Genre Fiction
![Kristin Hannah - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_a_kristin_hannah.jpg)
The Four Winds: A Novel
"The Bestselling Hardcover Novel of the Year."--Publishers Weekly
From the number-one bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Great Alone comes a powerful American epic about love and heroism and hope, set during the Great Depression, a time when the country was in crisis and at war with itself, when millions were out of work and even the land seemed to have turned against them.
"My land tells its story if you listen. The story of our family."
Texas, 1921. A time of abundance. The Great War is over, the bounty of the land is plentiful, and America is on the brink of a new and optimistic era. But for Elsa Wolcott, deemed too old to marry in a time when marriage is a woman's only option, the future seems bleak. Until the night she meets Rafe Martinelli and decides to change the direction of her life. With her reputation in ruin, there is only one respectable choice: marriage to a man she barely knows.
By 1934, the world has changed; millions are out of work and drought has devastated the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as crops fail and water dries up and the earth cracks open. Dust storms roll relentlessly across the plains. Everything on the Martinelli farm is dying, including Elsa's tenuous marriage; each day is a desperate battle against nature and a fight to keep her children alive.
In this uncertain and perilous time, Elsa―like so many of her neighbors―must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or leave it behind and go west, to California, in search of a better life for her family.
The Four Winds is a rich, sweeping novel that stunningly brings to life the Great Depression and the people who lived through it―the harsh realities that divided us as a nation and the enduring battle between the haves and the have-nots. A testament to hope, resilience, and the strength of the human spirit to survive adversity, The Four Winds is an indelible portrait of America and the American dream, as seen through the eyes of one indomitable woman whose courage and sacrifice will come to define a generation.
From the number-one bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Great Alone comes a powerful American epic about love and heroism and hope, set during the Great Depression, a time when the country was in crisis and at war with itself, when millions were out of work and even the land seemed to have turned against them.
"My land tells its story if you listen. The story of our family."
Texas, 1921. A time of abundance. The Great War is over, the bounty of the land is plentiful, and America is on the brink of a new and optimistic era. But for Elsa Wolcott, deemed too old to marry in a time when marriage is a woman's only option, the future seems bleak. Until the night she meets Rafe Martinelli and decides to change the direction of her life. With her reputation in ruin, there is only one respectable choice: marriage to a man she barely knows.
By 1934, the world has changed; millions are out of work and drought has devastated the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as crops fail and water dries up and the earth cracks open. Dust storms roll relentlessly across the plains. Everything on the Martinelli farm is dying, including Elsa's tenuous marriage; each day is a desperate battle against nature and a fight to keep her children alive.
In this uncertain and perilous time, Elsa―like so many of her neighbors―must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or leave it behind and go west, to California, in search of a better life for her family.
The Four Winds is a rich, sweeping novel that stunningly brings to life the Great Depression and the people who lived through it―the harsh realities that divided us as a nation and the enduring battle between the haves and the have-nots. A testament to hope, resilience, and the strength of the human spirit to survive adversity, The Four Winds is an indelible portrait of America and the American dream, as seen through the eyes of one indomitable woman whose courage and sacrifice will come to define a generation.
Editorial Reviews
"The Bestselling Hardcover Novel of the Year."--Publishers Weekly
Book of the Month Club's Best Book of 2021
Selected for The Texas Library Association's 2022 Lariat Adult Fiction Reading List
"The Four Winds seems eerily prescient in 2021 . . . Its message is galvanizing and hopeful: We are a nation of scrappy survivors. We've been in dire straits before; we will be again. Hold your people close."―The New York Times
"A spectacular tour de force that shines a spotlight on the indispensable but often overlooked role of Greatest Generation women."―People
"Brutally beautiful."―Newsweek
"Epic and transporting, a stirring story of hardship and love...Majestic and absorbing."―USA Today
"Through one woman's survival during the harsh and haunting Dust Bowl, master storyteller, Kristin Hannah, reminds us that the human heart and our Earth are as tough, yet as fragile, asa change in the wind. This mother's soul, suffering the same drought as the land, attempts to cross deserts and beat starvation to save her children with a fierce inner strength called motherhood. A timely novel highlighting the worth and delicate nature of Nature itself." ―Delia Owens, author of WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING
"A powerful, stirring, wind-swept tale set in Depression-era America that makes your heart break and soar in equal measure. An escape into the past with timely echoes to the present. Kristin Hannah is a classic storyteller and The Four Winds sees her at the top of her game." -- MATT HAIG, New York Times bestselling author of THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY
"Wow. I have been left with a bursting heart. Prepare to go on a journey. The story of Elsa and her family will sweep you up on its wings and plunge you to the depths of feeling. This novel is crucial for our times: although set during the Great Depression and the terrible dust bowls, it holds up a mirror to our current world and asks us to look and to understand deeply. It is a story of migration, poverty, prejudice - it shines a light on a crisis that is all too real in today's world. Yet, it is also a story ...
Book of the Month Club's Best Book of 2021
Selected for The Texas Library Association's 2022 Lariat Adult Fiction Reading List
"The Four Winds seems eerily prescient in 2021 . . . Its message is galvanizing and hopeful: We are a nation of scrappy survivors. We've been in dire straits before; we will be again. Hold your people close."―The New York Times
"A spectacular tour de force that shines a spotlight on the indispensable but often overlooked role of Greatest Generation women."―People
"Brutally beautiful."―Newsweek
"Epic and transporting, a stirring story of hardship and love...Majestic and absorbing."―USA Today
"Through one woman's survival during the harsh and haunting Dust Bowl, master storyteller, Kristin Hannah, reminds us that the human heart and our Earth are as tough, yet as fragile, asa change in the wind. This mother's soul, suffering the same drought as the land, attempts to cross deserts and beat starvation to save her children with a fierce inner strength called motherhood. A timely novel highlighting the worth and delicate nature of Nature itself." ―Delia Owens, author of WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING
"A powerful, stirring, wind-swept tale set in Depression-era America that makes your heart break and soar in equal measure. An escape into the past with timely echoes to the present. Kristin Hannah is a classic storyteller and The Four Winds sees her at the top of her game." -- MATT HAIG, New York Times bestselling author of THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY
"Wow. I have been left with a bursting heart. Prepare to go on a journey. The story of Elsa and her family will sweep you up on its wings and plunge you to the depths of feeling. This novel is crucial for our times: although set during the Great Depression and the terrible dust bowls, it holds up a mirror to our current world and asks us to look and to understand deeply. It is a story of migration, poverty, prejudice - it shines a light on a crisis that is all too real in today's world. Yet, it is also a story ...
Readers Top Reviews
Babynurse RachelM
Although this book was set in the depression, it reminded me of what people are still going through today. It made me feel angry at times but hopeful other times. Worth the time to read definitely
Erica MatthewsBab
Incredible story! Both heart wrenching and heart warming. A story of a strong and brave woman, hidden in the shadows most of her life and finally set free, to be her true self, to be brave, and to show her children the love and protection she never had as a child. To guide them to a better future and to never give up. This is definitely a book I will come to read again, and again. ♡
P. L.Erica Matthe
I absolutely loved this book! The Four Winds transports the reader right into the belly of the dust bowl. You can visualize the mile-high banks of dust whipping along on a course of destruction. You can feel the grit of the dirt in your eyes and nose and mouth. The character development is also stellar, as they struggle to survive and make difficult choices. Another winner by Kristin Hannah.
SFJP. L.Erica Mat
Growing up and living in a town just a couple of hours north of where the early part of the story is- in the heart of the dust bowl, I've heard many stories about how hard those times were. The author was able to draw the reader into that misery, the fear and hopelessness that so many felt during that decade of US history.
SFJP. L.Erica
This was a very easy, quick read. Set in 1930s depression era, it is a story about a very hard life. I feel like the author could have easily made the characters lives more tragic, which is crazy to say because they do go through a lot of difficult things. I just couldn't help but feel like it fell short to what it was like in real life. I walked away from this book grateful to be living now and not then. Thankful for even little conveniences, and overlooking what I used to think we're inconveniences, understanding just how lucky we are to be living now in America. While many feel like the world is on fire right now, there are more jobs than people willing to work. I easily have access to clean things, cooling and heating, indoor plumbing, food - and I can get all these things without hard manual labor thanks to technology making nearly every job easier. I realize that poverty does exist still, but it's not the same as 1930 poverty. A book worth reading. I read the authors epilogue and that was what made me give to book only four stars. She compares the pandemic to the depression and dust bowl and I just couldn't.... I think this country may face true hardship again, but the pandemic is not comparable to that 1930s tragedies. Not even close. Most people I know, in all walks of life, where making more money during the pandemic and had access to more things than before it. Living in fear, but still living in comfort. Living in fear, but with full bellies. And it was a year at most, not nearly a decade. She's very ignorant with her comparison to think she has experienced, that we have experienced, anything to come close to the tragedy of the 1930s.
