Once again Kristin Hannah has written an engrossing book that takes us to a difficult place and time alongside a strong female character. This new book may actually be my favorite by her:

The Four Winds: A Novel by Kristin Hannah

The initial setting is Texas during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. But when this environment truly becomes unsafe for her family, Elsa takes her kids to California looking for a better life. But so is everyone else! As refugees pour into California, their life is not much better there with the rough conditions, low wages, and prejudices against them.

As depressing and sad as this book is to read due to the difficult situations, it was also so interesting because I have not ready much (anything?) about these times and places in American history. One of my grandparents moved to Illinois as an “okie” so I felt it personally for that reason. I really had no idea about all of this history and of the prejudice they encountered.

I’m not going to say much more about this book here because 1) it is finally a super nice day here and I need to get outside 2) many people I know are already reading this and there is a lot out there about it already. I just wanted to do a quick post to say yes I loved this book, and if you have not yet put it on your list, you should!

My previous posts on Kristin Hannah books:

The Nightingale

The Great Alone