A review by hungryandhappy
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

*Netgalley arc*

Brutal, raw, emotional and hopeful. I don't think I can put into words all the feelings this book put me through. I was so lost just like Elsa, and infuriated, just like Loreda! I wanted to scream so loudly.

Elsa comes from a family that didn't give her love because, in their opinion, she was ugly so not worthy. She takes the love or what looks like it, from the first boy that's willing to give it to her and who sees her more than her parents do. This leads to Elsa marrying into a immigrant italian family of farmers in Texas.

It stops raining and things start looking horribly for the family and Elsa is left by her husband and she has to make a hard decision when the awful sandstorms and just too hot weather risk taking one of her kids away.

Elsa, her daughter Loreda and Ant, the little son, embark on a journey to look for a better life. What they find isn't better; they get treated worse than animals, underpaid, exploited, denied basic human rights, and more.

What touches you about the story is not only the events, that still happen too often, but the courage of this woman, left alone, who will do anything to give her kids a better life and future. The strength of these two women, mother and daughter, will make you cheer for them and will take you to an emotional journey like not many others.

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