Madeline
The Four Winds is reminiscent of one of Kristin Hannah’s most famous book and another devastating story, The Nightingale, one of my favorite books of all time. The Four Winds starts in Texas during the dust bowl and features a family of three generations. After pushing through the hard times the dust bowl brings, including the father of the children leaving, the mother, Elsa, and her two small children take off for a better life in California. What they find in California makes them regret leaving Texas, no matter how bad it got.
The Premise
Elsa is a young girl living in Texas who is not nice to look at nor is she very ladylike and an Italian man, Rafe, has taken a liking to her, but only for sex. He takes her virginity but only to have the relationship stay at the physical level. Once she gets pregnant, both their parents force them to marry. She loves him but it is questionable if he loves her back. And this is the start to another devastating story.
As the drought continues in Texas and the farm land becomes not farmable, life becomes miserable. There is little food to eat. The animals are starving and thirsty. And there is no money. The government as offered relief in a way of doing nothing. It seems as though the only option is to move to California, the rumored land of plenty, but how will they get there?
After not being able to take the harsh climate anymore, Rafe walks away from his family, leaving his parents, wife, and children to fend for themselves. After more heartache, Elsa decides moving to California is the only solution, packing her children up and, after a painful discussion, leaves her in law parents behind. She is also leaving behind one devastating story and exchanging it for another devastating story.
What they find in California is better in terms of work and water, but not in terms of treatment from other people. She is considered an Oaky and considered the scum of the earth by the people who have lived there long enough to not need to beg for work at a low waged. The family finds themselves in a situation between being a slave and starving with no way out.
What I Knew About This Part of American History
I knew there was something called the dust bowl. I knew during that time was a hard time for many americans. I’ve seen the famous picture of a woman and her children at this time. And I was suppose to read The Grapes of Wrath in high school. That was it. The Four Winds opened my eyes to the devastating treatment people got in my native state of California. How there were not many options in finding food or work no matter where these people went. And to be treated like the scum of the earth for not having options, is the worst kind of feeling.
Final Thoughts
Once again, Kristin Hannah delivered a great story that painted the hardship of this time in American history in great detail and provided another devastating story for the world to read. That being said, the last bit of the book left a lot to be desired. It felt as though there was a need to end this tale that could not end well for the family and so it was forced to be put in a box in order to drive the close. If you want to enjoy the whole thing, go for it, but my recommendation is to accept it and put it down about 50 pages before the end.
