Memorable quote: "There was something she hadn't known when she went into marriage and became a mother that she knew now: it was only possible to live without love when you'd never known it."

What can I say about this great author that hasn't already been said. Let's be honest, she's a master of her craft. Yes, I can wax lyrical about her excellent ability to create memorable and realistic characters, her superb use of dialogue that's not only very believable, but that also brings her characters to life, her amazing ability to set the scene in such a way that you feel you are there experiencing exactly what the characters are experiencing, and her uncanny ability to make us all cry! Yes, like I say, Kristin Hannah is a genuine and natural storyteller,

This book is another hit in my opinion because of all of the above. If I have any criticism at all it might be that I found the pacing to be ever so slightly off. There were some parts of the story that seemed to drag just ever so slightly, and then action-packed and emotional scenes at the end of the book seemed too easily and quickly dealt with. But it's a small criticism. Overall, I loved this story, perhaps not quite as much as The Nightingale and The Great Alone, but not too far behind. Perhaps I didn't fall in love quite as much with this one because this was such a depressing and sad tale and I battled to find anything hopeful in it (even though the ending does give a glimmer of hope), and perhaps the constantly desolate setting of the Great Depression was indeed just too depressing for me. But that said, it's a great story and it deserves to be read! I highly recommend it.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A wonderfully written story of the plight of people through one of the worst times in Americas's history. Beautifully researched.

Kristin Hannah does it again. Like so many of her other books it features a deeply rich setting, a tragically rough period of time and strong powerful female characters. It is almost although the setting was a character in it's self, the story was so well told I could feel the baked dirt and dust on my skin and smell the desolation of the camp.
I cannot rave about this book enough and could quite easily write list upon list , page upon page about everything I loved. This was an EASY 5 star read for me.
If you haven’t read a Kristen Hannah book I urge you to do so and if you are an existing Hannah reader you will not be disappointed..

Kristin Hannah is the queen of historical fiction, with beautiful, moving and well-researched novels spanning a raft of historical events. In her latest novel, Hannah tackles the Great Depression and the plight of migrant workers in California. Her novels often prioritise female relationships and this one is no different - centering on Elsa and her daughter Loreda, who alongside Loreda's younger brother are forced to leave their family farm following years of drought and dust storms.

The novel is equal parts bleak and heartwarming. We see the Martinelli family toil through years of drought, weather dust storms and suffer their father leaving in the night. When this becomes unbearable, and threatens her son's health, Elsa makes the difficult decision to take her children on a dangerous journey across the country to look for work and a better life. Instead, they face the perils and indignities of itinerant work and the prejudices of America.

However, despite their struggles, we see this family make do, pull through and love each other fiercely. They disagree and they fight but at the centre of it all they want is to protect each other. It's a tough read, but one that sheds light on a hugely important, not to mention overlooked, part of American history.

The beginning of the novel is somewhat clichéd, with a fairytale-esque heroine who is badly treated by her family and loses herself in books and cannot wait to escape the life she is trapped in. This then jars with the later version of Elsa who can't seem to understand her daughter's desperation get away from the farm. However, while there are some minor issues of characterisation the novel overall is a wonderful read, deeply embedded in a rich history while simultaneously holding up a mirror to events of our own time.

It took me a while to get into this one, but once I got into it, I couldn’t stop – great book! Beautifully written.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

A moving and powerful read set in the Great Depression. I really liked the main character who was strong and resilient. But it was a little melodramatic in places for my tastes.

Thanks to NetGalley for my review copy.

Drought! Destroyer not just of animals and crops but human spirits as well.

Elsa Wolcott is pushed aside by her family because she’s not pretty or dainty like her sisters. She would dearly love to go to university, but the suggestion is frowned upon by her parents. Their social circle don’t approve of girls gaining higher education.

Elsa slips out of the house – her absence unnoticed by her parents and meets Raffaello Martinelli (Rafe). It’s her first encounter with a male and she thinks that the love she feels towards him is reciprocated. Unfortunately, Rafe is engaged to another and when Elsa tells her parents that she is pregnant, her parents disown her. Elsa is dropped off at Rafe’s parents’ home and after their initial rejection accept her as their daughter-in-law.

As time passes Rafe’s parents become like second parents to her. However, Rafe becomes more and more distant and eventually leaves, blaming the drought that has affected the area.

As the years’ pass and the drought worsens, Elsa and her two children reluctantly decide to move to California. However, what she finds there it’s not the land of “milk and honey with lots of jobs” but an existence on open land where every day is a struggle. The only jobs are picking cotton for rich landowners who treat their employers with total disrespect and pay minimal wages.

The storyline is set in the 1930s when the great depression took place in the USA. However, it wasn’t just the depression that affected people’s lives but in places like Texas, one of the worst droughts ever recorded decimated farms.

I’ve given the book five stars because the storyline was quite extraordinary and covers a historical period of which I knew nothing. Unfortunately, the theme is so dark and so distressing that there were times when I wanted to stop reading. Kirstin Hannah’s very brilliant descriptive writing ensured that I continued – right to the end.

Rony

Elite Reviewing Group received a copy of the book to review.

‘He use to tell me that courage was a lie. It was just fear that you ignored.’

Wow. Just wow. What an truly epic story.

We follow Elsa through 15 years of her life, from a young woman unloved by her family, to a wife and mother living in an unrelenting parched land in America, to a fearless warrior who travelled west to try and find a better life for her family.

There seemed to be so many points to the story that felt so relevant for today. The rich getting richer by the abuse of the poor, the distrust of ‘outsiders’, the inequality and unfairness that we see in life.

A beautifully told story that captured my imagination and truly transported me to the dusty plains in America so that I could taste the grit in my mouth. The inextinguishable spirit of the people dragged me into the pages and held onto my heart.

A 5 star read.

It's been quite a while since I last read a book by Kristin Hannah - and that was The Nightingale - so this book had a lot to live up to. And it didn't disappoint. I had read some reviews that said this book was depressing - and in some ways I would have to agree. It is a take of hardship, tragedy and depression but also uplifting in the way in which people can deal with their situation and how hard they have to work to survive. I kept thinking at some point Elsa's situation would slowly start to improve but she got knock back after knock back. But the resilience of those children.I wasn't expecting such a sad ending. Like The Nightingale this book and the characters will stay with me for quite some time.

Four Winds is the story of Elsa Wolcott and her marriage to Rafe Martinelli, after she becomes pregnant with his child. She is disowned and shunned by her family because of this forced marriage to someone they regard as lower class. She moves into the Martinelli home. Rafe's parents welcome her as one their own in 1921 rural panhandle Texas. But then the drought comes and crops no longer grow. This period is now known as the Dust Bowl. Rafe's holds on for a couple of years, but then deserts his wife and 2 children, leaving a note, saying he is looking for a job. Elsa stays for another year, but when her son Ant almost dies from a silicosis lung infection caused by a dust storm, Elsa decides to go west.
She arrives in California's San Joaquin Valley. She ends up picking cotton at wages that keep her family in perpetual debt and poverty. The story of her struggle to provide for her family is inspiring, but truly depressing.

A powerfully told story- set in Texas and California around the time of the Great Depression when Texas also suffered a 4+ year drought and the fields of plenty turned to dust. The farming communities were brought to destitution with tens of thousands forced to abandon their homes and to migrate. California, their destination turned out to be no paradise though.
The story focuses on one woman, Elsa Martinelli, and how she comes to be alone with her children trying to keep body and soul together when all the employers around her seem set on getting the maximum amount of labour for far lower wages than people need to get by on. Elsa and her daughter Loreda are both determined characters, but where Elsa’s focus is on keeping alive, by working pretty much non-stop, the more feisty Loreda is drawn into the battle for workers’ rights- which brings Jack Valen into their lives.
This was unfamiliar history to me, skilfully told and very harrowing in places. I was completely hooked, and needed to know how things would work out. I neither expected, nor got an uplifting resolution, but the ending felt true to the narrative.
This wasn’t my first Kristin Hannah book and certainly won’t be my last. Her female protagonists are unfailingly real, tenacious, indomitable women, often fighting to survive in desperate circumstances. A great read, that I heartily recommend.
Thanks to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

Classic Kristin Hannah who is the QUEEN of taking you on heartbreaking and emotional journeys that leave you questioning every relationship you've ever held. Truly beautiful and steeped in history.

TRIGGER WARNING: This book features
• a lot of animal suffering that leads to their death
• human suffering
• humans who died because they are denied basic human rights

Kristin Hannah brings another powerful and highly emotional story and again she put on focus how strong women are.

I wrote these two sentences two days after I finished the book. Now, a few weeks later, I still can't find the right words to explain how emotional this book made me feel. I'll try, just bear with me.

Okay, so as a woman who moved away from her country, I took this book personally because it spoke to me as no other book did. I'm a Bulgarian living in the UK and I know how hard it is to move to a different country and to leave your family behind (my parents and my partner's parents are living in Bulgaria). So you made it to this new country and that's great, but... People haven't changed much. They use you to do the heavy work for pennies. They try to gain as much profit from you as possible. Just like the cotton growers did with the immigrants from Texas, Mexico and the other dust-covered countries. I'm sure that many of you are aware of the seasonal workers' living conditions. They live in trailers, stuffed like cows in cattle and often their wage is below the minimum. Plus, they ofter work with no days off and for 12+ hours a day. But still - they stay and when they come home, they are sick and as thin as a wand, but they have families to feed and the pound is one of the most expensive currency. (Just for comparison £1 = 2.20 leva, which is the Bulgarian currency, and it dropped after the Referendum in 2016, before it, it was £1 = 2.85-2.90 leva). Immigrants moved to other countries to escape, often they are seeking a better life, a calm one. They just want to work so they can fulfil their dreams. But the natives can't understand us, obviously. We are ofter victims of silent racism, sometimes not that silent. A few years back, when we were looking to rent a house, we went to view one and when the letting agent found out that we are Bulgarians, she kicked us out of the house and told us to go to a share house because houses are not to be rented by foreigners. We ofter are told that if we are not happy with the services we receive, we can go back to whatever we came from. Even the Hippocratic Oath is for natives only. With all this said, Kristin Hannah's book is historical fiction as much as a contemporary one.

I'm putting a stop to my immigrant verbosity and I'm moving to the plot.

According to her family, Elsinore 'Elsa' Wolcott is unlovable. At a very young age, she goes thought some kind of disease, which leaves her disabled. Or at least that's what doctors and her family say. Nobody asks her how she feels. That she doesn't feel less a person and a woman than her other two sisters. But their parents don't want to listen. She grows up in the shadow of her youngest sisters - the beauties of the town, girls that are easy to marry, not like Elsa - ill and ugly, nobody wants her for a wife. Until the day she ditches everything. She grows so sick of everyone telling her that she is unworthy. She buys the prettiest red fabric and makes herself a beautiful red dress and goes to the town. There she meets Raffaello 'Rafe' Martinelli. And yes they have sex.

I was put aback because, at the very beginning of the book, there is this cheesy, awkward sex scene. I was like 'oh, really, this book didn't start well'. Don't take me wrong, as a fan of L. J. Shen. CoHo, Ve Keeland, etc. I don't mind sex in books. Here, it fells out of place. You are just a few pages into the book, and a girl granted her virginity to a random boy, she met on the street, at the back of his farm truck. Luckily, this one-off scene doesn't determine the book and it's good that I kept reading.

When her father finds out that she is expecting, he brings her to Martinelli's home, tells them that she is their responsibility now and she is no longer her daughter. This comes as a huge disappointment to both Rafe and his parents. Rafe is engaged to a girl from another Italian family and on his way to becoming the first Martinelli to have a university degree. All his mom wants for him is to become a true American. But Elsa puts his plans to travel on hold. Or maybe it is the actual end of his plans?

What Elsa doesn't expect is for her mom-in-law to love her as her own daughter. This happens right after she gives birth to her first child Loreda. Although she is coming from a rich family and she never been asked to do something, she teaches herself to love the land, to price the crops they worked so hard to grow and working hard brings her great joy. Although they have a second child - Anthony, Rafe isn't happy with her. He starts drinking and spending more time daydreaming about the adventures he missed and the places he wants to visit. He now barely shares their bed. He prefers to sleep in the barn, then next to his own wife.

And then the great depression, the drought and the dry, sandy winds come.

People start to abandon their properties and lands in a search of a better life. In a search of a place where they can work the land to produce crops so they can feed their families. They are all heading to America, to California in particular. California, a land of sun and endless possibilities. A land, full of promises for more work and a better life. Martinelli's are one of these families that goes to California to try their luck, find a job and have a better life. But are they going to find this long-sought life?

We boarded a train that took us back in time to witness the poverty, miserable people who didn't want to give up on their lands. It is a book full of heart-wrenching stories of people trying to survive. Although some of them didn't manage to. It is a tough book that requires your full investment. You are going to either love it or hate it. I loved it. The author's writing style is so incredibly good, the words are pouring into the pages. Even though the first part of the book is full of everyday situation and routine they have, it is not boring. She found the perfect balance in engaging you with the story so you will keep reading even if she describes a simple chore in 10 pages. Don't worry, there aren't such detailed descriptions here.

Some people are going to say that sadness, death, misery, pain are too much and too descriptive and colourful. But this is the story the way it was, the way it happened. It is bitter and raw and that's how it should be. Because we forgot. There is so much forgotten history. Somebody should remind us of the things we forgot.

Elsa is no great beauty, like her sisters. She is too tall, as tall as any man, too pale, pale as bone. As a child she battled with pneumonia, and now, at twenty-five, she is kept in doors, away from the world. Her parents tell her it is to protect her, to keep her strong. But, Elsa knows there is more to the world – even her small world – than four walls and long, empty days. In the novels she reads, women are bright and brave. She would give anything to be like them. To stretch her world, even if it is only enough to stretch her arms above her head and breathe.

Taking up her courage, Elsa escapes home one night and meets a boy. Rafe. He is sweet-mannered and handsome and he does not think her too tall, or pale or awkward. He has dreams of moving to California, of jumping on the train and escaping.

For Elsa and Rafe, plans are scuppered when she learns she is pregnant. Disowned and cast out by her family, Elsa is taken in by Rafe’s family. An Italian couple who love and live off their land.

As the Great Depression hits America, so does a drought that changes the lives of countless people. Dust storms drive across the land, cattle die with bellies full of grit, poor folk get poorer, as the heat rises and the parched land cracks. Home is not what it once was. Elsa and her family, including two children, must watch as their friends and neighbours pack up and leave for California where there’s rumoured to be work and hope.

But they will not go. It will rain, it will rain, they just have to wait. Then the land will be green again. They will prosper. But soon, Elsa wakes to find Rafe gone. Fled. Abandoning his parents, wife and children to the dust. And she must muster her strength, decide whether to continue to hope or take her children to California. Either way, their lives will never be the same.

The Four Winds is such a beautifully written novel, hypnotising in its emotional acuity, it’s complex characters. The author evokes the spirit and atmosphere of 1934 Texas with searing skill. I felt transported, I could almost feel the heat and dust on my skin. It’s brilliantly done.

Authentic, harrowing, moving. I adored Elsa’s character, she possesses a grit, a courage that emboldens the reader, keeps them turning the pages. I admired her so much and was in awe of the author’s inimitable pen. She has created characters I fully believed in, invested in. This was a journey I enjoyed every moment of. Please read this!

I did really like this one, just not *quite* as much as some of Hannah‘s other books. I‘m not sure if it was the characters or the time period I didn‘t quite connect with.

Still a great story though and I learnt a lot about a particular subject, as you always do with this author, in this case ‘Dust Bowl‘ America.

I certainly was not expecting *that* ending though!

Title - The Four Winds

Author - Kristin Hannah

Genre - Historical Fiction

For those who know me, Historical Fiction has always been my go to genre whenever I'm looking to read something interesting. Its just the fascination of how the author is able to weave a plot related to a time in which they had not lived much and with the world around changing drastically, it gets all the more difficult. I was introduced to Kristin Hannah last year and I was mesmerized with the way her writing works beautifully in her novels. The Four Winds is her latest offering and it did take me time to process this entire review.

We are introduced to Elsa in this story who was pretty much not someone favored by her family due to the way she looked. She meets a young chap Rafe with whom she falls in love. Circumstances evolve such that she is forced to marry him and she has to carve a new life for herself in the farm with Rafe and his parents. As the Dust Bowl Era occurs over the entire Texas land, Elsa is forced to move out with her kids to survive and the novel talks about her struggle to bring out a better life for her kids.

Hannah does it again. Her one charm that makes her one of the most interesting author is she easily brings life into her characters. The characters are so relatable that one could not help but empathize with them. Hannah knows pretty well not to leave any plots opened and yet leaves you asking for more as you finish the book.

To be honest, I had never heard of the Dust Bowl Era before I picked this one up and had to do my own bit of research while reading the book. The book also touches upon certain aspects that are even pretty much visible across the globe and that is of non acceptance of migrants. There may be numerous conditions on why someone migrates, primarily for better life condition but it takes almost twice the struggle on how to get a better life with us humans flowing the hate around.

Pick this one up or maybe pick every Kristin Hannah book and I promise you that you won't regret one bit when you put down her book to pick up the next one.

My Ratings - 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (5 out of 5 stars)

This was my first Kristin Hannah book and boy, was it a good one.

This is set in the 1930s in Texas when the depression hit and the dust bowls were happening. It follows Eliza, who lives on a farm with her husband, two kids and her husband's parents. All the land is dying because of all the dust storms. Leaving them struggling to keep their animals alive. All their wheat crops didn't make it through and the family are struggling to pay rent and food.

Eliza's son gets dust pneumonia (which I had never heard of until I read this book). And if they stay in Texas any longer waiting for the rain to come and crow their crops, her son may be dead by then.

Eliza decides to leave with her two children and head to California. It is where most people are heading to as they have heard that there are jobs going there. But when they finally arrive after a hard journey, it is nothing like the ever imagined. They have to live in a tent and pick cotton from morning till night just to survive.

The book shows how hard it was back in those times and how they were treated by the people who already lived in California and how because they were migrants were seen as outsiders and less worthy.

I had never heard of the dust bowls before, so it opened my eyes to these events. The story itself was really sad and harrowing. You just really felt for Eliza so much. This was such a brilliant read and I will definitely be reading many more from Kristin Hannah.

A massive 5/5 stars from me.

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah is a historical, women's fiction that tells the story of a family's fight for survival during the Great Depression era and the Dust Bowl era. This story is set in Texas and we get to see how the drought and lack of rain damages and destroys the crops. On top of that dust storms ravaged the lands leaving more destruction behind. People in these states had to fight for their day-to-day survival against the war mother nature has waged. It's a family story, a woman's story that's going to burrow into your hearts and make you feel their fear, powerlessness, determination, and tenacity as if it was our own. The book is an unforgettable reading experience and made me emotional at times.

While I loved the premise and the way the story was told, there were moments I found Hannah was telling us rather than showing us the circumstances. Sometimes she would give us a situation and all of a sudden the characters were skilled to deal with it within a few days. I would have appreciated them struggling and seeing it on the page rather than seeing them do it perfectly. Oftentimes, food was told to be scarce, and then we see them eating much more elaborate meals than you would expect considering the circumstances. Now, these are not, make it or break it moments, but they did take me out of the story and make me ask questions like where did that come from? How do they have money for that? Or how did she learn this so quickly, when most of the time she was running off in a huff? It felt unrealistic to me to see these moments and stood out because of the contrarieties.

Overall, I really liked the story and what it set out to do. It would have been a 4.5 - 5 star read for me if it wasn't for the things I mentioned earlier. As these are things related and important to the plot and character development of the story, I had to give the book a rating of 3.5 - 4 stars. Don't let my rating keep you away from this book, and I still believe this is a fantastic read and if you love slow-paced, character journeys through momentous times in history, definitely pick this one up. Or if you are a fan of Kristin Hannah, you might want to check this one out. Kristin Hannah has been an author on my list for some time now. I really need to get to her other books.

What a blockbuster of a novel Kristin Hannah has written! It’s so satisfying to thoroughly enjoy a story and yet, at the same time, learn so much from it. I had been completely unaware of the hardships suffered by Texan farmers during the Great Depression years and was fascinated to learn of the workers’ fight for justice after they’d travelled over many miles for a better future in California.

The author tells the story of Elsa and her family, focusing on the inner strength of her main character and how she strives to support and nourish her children. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

My thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the opportunity to read this amazing book.

An absolutely brilliant read. What a story. It was captivating from beginning to end. The plight of Elsa, her family and people in the 30s was heartbreaking during the years of drought but to be treated so terribly when they arrived in California for a better way of like was dreadful. It was a captivating read which broke my heart at the end.