historical fiction
Elsa was stifled, over-protected, limited, and underestimated
in the house where she grew up in northern Texas. This upbringing and treatment
by her family made her timid, self-doubting, and socially awkward. In 1921,
her life is suddenly taken out of her control due to her naivete. She is thrown
into a difficult situation but things really get hard when the dust bowl hits
and drastic measures must be taken to survive.
The characters in The Four Winds are well-drawn and lovable.
The setting is so vivid that you can see the parched earth. You feel the dirt and
the pain. The story is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. I have to give this
novel a big CRY ALERT.
The details about the dust bowl went on a bit
too long for me but served to show the relentless, endless suffering of the
land, people, and all living things. In fact, a lot of the novel was exhausting
in that the strife seemed never-ending. Yet Elsa had hope and there was some good
will to be found. The story, thankfully, didn’t go in some directions in
which I’d feared it would go. There are many gut punches to read through but
the realities described in the novel were eye-opening, educational, and
infuriating. I was happy to keep reading to find out how things would turn out
for Elsa.
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