The Four Winds: A Novel by Kristin Hannah

 

 The Four Winds: A Novel by Kristin Hannah. St. Martin's Press, 2021. Adult historical fiction.

In the Panhandle of Texas in 1921, Elsa Wolcott is determined to be an Old Maid by her family. Elsa is determined to make a life for herself. She hooks up with handsome Rafe Martinelli. Then comes the Great Depression. Rafe hates that his plans for college and a better life were made impossible. He abandons the family. Elsa becomes a hard worker, desperate to improve life for her daughter Loreda and son Ant. She earns the love and respect of Rafe's parents but leaves them because of Ant's health.

When the little family of three head to California, it is no silver lining. Picking cotton, doing field work, trying to survive in worker camps, and just existing is no easy life. Communist sympathizers try to organize the workers. Loreda resents her mother and longs for the never present Rafe. Tony and Rose, Rafe's parents, stay on the farm in Texas and letters between them all give even more realities of hard living. 

The book continues until 1940 when the family is updated and readers learn what happens to them all.  A depressing look ala Steinbeck's GRAPES OF WRATH era, this novel portrays events and people that might have existed in America during the past.  The women are strong. The times are tough.