It is impossible to read this excellent book without visualizing Dorothea Lange’s stunning photos from the depression area Dust Bowl migrants.. I have uploaded several poignant photos to my review on GoodReads.

After finishing this book, the first thing I did was to begin scrolling the internet to revel in their beauty. The beauty of the photos that is, and not the beauty of the period (more photos, for anyone interested, can be found all over the internet and all are available for view on Library of Congress Internet site - just google LOC Dororthea Lange).

Kristin Hannah’s, The Four Winds, is a brief history (circa 1930's) of how the depression and Dust Bowl drought brought hunger and poverty to masses of people in the region. Many lost their homes, their livelihood, their farms. Families broke apart and many died of disease, hunger and dust pneumonia. I could describe more but the best description can be seen through the eyes of the main protagonist Elsa Martinelli and her family. This is the third book I’ve read by this prolific and consistently winning author. I think most readers will already be familiar with the history of the period and all of the circumstances described. Never-the-less, the pages flip briskly, and I found myself completely absorbed from the beginning to the very last page. Whereas Lange exquisitely captures the portraits of the down and out migrant worker families, Hannah fleshes out with realistic detailed scenes of the hardships suffered.

Elsa was a sickly child from a wealthy family and, for reasons unclear, eschewed by her parents. Unloved by her family, Elsa sought out love in an unexpected way, became pregnant, and was tossed out like the evening trash on the Texas farm doorstep of her reluctant, soon to be in-laws. Elsa’s husband was never happy on the farm, he had dreams of grandeur and spent most of his time drinking and sleeping in the barn. Eventually he succumbed to his unhappiness, upping and leaving his wife, two children, and parents, in pursuit of his dream. The farm provided well for the family for many years before that, but then the depression hit hard, coupled with harsh continuous years of drought. The crops and farm animals were gone, the barn equipment, house, and cemetery were destroyed, the bank was foreclosing on part of their land and the family was finally defeated and forced to make desperate decisions. There are terrifying descriptions of the drought, dust storms, withered crops, dirt, hunger, dust pneumonia, and the constant exhausting filth and hard work endured to barely survive. Finally, Elsa loads the children and as much of their belongings as she could onto the family’s dilapidated truck. With a small amount of loose change that the family cobbled together, she and the children headed west to the promised land of California, where she could find work and give her children a better life.

Well, as most readers already know, or can guess, there was no better life for the migrant workers. In fact, it was even worse.

This book has it all and the descriptions are starkly realistic – the Dust Bowl drought, the migrant trip across three states to California, the squalid migrant camps rife with disease, hunger, and hopelessness. The massive farms were owned by wealthy businessmen who provided inferior housing, and a Company Store where the workers were forced to buy all their food and supplies, beds and housing on credit at gouging prices more than twice that of the towns, insuring their workers' indebtedness and guaranteeing virtual slave labor. Then there are the unwelcoming town residents who ridiculed and humiliated – not to mention the communist unionizers, who brought danger while trying to organize the workers.

I think this is a must-read for anyone unfamiliar with this difficult period of U.S. history. And although there will be no surprises for those who have studied or read stories of the period, it is a humbling reminder to count our daily blessings.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this book (which has in the meantime been published) for my candid review. It was an excellent read.

Read this one with kleenex nearby. I was fascinated by this novel, I never learned much about this time in history during school, and Kristin Hannah is so detailed in her research that it felt like it could be a real non-fiction story of a woman trying to survive during some of the worst of times. Not only survive, but raise and provide for her children too. A story of strength and resilience in the face of some unimaginable hardships. Highly recommend.

An amazing and heart-wrenching story about resilience and hope in the face of impossible odds - something Kristin Hannah is a master at putting into words.

What I loved:
+ How I came to adore every character (save one) and could really connect with their stories. No shortage of character development.
+ The strong sense of place - I could feel the dust grit on my skin and smell the odor of the camps. The setting is so well done and atmospheric that it drops you right in the center of it all.
+ The range of emotion that Hannah takes the reader through from beginning to end. I *felt* everything right along with the characters.
+ An everyday woman, mother, friend becomes a heroine in her story - I just love it when this happens.

I know I love a book when after I turn the last page I have to sit there and hug it for a few minutes - and this is definitely a huggable book.

This is a hard book to even pick up because you know it’s going to be uncomfortable and sad at times, but I was truly hooked from the beginning. I loved Elsa paving her own way, even if it wasn’t exactly the way she wanted. I was inspired by Loreda’s ambition even if I wish she was nicer to Elsa for most of the book. I love these strong women and it was fun to see them grow and surprise themselves with their own strength. Parts of this book did remind me of the Nightingale; especially the way Vianne doesn’t want to become part of the Resistance just like Elsa doesn’t want to become part of the Worker’s Alliance, but they both do in the end.

Every thing about this book is so detailed and just makes you want to keep reading. It is on the longer side and I never felt like it. I have been craving a historical fiction read and this really hit the spot.

I don’t even have the words. I am not typically a fan of historical fiction, and I’m not sure why I chose to read this book. It was my first time reading Kristin Hannah, and I can’t for the life of me, recommend this book enough. I’ll definitely be reading more of Hannah’s books in the future.

The Four Winds is not a short book, but it is worth every single page. There is so much emotion in this book that burrows itself beneath your bones and spreads through the body. I could feel everything that was happening to Elsa and felt like I was in her shoes in a way a very small portion of stories have ever made me feel.

This was an absolutely heart-shattering, power-inducing, havoc-wreaking helluva book.

I learned more about history, women’s rights, and the Great Depression from this one book than I learned in 20+ years of formal schooling.

The Four Winds is a sweeping historical saga that hits you right in the emotions. As you follow Elsa on her journey across the country, and watch her face challenge after challenge, and see how she adapts and changes, it's virtually impossible to remain unmoved. It's a testament to the strength of the people who lived during the Dust Bowl era of the Great Depression, and a raw, realistic look into their lives. I absolutely loved it, and would recommend it to any fan of historical fiction.

I am a long-time fan of Kristin Hannah and was delighted to get this ARC. Living in Oklahoma lent a different feel to this book. Setting the book in the Dust Bowl both caused and echoed many of the trials in Elsa's life. This was an emotional read, but it also ended with such beauty and possibilities. Reading about characters like this, even though they are fictional, can portray such hope. Fantastic book- a new classic for sure.

Times of extreme poverty were hitting the United States in the '30s, even the rain was scares to be found. The farmers of the Great Planes are hanging on by a thread fighting to save every inch of the land they worked so hard for. The Dust Bowl era of the Great Depression bearing down on them all. Never wanting to give up on the land that had given her so much, Elsa Martinelli, wanted to stay in Texas on the farm she loves, forever. Giving her children the love and roots she craved so much for her own life was a dream she held onto with two fists but the constant dust storms and life threatening conditions force Elsa to make a choice between the home she loves and the health and wellbeing of her family. Like so many of her time, Elsa must choose between their livelihood in Texas or venturing west to California to seek their fortune. The sacrifice and hardships so many made for the "American Dream" are the central theme in Kristin Hannah's "The Four Winds". I have yet to come across a Hannah book I didn't fall in love with and this is no exception. Elsa is a powerhouse and you can't put this book down until you know how things unfold for her. If you haven't yet read "The Four Winds" I highly recommend you add this to your TBR shelf. Another fantastic hit by Kristin Hannah. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This story ! My heart! A beautifully written dark emotional piece of work ! I have no words for the type of character Elsa is, her courage , her fight to keep going even when there seems to be no hope in sight. A moving story . This author is a fantastic storyteller .

Gahhhhh Kristin Hannah does it again.
SHE CAN DO NO WRONG.
Once again she knocked it out of the freaking park. This book was beautiful and heart wrenching and sad and beautiful again. I would have finished it in one sitting if I was a faster reader but had to be two sittings in my case. I don’t even know what to say about it. It was a slow burn to fall in love with the characters but once I was there I was cheering them on and felt every defeat like I was a part of it.
I absolutely loved it and will be telling EVERYONE to get their hands on this one.

I loved learning about the family and how different things were back then! It reminded me of one of my favorite movies, Far and Away.

A powerful historical fiction piece by one of the genre's most well known and sought after authors. This story is one that will stay with the reader long after the last page.

One of the saddest stories I've ever read, The Four Winds is an epic masterpiece that only a writer like Kristin Hannah could manage. Elsa is born tragically unpretty and unloved, so when Rafe Martinelli shows her some attention it's no real surprise to anyone but her parents that she ends up pregnant. Her daughter, Loreda, joins in the world's scorn of her mother and only loves her dad. This is a major problem once Rafe Martinelli runs away from life and his family.

This story tells the tragedies of those who had to migrate because of the Dust Bowl in a poignant and heart-wrenching way. Elsa, as an unloved single parent, has to find a way to reach her daughter while keeping both of her children safe and fighting for the rights of the migrant workers. I definitely learned more about the living conditions of those displaced, American Refugees. A must read!

This wasn’t my favorite title by Kristin Hannah. It grabbed my attention at the beginning and I had high hopes. About halfway through it lost my attention. A decent read, but have read better by this author.

The story opens in 1921 in Dahlhart, Texas, on the eve of Elsa Woolcott's twenty-fifth birthday. She has spent "years in enforced solitude, reading fictional adventures and imagining other lives." She knows she has "always been an outsider in her own family," even though they blame her circumstances on the childhood illness she survived. She also knows -- and they have reinforced -- that she is not pretty. She is tall, pale, thin, and lacking self-confidence, but determined to have a meaningful life, rather than merely exist. And she naively believes she might be able to fulfill that dream when she meets Rafe Martinelli, a young man from a proud Italian family who is bound for college and engaged to another young woman. Elsa believes she has found love, but soon discovers how little she knows about life and the world. When her relationship with Rafe can no longer remain hidden, she is disowned and abandoned by her own family, and Rafe's college plans are scuttled. But before they marry, Elsa asks if Rafe's parents, Rose and Tony, will love her child. When Rose declares, "The baby, I will love. My first grandchild," Elsa knows that for the sake of her child, she will become part of a disappointed family that doesn't want her.

Rose and Tony gradually take Elsa, along with her daughter, Loreda, and son, Anthony ("Ant"), into their hearts. Rose teaches Elsa how to cook and tend to a home, and Elsa tries to hold her marriage together as her love for her in-laws, the land, and the true home she has come to know, grows.

But by 1934, the family has endured four years of drought. Coupled with the stock market crash in 1929 and ensuing Depression, they are barely surviving. Their wheat crops have failed, the well is drying up, and Rafe is increasingly miserable . . . and drinking. The dust storms begin, obliterating everything in their path, including the vegetables they have managed to grow in their garden. They console themselves with the belief that so long as cows and chickens thrive, they can get by selling milk and eggs.

Hannah compellingly and unsparingly relates the family's increasingly dire circumstances. Her descriptions of the brutal dust storms are realistic and terrifying. She convincingly depicts teen Loreda's growing anger and resentfulness, as well as the desperation that inevitably overtakes Elsa, Tony, and Rose. They watch as their neighbors begin losing their land via foreclosure or selling it off for any price, along with their possessions, and leaving their Texas homes in search of better living conditions. Many head to California, some to Oregon.

But the Martinellis remain convinced that they can, quite literally, weather the storms and rain will come, bringing solutions to their problems. It doesn't. Things continually get worse until there is no choice to be made. Silicosis -- dust pneumonia -- threatens Ant's life. The doctor explains, "Prairie dust is full of silica. It builds up in the lungs and tears away the air sacs. He's breathing in dirt and swallowing it. Filling up with it." The boy literally cannot breathe. "Dust pneumonia. That was what they called it, but it was really loss and poverty and man's mistakes," Hannah writes.

Hannah's portrayal of Elsa's dangerous journey west to California, where she believes she will be able to make a decent home for herself and her children, is gut-wrenching, suspenseful, and heartbreaking. Elsa's grit and focus compel her as she navigates the dangerous route with her children in tow. The harrowingly disappointing realities she confronts when they arrive in the Golden State are even more devastating. It is far from the "land of milk and honey" promised in the flyer a neighbor pressed into Rafe's hand, declaring, "Jobs for everyone! Land of opportunity! Go West to California!" Californians do not welcome those migrating from the Dust Bowl, instead taking full advantage of them and forcing them to barely eke out an existence in deplorable and inhuman living conditions. Elsa soon realizes that she has brought her children to an environment even worse than the one they escaped in Texas. But in the migrant camp where they take up residence, she does find a friend upon whom she can rely, and the way the women help and support each other is one of the most beautiful and tragic aspects of the story. That friendship profoundly impacts Elsa and the choices she ultimately makes.

The Four Winds is an engrossing work of historical fiction at the center of which is the memorable and inspiring Elsa, a woman who finds strength she never knew she possessed and summons it in order to protect the two things in the world that matter most: her children. Made to believe that she was unworthy of love by her own family, Elsa learned as a child to be invisible in her own home. And as she enters into marriage with Rafe, she does so intending to remain invisible. But she is transformed once she becomes a mother and as merely staying alive becomes more challenging with each new day. As is her daughter, who finds her own strength as she gradually stops blaming Elsa for every horrible thing she has experienced and observes the lengths to which her mother will go in order to protect her and her brother.

Hannah does not shy away from exploring, through her characters' experiences, how America created and responded to the Great Depression. She depicts the struggles between classes, especially once Elsa and her children arrive in California. Migrants are denied medical care and education. Elsa and other workers are taken advantage of by wealthy landowners who hire laborers to pick cotton under terms that ensure they will never be independent. In order to secure a place to live and be able to feed her children, Elsa is forced to accept credit, but it creates a cycle from which she cannot escape. She must rely on more credit during the winter months when there are no crops to pick in order to pay off the prior year's balance, unable to ever escape the cycle. Union organizers bring hope for better working and living conditions, along with danger to the camps. Elsa finds herself in the midst of the controversy and realizes that her grandfather was right when he told her so many years earlier that it isn't fear that matters in life. It's the choices you make when you are afraid. Elsa's journey and experiences lead her to conclude that she has to be a warrior for her children because that's what motherhood requires. And she has to tangibly model for them the lesson her grandfather taught her. It's a life-changing decision.

The Four Winds is an epic tale of power, strength, survival, and how far love can and will carry a determined woman who envisions a meaningful life for herself and her children. In Hannah's capable telling of Elsa's story, love carries her through and out of unimaginable despair and hopelessness, and permits her to leave her children an enduring legacy devotion and resilience.

Hannah says that she began writing historical fiction out of a "desire to return women to their lost stories in history, put them at the center of the action, and make them the heroes." Elsa is Hannah's favorite character to date because she transforms from an insecure woman who, at the outset, doesn't believe she is worthy of love or has a vibrant future, progressing primarily as a result of becoming a mother into "a warrior woman who is able to fight not only for herself and her children, but finally finds a voice strong enough to speak for people who are too afraid to speak for themselves." Hannah describes fictional Elsa as "representative of thousands of brave women who went west in search of a better life." Elsa is indeed a heroic character that readers will embrace and remember fondly long after they finish reading The Four Winds.

Kristin Hannah has provided a moving novel of female empowerment set against the backdrop of the Depression and dust storms in the midwest. Despite being faced time and time again with occurrences that would keep anyone down, Elsa triumph and becomes a strong independent woman. Her sense of family and loyalty is to be admired and proves the definition of real strength. High schoolers would enjoy learning about this time in history using realistic characters and a storyline that pulls you in from the first chapter.

Kristin Hannah NEVER disappoints! This was a perfect summer read... it only took me two days to read it!

Given what’s happening in the world today this story really stuck a nerve with me. I could really feel for the people struggling because of the drought. These days do many people are struggling to survive because Covid closed the world down. This made me really invested in the story so much more than I think if I hadn’t experienced it.
Although the story was enjoyable and really made you feel your emotions the very long descriptions really made the story drag for me. I did feel the book ended really well

This was the emotional roller coaster I was expecting. I didn't love this one nearly as much as her past books. Parts were slow and I wasn't rooting for any characters. This definitely won't stop me from picking up her future books and recommending her to everyone!

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title.

Due to a family illness, and unexpected events, I am very far behind in writing my reviews.I found my self reading one book after another without writing the review -- that was a big mistake. I did enjoy this book very much,. I happily give it 4 stars.