#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER #1 USA TODAY BESTSELLER#1 WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER#1 INDIE BESTSELLER”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 … 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
“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, as a change in the wind.” —Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing
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.
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Better descriptions then Grapes of Wrath
This is a new author to me. This is a story of a mother’s love for her children in a tough and trying time, of wanting a better life for them, and her willingness to do anything to achieve that goal. Elsa has faced loss, heartache, tragedy, and abandonment from both her own family and from her husband. She perseveres through tough times, shows courage and strength to her children when she feels anything but courageous and strong. Her California dream ends, but her children do get a better life.
Tragic history from our past in the USA. Wonderful
Makes pandemic seem like piece of cake when you read about the troubles of this era.
Love her books. This was informative as I lived in the area for over 30 years.
This was an incredibly powerful novel and one of the best audiobooks I’ve listened to. It was heart wrenching and brought me to tears several times. The epic story was beautifully written. The audiobook narrator’s voice was astonishing. I can’t recommend it enough. Brilliant.
I love Kristin Hannah’s writing. The Four Winds is the story of a family living through the Depression and Dust Bowl. It’s about accepting responsibility, moving on through fear, tragedy and how they handled the events that came their way. It’s about a mother’s love to keep her family together despite the horror and loss that came her way. Tough but inspiring.
I loved this book. It’s a huge, epic, sprawling story that brought America in the 1930s to life for me – the Texas dustbowl, the Depression, the bone-crushing poverty and migrant issues in California – a portrait of America that is as timely and heart-breaking as today’s news. Sometimes brutally raw, but always honest. For me, the heart of this beautifully told and deeply felt story is Elsa – it’s about one woman’s indomitable strength to take care of her children under impossible challenges, about a woman who somehow finds the courage to stand on her own, follow her heart, and go on.
Loved the book
This was the most depressing book I have ever read. That said, I think it is an extraordinary work of historical fiction and I’m so glad I did! Anyone who has read or studied anything about the Dust Bowl Era already knows how awful the conditions were and how hard it was on the Midwest farmers. But I guarantee we don’t know the half of it. Kristin Hannah puts you right in the middle of it with this story and it will haunt you for a long time after you have finished it!
We can all agree how depressing this story was, but I am concentrating on the positive things that amazed me under the extremely difficult circumstances. One thing was the incredibly close relationship between Elsa and her mother-in-law. The way that came about one would have had every reason to believe Elsa never would have been accepted by her. Instead, they developed an extremely strong bond!
Another was the mother/daughter bond between Elsa and Lorena. As awful as Lorena was during her early teens, one might never have expected the closeness that developed, ultimately.
The friendship between Elsa and Jean in the horrendous camp conditions was both heartwarming and heartbreaking. What a difference it made in how these women handled the horrible situation they were in.
What I will remember most from this is – the sheer and utter strength of the women in this story through all the tremendous adversity! Yes, this story will stay with me for a long time.
I also need to mention that I listened to the audio version of this book and the narrator, Julia Whelan, was fantastic!!
Very sad!
Kristin Hannah… you have done it once again!!! While this book still hasn’t beat out my love for The Nightingale (I don’t know if anything will), it was a marvelous book!! Grab those tissue, you’ll need it.
This story will take you to Texas & California, during the Great Depression & The Dust Bowl, and through the eyes of 13yr old Loreda and her mother Elsa.
This story is heart breaking and will give you a look into our country’s past as never seen before. You’ll dive into the complicated relationship between mother and daughter, experience the thirst for a better life and the American Dream, all while facing the struggles of poverty and lack of opportunity. My favorite part (like so many Hannah novels) is seeing the strong female characters break out of their pasts to stand bold and fearless in their passion for a better life.
A well written heart wrenching saga, set in the 1930’s. Well developed characters, strong women, families who fought for a better life, for themselves and there children. Only to be beaten down by poverty and corrupt big money making farms. Treated as, less than human. All they wanted, hoped for were jobs, to feed their family, and survive. Most were hard working farmer, use to working, but the drought, dust storms have driven them from their homes. Parents watched their children work the fields at young ages, instead of being in school, and starve. So much death. Another of Hannah’s history books!!
Like a Steinbeck, Grapes of Wrath for Women, unfortunately the writing is not up to Steinbeck, still a good story!
If you loved John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize winning masterpiece, The Grapes of Wrath, you’ll love Kristen Hannah’s The Four Winds. Both stories are set during the Great Depression and follow families driven from the Dust Bowl by drought, hoping for a fresh start in California. While I remain a fervent capitalist – nothing has raised more people out of extreme poverty – Hannah’s chronicle of the Martinelli family poignantly illustrates how capitalism unconstrained by effective regulation leads to disaster. When workers become nothing more than cogs in the wheel of someone else’s machine, when they are treated without dignity, there is only one way the story can end – violence. The alternative? One word: VOTE!
Kristen Hannah is my favorite author. Her books, story’s and characters are all well thought out, you grow to love them. I have read all her books and own many of them. To read again!
Well written
Loved the characters and learned about this very tough time in our nations history!
An immigrant story based on a little-known slice of our own American history that resonates with our current and ongoing immigrant issues. Kristin Hannah does a fantastic job once again!
A book that really makes you think. Kristin Hannah started writing this over 3 years ago before the pandemic and yet it is so thought-provoking and relevant today. It is heart-breaking, will break you and will move you. Bravo!