The Four Winds was a mesmerizing book about the Dust Bowl, once it got going.
The characters were amazing, the setting -- well -- unbelievable. The Four Winds puts you in the middle of the dust bowl, but also in California, where thousands of people went to find work during The Depression. As you can imagine, it didn't work out well for them.
It's one of those "I can't believe this happened in the USA" stories. And they keep bringing up that point as they are living through the horrors. You get an interesting take on Communism and the Red Scare, as these "Communists" tried to unionize the workers to help them get a living wage. I mean, they literally could not survive on what they were paid, even when the men, women, and children were all picking. The huge growers would cut wages on a whim. They had their own company stores where people could get credit, and of course, they could never get out from under the debt.
Elsa was an amazingly strong woman and no one could not become attached to her and her family. My only complaint is that the beginning was slow. There was too much time spent on Elsa's childhood and life with her parents. I get that her background makes her who she is, but I still thought it went on too long. So the message is: don't give up. This is a minor complaint, and it is well worth the effort to get through that part. I also would have rather had a different outcome for Elsa. That's all I'll say.
I would recommend The Fours Winds to anyone. The audio version is excellent, although my listening kept getting interrupted by audiobooks that I had on hold at the library. (You only get them for three weeks.) So when another one became available, I borrowed The Four Winds book from my sister and read the last 60 pages.
Audiobook purchased from libro.fm
464 pages
Rating: 4.5/5
A sad story for sure but, I loved it as well.
ReplyDeleteI listened to this book also. I heard Hannah talk about how she found these two stories that she was able to meld together. Fascinating stuff.
ReplyDeleteI have liked all Kristin Hannah's historical fiction, she is so good at creating a story while we learn. I felt like I really got a sense of the Dust Bowl and the California immigration scene.
ReplyDeleteThis book is so sad, but also so gripping and moving. It's one I keep thinking about, even though it's been months since I read it.
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