The Four Winds by Kristen Hannah

Hello! My family and I are back from our vacation and staycation.  We postponed our West Coast trip AGAIN! This was the book I took with us to read during down time. 

This was recommended by a colleague, another teacher at WHHS.  

My feelings about it are mixed.  First, it's VERY long.  There are 3 distinct parts within the story, and honestly each portion could have been a much shorter novella that might've made chunking it out easier.  Second, I found the two leads', Loreda (a teen) and her mother Elsa, relationship way too cliche and predictable.  

So, those 3 parts: 

A. Elsa is the ugly duckling among her high society parents' daughters.  Doomed to a life of spinsterhood, she has a passing fling with an Italian (which is scandalous in 1921 Texas), resulting in pregnancy.  Shunned, Elsa moves in with her new husband Rafe's parents and does everything possible to become the perfect daughter-in-law.  But Rafe is never happy with their lives as poor farmers and disappears in the middle of the night.

B. Fast forward to 1934.  The Depression, combined with a Great Drought, have decimated the farm.  Elsa, her parents-in-law, and her two children live in poverty, barely alive.  Elsa makes the choice to migrate to California, where are jobs are supposed to be plenty.

C. Elsa and her kids Loreda and Tony are at the mercy of farm and camp owners, stuck in a vicious cycle of debt, work, credit and become involved in the workers' rights movement.  Lucky to have even survived living in a tent, they face discrimination as poor migrants.

This is most definitely NOT a happy story, although I did smile at the ending.  Also, as all libraries look to build inclusive, diverse, and equitable collections, I think this novel is a qualified addition in speaking to the experiences of migrant farm workers, poor and immigrant but white families, working women of the 20s and 30s, and union activism.

I will be donating this when we return.

A reminder all opinions expressed on this blog or a video version of it, are solely mine.