The Four Winds, by Kristin Hannah, tells the story of Elsa Martinelli and her family through many hardships and struggles. This is an emotional epic, all about the life in the Dust Bowl and American migration patterns.
I have to admit that almost put this book down early on because Elsa and Rafe’s romance felt flat — but I’m so glad I didn’t, because that lack of romance was kind of the point. Elsa’s accidental pregnancy wasn’t part of a love story, instead, it was the start of her life with her new family, the Martinellis. Rafe isn’t the greatest guy, but he tries to do what’s right for his wife and then their children, and without the unending hardships of the dust bowl, he probably could have managed. There is a sweet relationship here between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and that’s not a very common story.
If I describe the plot of The Four Winds, it starts to feel like a tragic story, as the family goes from hardship to hardship, facing natural disasters and the resulting poverty. The drought that begins the Dust Bowl, black dust storms, crippling heat, floods. So many natural disasters in this book, it’s almost like living in 2020.
But Elsa’s attitude is perfect for these covid times, too. She just keeps working hard and making the best of things, focusing on her beloved family, and hoping for better times again. This familiar covid attitude gets her through some harsh conditions on the farm and many other setbacks. But her work ethic, of just working as much as she can and hoping things improve, might not succeed when she works long hours at lower and lower rates as a picker for exploitative bosses.
This is a compelling, emotional story about a struggling family and about a woman trying, again and again, to choose the least-terrible out of the terrible options presented to her. A perfect read for 2020.
The Four Winds will be released by St. Martin’s Press on February 2, 2021. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
I’m sure it’s comforting to read about others in the past that went through similarly trying times and made it through. Also, I appreciate that the romance was there but not great – I feel like that nicely realistic for a lot of people/situations. Overall, great review!
I think if I read this before 2020, I’d have an eyeroll at all the disasters — surely no family could have so much bad luck! But now I just think, yup.
I can’t wait to read The Four Winds.
JustReadingJess recently posted…Do Her No Harm
Oooh I love Kristin Hannah’s book, I’ll totally check this out.
Thank you for this review. I really appreciate every one of them. It’s like reading a book without doing so. Helps me to decide which one to pick up and read.
This sounds like it’ll be such a great book to read! I definitely need to get around to delving into this one.
It sounds like an interesting read and I’m glad to hear you didn’t give up on it! I’ve almost gave up on some really tremendous book because the the start felt slow and kind of shallow in depth.
Kileen
cute & little
“The Four Winds” looks like a great read. I am going to add it to my reading list of 2020. Even I have read books that were too slow in the beginning but as the story progressed it turned out to be a great read.
Sounds like a very interesting read! I love books that almost make you put it down but then get so much better!
I really felt like it was gonna be a book about a flat romance, but the flat romance was intentional. Just part of the setting for a great book.
This book sounds good and interesting going to put it on my bucket List.
This will surely be an interesting read for this weekend. Thanks for the suggestion.
That sounds like a very interesting book – I am not a reader of books myself but my sister is 🙂
This actually sounds like a really good book! We are just about finishing up our current book in a book club I belong to, so I will definitely suggest this one as a contender for the next book we read, otherwise I may pick it up for just myself!
It seems like a great read. I will suggest it for our next month book club book.