Title: The Four Winds
Author: Kristin Hannah
Type: Fiction
Published: 2021
Pages: 464
TW: Discrimination, Violence, Death, Starvation, Racism, Misogyny
“A warrior believes in an end she can’t see and fights for it. A warrior never gives up. A warrior fights for those weaker than herself. It sounds like motherhood to me.”
The Four Winds is the second Kristin Hannah book I’ve read (after The Nightingale) and while this didn’t quite live up to that, it’s certainly a close second. Another historical fiction, this time we are transported to 1930s Texas on the cusp of The Great Depression. Elsa and her husband, Rafe, live with his family on a farm with their two children, Loreda and Ant. Having had a unconventional start to their marriage their relationship (and the life they have lead) is once again tested as the rain dries up the land and the family must survive every day hoping for rain that will provide the food they need. But when Elsa finds that Rafe has fled for a better life, she must make an agonising decision: leave and try and find work to provide for her family, or stay and continue to fight for the land they live on even if it never provides for them again.
As I said at the beginning, this book didn’t quite live up to The Nightingale for me, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t equally beautiful; Hannah’s penchant for writing fierce women who must protect their family and also fill the shoes of the men who have failed them is as present here as it was in The Nightingale. Undeniably formulaic, I still found it as empowering as before and there’s a beauty that she always seems to find despite the book being written during such a bleak time in history.
As a protagonist, Elsa was one of the strongest allures of this book and she defied just about every expectation brandished upon her. It was also great to see her relationship with her children, especially her daughter Loreda who Hannah used as a paragon of how the tough world surrounding her won’t diminish her determination.
All in all if you like The Nightingale then you will not be disappointed by this; somewhat predictable due to the formulaic nature of the plot, I still thoroughly enjoyed Elsa’s story and feeling transported to a different time in history. Hannah is great at writing historical fiction that’s plausible while also giving a voice to stories you may not have heard from that period before.
Review overview
Summary
8Emotional, Compelling, Empowering