Kristin Hannah is an amazing author. She creates such strong characters and such detailed worlds that you can’t help but be engulfed in the world. The Four Winds was no exception. 

 

Elsa Martinelli was born in Texas in 1934. It was a prosperous time, and her family was one of the wealthier of the town. Except that does no good when you are the spinster of the family. Elsa just wants to be loved and raise a family of her own, so when she gets pregnant out of wedlock and is forced to marry the father it really isn’t such a bad thing. 

 

What follows is a discovery of endurance and the will to survive. They endure the dust storms of the Texas planes and make the journey to California. Although, the better life was not all that they expected. 

 

The Four Winds is captivating. I could not put the book down. It was heart wrenching. I came to care for the characters so much. To see the struggle hurt. But it is not all pain and suffering. The story is about strength and finding joy where you can. 

 

Although, I must say that I am finding a theme in Hannah’s writing that made the ending very predictable. I was hoping I was wrong, because it seemed like the wrong ending. But I was not. I guess live doesn’t have right endings and that is part of the point.