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The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl are events in history that I was not familiar with (I am not American). I found it a very interesting topic to learn more about. It was so terrible and I feel very much empathy for the people who lived during that time.
This is really not a happy book so I recommend to pick this book up when you are in the right mindspace for a tragic story.
There were also things I didn't like. I did not like the repetetiveness. I understand that all the tragedies were repetetive. What I mean with that is that, for example, the dust storms were very frequent and they were often described too long and in the same way. I was kind of bored at the part about communism. Again, quite repetetively written. Did not enjoy the ending but the epilogue was kinda sweet.
Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Grief, Abandonment
Moderate: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Police brutality, Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Death of parent
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Classism
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Classism
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Sexism, Violence, Police brutality
Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Sexism, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
- It is the 1920s in a small farming community in the Texas Panhandle. Elsa Martinelli grew up in a wealthy family, who never appreciated her & make her feel hard to love. At age 25, she hooks up with Rafe, and she winds up pregnant. They get married, and she moves in with Rafe and his parents, Rosa and Tony, on their farm.
- Fast forward, it is 1930s. Along the stock market crash & The Great Depression, there are also several years of drought and The Dust Bowl. Elsa has two kids now, Ant & Lareda, and with no end in sight to the dust storms, Elsa abandon their home and flee to California where they hope work and a better life await. The book details what happens when the family arrives in California.
- As my first read of 2024, I wanted to start off with a book by one of my favorite authors. This marks the fourth book I’ve read by Hannah, with the others being: The Great Alone, The Women, The Nightingale.
- Hannah is an expert at character development & writing strong female characters. I always learn something when reading her historical fictions. In this one, I learned a lot that I didn’t know about the Dust Bowl & migrants.
- I thoroughly enjoyed the bonds that develop among the characters in the book, and the imagery and vivid descriptions of the surroundings were also very well done.
- It is definitely a sweeping story, and it is a hard one to read.
- My only complaint about the book is all the characters were white, and I would have enjoyed different perspectives about the experiences of BIPOC folks.
- Kudos to Hannah for clearly spending a lot of time researching the era & the topics covered in the book.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Classism
Moderate: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Pregnancy, Abandonment
Minor: Chronic illness
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic