Overview

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.

Review

Elsa lives a life of privilege but she is still in a terrible situation. When she ends up pregnant, her family kicks her out and she moves in with her new husband and his family on their farm. Elsa has no experience in farm life or a family quite like this one.

When life once again takes a terrible turn, Elsa digs deep for strength and makes some tough decisions. After the last dust storm which nearly killed her youngest son, Elsa decides to leave the only true family she has ever known. She loads up her kids and they strike out for California.

Elsa is one tough lady. She struggles to feed her family, to show love, and to just plain survive. She does what it takes. Sometimes it was even too much for me to handle. I would have to set the book aside for a minute and just breathe. My heart goes out to the people who lived during this time period.

Well! I think I have already read the best of the year for me! It is going to be tough to beat this one! What a wild ride this book is. Every emotion you could have…it is experienced within this story. I cannot imagine going through what these people went through.

Do not miss this one! Best of the best! It gives you all the feels!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

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