Review: The Four Winds

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What I really liked about this book was 1) I love Kristin Hanna's writing style and character development and 2) it was a stark reality check and education on the Dust Bowl and the Depression in Migrant California. I knew this and that about the Dust Bowl and the Depression but the details of living day to day, trying not to starve or freeze or inhale too much dust is humbling.

Hannah began this book 3 years ago. It is a timely release in this moment of pandemic and economic collapse. There are a lot of historical events that were personalized by reading this book and gave me a lot to think about. I also discovered that my 15 year old son, who asked me what the book was about, finished my sentence because he already knew what casued the Dust Bowl. I did not. I was also not aware how the dust got in animals and people and made them deathly ill and even die. I looked up images of dust storms and Oh. My. Gosh. They are horrific. I needed to keep drinking water while I was reading this part.

Living day to day in the Great Depression in Hooverville ghettos was both depressing and uplifting. The author highlights relationships which is why I love her so much. I also was educated on the way the Californians viewed the migrants and how the openly treated them. The every day indignities could crush your soul yet the survival skills and relationships with others down on their luck was a saving grace. The book also covers the growing interest in Communism in the country and paints it the way I believe it was meant to be practiced. Everybody took care of each other without anybody taking advantage of another. This was another eye opener for me as I understood the ideal and why it was so popular.

These are the themes but not the story. The story is a beautiful one of family, the love of a mother, survival, and home.

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