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A review by gamergirlangie
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
2.0
Ugh. I wanted to like this book. I did. I think it just wasn't for me. I was so bored with it. I read another review that said it was like Kristin Hannah, the author, read every historical event for the Dust Bowl/Great Depression and crammed them into the book to ensure the characters experienced everything. It was very repetitive to me and very depressing. I know it was a very sad time in America, but I think with a work of fiction, you need to give the reader hope. I did not find that here.
I do appreciate that the author showed me America through a lense that I would not have previously thought of. I did not realize how much prejudice those going to California experienced. It was actually very interesting how many similarities there are with today's time. I'm sure the author meant to do that. The prejudice we feel towards minorities and those who fall outside of the picturesque America we see. Our country blames a lot of their misfortune on these impoverished and underprivileged groups, even today. Maybe that's why I didn't like it.
There is so much going on in our country today with wage and class disparity, along with racism and discrimination. The rich always seem to get richer, and the poor get poorer. One thing I learned and took away from this book is that in capitalism, the rich need the poor to stay poor. They need someone to work the jobs they don't want, such as cotton picking, in this example.
I also would've loved for the author not to throw the romance in there at the end. Elsa, the FMC struggled and dug through the trenches of being a single mother in such a hard time, just to find a man there in the end to make it all better? I wish she would've been a strong feminist icon without needing men to rule her life. That's literally how the book starts out: women are the doers who get things done, not the men. Then she finds that she is actually "loved" by finding a man? Ugh.
OH! I almost forgot. I also hated the teenage girl. Loretta, or whatever her name was. She was literally the WORST.
I do appreciate that the author showed me America through a lense that I would not have previously thought of. I did not realize how much prejudice those going to California experienced. It was actually very interesting how many similarities there are with today's time. I'm sure the author meant to do that. The prejudice we feel towards minorities and those who fall outside of the picturesque America we see. Our country blames a lot of their misfortune on these impoverished and underprivileged groups, even today. Maybe that's why I didn't like it.
There is so much going on in our country today with wage and class disparity, along with racism and discrimination. The rich always seem to get richer, and the poor get poorer. One thing I learned and took away from this book is that in capitalism, the rich need the poor to stay poor. They need someone to work the jobs they don't want, such as cotton picking, in this example.
I also would've loved for the author not to throw the romance in there at the end. Elsa, the FMC struggled and dug through the trenches of being a single mother in such a hard time, just to find a man there in the end to make it all better? I wish she would've been a strong feminist icon without needing men to rule her life. That's literally how the book starts out: women are the doers who get things done, not the men. Then she finds that she is actually "loved" by finding a man? Ugh.
OH! I almost forgot. I also hated the teenage girl. Loretta, or whatever her name was. She was literally the WORST.