Review 193: The Four Winds

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I had high hopes for this book but was disappointed. Many years ago I read and thoroughly enjoyed Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, and looked forward to another take on the Dust Bowl, Great Depression and migration of farmers to California searching for a better life.

The beginning of this book gives us the early life of the main character, Elsa who was unloved by her family presumably because she wasn’t pretty and been sick with Rheumatic fever at age 14. Elsa desires much more than being a spinster, taking care of her parents, and attempts to take charge of her life. Those early years in the book, along with the family life on the farm are not easy, and they only get worse as the drought remains with becoming more frequent and severe.

Once the decision to leave for California is made the rest of the book became too reminiscent of Steinbeck’s. Although we have a single parent instead of a multi-generational family trekking over to the golden land of California, the main story line is so similar I nearly stopped reading to go re-read the original.

Another aspect that bothered me while reading was the naming of things. Calling out, well this is the Dust Bowl or, this is the Great Depression, we know and it was awkward to read these labels. This was being shown and there was no need to tell it as well. There was a line that was hopefully cut or changed before publication (I read an advance review copy). This is a modern phrase coming from immigrant Italians who used the line “more power to you,” a phrase I highly doubt anyone from the early 1930s, but definitely not these characters.

The book was overall depressing, as were those difficult years. There isn’t much to enjoy, or hold onto in the book, with a few exceptions. The bright spots for me were the town librarian and the hairdresser, who looked beyond the clothes and saw the person.

The book also felt overly long, as there was a lot of repetition and similar scenes. There is a good book in here, but not the one I read. I had hoped for another take on this time period, and there are some slight differences, but not enough. If you haven’t read Steinbeck’s book, do yourself a favor and go read that one instead.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

Previously Read books by Kristine Hannah:

• The Great Alone - 4 stars
• February 7 to 18, 2018