one of the best books ever written and The Four Winds feels like it takes Tom Joad, Ma Joad, and Jim Casy and combines them in Elsa Wolcott.

I think many people will love it. I thought this book was great up until the end. Sometimes an ending can be perfect for some people and make other people mad. This made me mad. And again, Hannah added a chapter to wrap things up after the dust cleared. I don’t want to dissuade anyone from reading what will be a great book to many people, so I am making as clear as possible that what disappointed me was not her ability to write a compelling story but because it was too full of Grapes for me.

I received an e-galley of The Four Winds from the publisher through NetGalley.

The Four Winds at St. Martin’s Press
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah review
Kristin Hannah author site

Wow! Kristin Hannah does it again. Great characters portrayed siring the 1930’s Dust Bowl and Great Depression. Elsa has always felt lonely and unloved by her family, but when she marries Rafe she finds a home a family with his loving parents. Set in West Texas, the Dust storms hits, Rafe abandons them and Elsa and her children leave for the supposed land of milk and honey, California. But, they struggle to survive in tent camps and become migrant workers. Barely surviving on the low wages, the family becomes involved with a Jack Valen, a union organizer. No spoilers from me, it reading this beautifully written book you will emphasize with each of the characters, feel the dust in your throat and have your hands prickling in pain as they pick cotton. This family’s will to survive against all odds is palpable. Don’t miss this read yourself or with your book club.

Does anyone remember the Dear America series? There was an installment about the Dust Bowl, called Survival in the Storm, that launched my interest in this particular moment of history. As a big Kristin Hannah fan, I was really looking forward to The Four Winds, knowing that it takes place during The Great Depression, and in particular, The Dust Bowl.

Elsa Wolcott isn't considered a beauty in her Texas town. When she finds she's pregnant, she marries the father - Rafe Martinelli - and her comfortable - if stifling and unloved - life takes a different turn. She does her best to adjust to farm life, but as a drought gets worse, and area farmers' actions exacerbate it, everything escalates.

Hannah's novel is a beautiful one about what it takes to survive, and the different ways humans find a way to live despite bleak circumstances. Elsa is a stoic, puts her head down and does what's necessary. Her husband, Rafe, and daughter Loreda, are dreamers. I loved that juxtaposition, and fell in love with the Martinellis, who were deftly drawn characters with deep hopes, resentments and dreams. Motherhood and love were central themes, and you could see how Elsa was doing her best and the heartbreak both she and Loreda feel as they can't connect.

There were a few issues I had with the book though. It often moved at a crawl, with several chapters dedicated to their worsening situation that felt morose and hopeless. It was extremely long, and I think several chapters could have been edited a bit more tightly - and parts of the ending felt very rushed in comparison to the rest of the book's flow and felt a bit disjointed.

That said, I really enjoyed it overall and would recommend it to anyone who loves Kristin Hannah's historical fiction, or Ken Burns' epic documentary about The Dust Bowl (which I immediately watched afterwards and it gave me an even deeper understanding of what the Martinellis went through).

Elsinore has grown up feeling ugly, unloved, and like she’s a burden to her family. They tell her she’s too tall, not pretty, and sickly. It’s the 1920’s and women tend to be married and have children by the time they’re twenty years old and Elsinore is twenty-five. She wants a change and wants to enjoy life so she cuts her waist-length hair to her chin and buys red silk and creates a flapper dress. She sneaks out one night to go to the speakeasy in town but they won’t let her in and tell her to go home when they realize it’s her. She walks down the street and meets an eighteen-year-old Italian man who wants to have fun. They both admit they’re lonely and see each other a few times to have sex. Rafe calls Elsinore “Els”; she likes the nickname and feels wanted when she’s with him. She ends up with morning sickness and her parents disown her and her father takes her and one packed suitcase to Rafe’s family farm. Elsinore's father tells Rafe's parents what’s going on and leaves her there, stating that their family is done with her. Rafe’s parents have saved for him to go to college for a better life but he seems happy to stay on the farm with Els and says that he doesn’t want to go to college anyway. Elsa and Rafe have a girl then a boy. His parents are grateful for Elsa because she’s strong, brave, a hard worker, and a good wife and mother. When the Great Depression hits, Rafe leaves his family behind because he can’t stand staying on the farm anymore. His parents help Elsa raise their grandchildren and they all take care of the farm together. When the land turns into a dust bowl, life gets even worse! The people and animals struggle to survive the heat, the powerful winds, and the extreme dust everywhere. Ant, the youngest grandchild, becomes deathly sick with dust pneumonia and that’s when they decide it’s time to leave the Great Plains behind. When Elsa leaves for California with her children, she’s terrified but sees no other solution. They make it to California but find discrimination and harsh prejudice, horrible working and living conditions, and struggle to survive because of little and sometimes no income. The three do discover strength and loyalty and what they are truly capable of. A story of great strength, determination, and unbelievable perseverance, 5 stars!

Kristin Hannah is one of those authors that I will read anything she writes. The Nightingale and The Great Alone are two of my favorite books of the last five years. So I was ecstatic to be given an ARC of The Four Winds especially with the crazy amount of hype it was getting. Well that hype was real; although, it took me about 45% to get fully invested in the story and the characters. However, once the plot ramped up and our characters left Texas for California, I could not put the book down. Hannah’s prose and imagery yet again was beautiful. I could fully imagine every scene and put myself right there in the tent camps and farm and cabins. I loved Elsa’s growth as a character to see how she was raised to think so little of herself, to be so weak, to becoming such a strong-willed, independent mama bear. I also loved Loreda and how much of a bad a** she was from beginning to end. This was such a great read and I loved the setting of the Dust Bowl and Great Depression, I don’t read much historical fiction especially from this time period but found it really fascinating.

I have read just about all of Kristin Hannah's books and have loved most of them. I was a little disappointed and underwhelmed with The Four Winds. Maybe it was because I read it when I had so many other things going on in my life, was stressed out, and just couldn't focus properly, I'm not sure. It was still a good book--they always are!--but this one was just not one of my favorites by her.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from St Martin's Press and Net Galley in exchange for unbiased review.

In the 1920’s during the Age of Innocence, a woman was considered a spinster of not married by age of 25. Such was the case for Elsa Wolcott but not from lack of trying to escape the enforced solitude by her parents. She had developed rheumatic fever at age 14 and became frail and weak in her parents opinion. She was also nearly 6 feet tall and just felt like she didn’t fit in which was reinforced constantly by her mother who felt her “plainly.”

Elsa lived and experienced life through her books and the short walks she was allowed to take to the library. She often found pleasure reading a scandalous story, “Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure.” Having attended both her sister, Charlotte and Suzanna’s weddings she resigned her to never marrying. Instead, she began to dream about going to college in Chicago only to be refused by her parents.

Ultimately, this leads Elsa to decide to take control of her life in ways her parents were not prepared.
She cuts off her long blonde hair, makes a red silk dress and slips out one night to experience life. She meets a young man of 18, Raffaelo Martinelli when she is unable to enter a speakeasy. She agrees to go for a drive with him in his truck. Little does she realize that her nativité would change her life forever.

When she discovers that she is pregnant, her father leaves her at the Martinelli farm disowning her for bringing disgrace upon the family. Anthony and Rosalba teach her how to work, cook and clean on the farm, tasks which she was never allowed to perform. Rafe doesn’t go to college so he can marry Elsa and raise their baby while living with his parents.

It was the Texas Panhandle in a town of Dalhart, during the Great War when people were led to believe that the farmers wheat crops would save them from poverty and starvation. Unfortunately, the drought in the Great Plains would last 4 years causing devastation, illness and death. Many people tried to save themselves by migrating to CA and WA to escape the dramatic dust storms. Living under such extreme circumstances changes ones outlook on life. Elsa learns to follow the lead of Rosalba in being a strong, unemotional figure trying to hold the family together.

Families are faced with unthinkable choices during this time era. Do they “wait out” the storms which seem to be lasting for years with continued destruction and devastation? What happens when people develop the courage or desperation to move and leave their land and life behind? They are not prepared for the discrimination and continued poverty and unlivable conditions in CA. The migrants are forced into squatters land where their fear defiance to claim the freedom and liberty due to to them as Americans.

I had conflicting emotional feelings about Elsa who serves as the symbol of the atrocities of the Dust Bowl. At what point do people defy authorities and fight for justice? How long can people continue to passively follow dishonorable leaders for the sake of dignity? Although this is an extremely lengthy novel, it tells a very powerful story about the past which never be forgotten.