The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

 

For May, we discussed The Four Winds, by Kristin Hannah, with The Silent Patient, by Alex Michaelides, coming up next for June. Thank you to everyone who attended, and to those who sent in emails ahead of time to share their thoughts despite their absence. We appreciate each of you! Happy Spring!

Let's get to it!

Texas, 1934. Millions are out of work and a drought has broken the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as the crops are failing, the water is drying up, and dust threatens to bury them all. One of the darkest periods of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl era, has arrived with a vengeance.

In this uncertain and dangerous time, Elsa Martinelli—like so many of her neighbors—must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or go west, to California, in search of a better life. 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.

 

I want to generalize and say that we all really and thoroughly enjoyed this book, but I'm not sure that would be quite right. While it's true the vast majority of the group had big praise for this read and found it hard to find anything to fix, there were a few adamant criticisms that seemed to stick. While we all agreed Hannah's writing, character development and plot assembly are all very well done, we were divided on the ending. Some liked the hard to read outcome, they considered it a real, "life isn't always fair" kind of ending that made the book all that more believable and authentic. Others would have preferred a happier, tidier ending.

 

Outside of Welty and those like him, we liked all the characters and found something good, and relatable, in each of them... especially Elsa. We marveled at her strength, courage, and persistence in the face of so much strife. Speaking of characters, there was mention that it was hard to believe that no one in Elsa's family, especially her children who were witnesses to her untimely death, didn't hold Jack at least partially responsible for her passing. Did he pressure and provoke her to a degree to take a big stand at the protest that ultimately, albeit unintentionally, lead to tragedy? "If you love someone, shouldn't you do your best to keep them out of harm's way?" How much of Elsa's actions were authentically her own, and which, if any, were heavily influenced and/or coerced? 

 

On a final note, it was said it would have been a valuable addition to the story if there could have been a sentence or two within the last chapter about how and when the tide turned for the farmers of the Dust Bowl. When and how did conditions improve? What did that look like and mean specifically for Elsa's family? 

 

Are you a Kristin Hannah fan? If so, how does this read compare for you to her other works?

 

 

Did you enjoy The Four Winds? Fans of this book also enjoyed: Lady in Waiting, by Anne Glenconner, Mr. Malcolm's List, by Suzanne Allain, and The Daughters of Erietown, by Connie Schultz. All of these titles are available in Viking~ reserve your copy today!

 

 

At the conclusion of every book club discussion we ask three questions and track the average answers:

Would we recommend this to another book club for discussion?
"YES"
Would we recommend this to a friend to read? 
"YES"
Rate the book 1-5 stars, with 1 being the lowest rating: 
4.5 stars