That hope is quickly dashed when they encounter discrimination, a lack of jobs, and the reality of life in a muddy squatters camp. Or is she partially to blame for being ostracized? Is that an accurate comparison? There were times in my journey when it felt as if that penny and the hope it represented were the only things that kept me going.". "The Four Winds" is epic and transporting, a stirring story of hardship and love that is likely to lead to a film adaptation (Hannahs previous best-selling novel, "The Nightingale," is getting a film adaptation later this year starringDakota and Elle Fanning). I guess the big question iswhat can we learn from history and how to avoid repeating the same mistakes? (Photo by Kevin Lynch). Unlike Elsas birth mother, who only viewed Elsa as sickly and deficient, Rose teaches her how to be strong and capable, instilling in her the importance of hard work and family. Elsa is resilient, and readers will be drawn to her devotion to her children and her tireless efforts to keep her family well, efforts that bring her to pack them up and head west. However, these dreams are never realized, as Jean dies of typhoid in the ditch camp. It is Rafes closeness with Loreda that turns her against her mother, as she comes to view Elsa as the one holding her father back from achieving his dreams. Rafe likes to dream big, and he constantly talks about moving to Hollywood or traveling the world. Rafe was set to go to college but once Elsa is pregnant with his child, those plans are canceled. 2 . He is also not afraid to employ violent means, as he knows that the justice system will side with a wealthy, influential man like him over the impoverished migrant workers. Did you feel compressed by expectation when you were growing up? If there are three dates, the first date is the date of the original document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Were they really communist the union organizers, Why did they have them leave grandmas farm. She watches as the lands around her crack in their perpetually parched state and the hopelessness threatens to breaks the spirit of those around her. The phrase "four winds" is used principally to describe the whole of the earth or heaven. I belong to a book club, run by a dear friend. A first-person narrator announces, "Hope is a coin I carry.". In what ways does hope anchor us in the moment, and in what ways does it push us forward? Is this some type of pronunciation that Im not aware of? Did you identify with Elsa and her journey throughout this book? I listened to the audiobook and loved it. How does her lack of self-esteem color her relationships with her husband and eldest child? The Greatest Generation was shaped by the Great Depression and World War II. The Four Winds is set in the Texas panhandle as the Depression and the Dust Bowl environmental disaster. How does one become American? California is promised as the land of milk and honey and opportunity. They say that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Until the night she meets Rafe Martinelli and decides to change the direction of her life. What about the land they farm? Tony is proud of his land, and he is convinced that it will provide for him and his family so long as he continues to nurture it. However, he also represents resilience and strength, as he is able to find joy and levity in simple things despite the Martinellis circumstances. How does motherhood strengthen a woman? A time of abundance. Why do you think Rafe abandons his family instead of just saying hell go find a job and send money home? The doctor says he must leave to survive, so Elsa packs up the household into the car. Her love of the Martinelli farmas well as the Martinellis themselvesbuttresses her in times of hardship. So even the 30s were so long ago, I think people will see some of our societys current problems made an appearance then as well. Through that door, Elsa saw whole other lives, other futures. Loreda is initially cold toward her mother, as she blames her for her fathers growing depression. Did Elsas married sisters survive? Different translations give . The strike ultimately ends up leading to Elsas death, as she is shot after delivering an impassioned, heartfelt speech urging the wealthy farmers to recognize that migrant workers are Americans, just like them. He brings Elsa and the children to an abandoned hotel where he provides them rooms for the night. What happened to Rafe? Despite Elsas promise that their stay in the camp is only temporary, the scarcity of work and the meager wages force them to settle in for the long haul. When a flash flood hits the migrant camp, everyone there, including the Martinellis, lose everything. Why do you think Rose and Tony are so determined to stay on the land? At the prospect of needing governmental assistance? Ed. Why? How does it weaken her? In The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, Elsa Wolcott is a woman trying to raise two children on farm in the Great Plains during the Dust Bowl following the Great Depression. With her reputation in ruin, there is only one respectable choice: marriage to a man she barely knows. Why is land so important to that dream? Elsa ends up doing seasonal field work for larger farms. Im trying to get a description of the characters for this book. What books influenced you when you were growing up? Rafe Martinelli is Elsas husband. An Italian immigrant, Tony and his wife, Rose, came to the United States with only a few dollars and some grape vine cuttings. Elsas character arc follows a well-worn path, although no less engaging for its familiarity. Life in California is not at all what the migrants expected, what advertisements had led them to believe. An encounter with eighteen-year-old Jesus changes everything. In this tale, Kristin has written a survival story about resilience, love, family, courage and the American Dream. How do we face our own dark times? It's not until she sees Jean die from typhoid and Welty casually decrease the wages for its workers that Elsa realizes she must join in the fight. My land tells its story if you listen. Stella's uncle. What did you think about their romance? While both these novels are survival stories, The Four Winds is the one Id recommend if youre on the fence between the two of them. If you listened to the audiobook, did anyone else notice how the narrator pronounces drought as DROW-TH a bunch of times? Where do you think Ant and Loreda ended up? document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); I really enjoy yourBook club suggestions and Book Club Questions, Preview: The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin, Q&A with Peng Shepherd, Author of The Cartographers, Book Club Questions for Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton, Q&A with Maxine Mei-Fung Chung, Author of the The Eighth Girl, Q&A with Ann Mah, Author of The Lost Vintage, 10 Book Club Books to Read in Summer 2023, Book Club Questions for Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, Review: Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, Book Club Questions for The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes, Book Club Questions for Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, (Updated April 2023) Reeses Book Club Picks: Entire List, Book Club Questions for Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, Book Club Questions for Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan. Rafe opened the door and stood in the opening, his face dusty. Their relationship, though short-lived, makes Elsa feel truly loved by a man for the first time in her life, and she acknowledges that Jacks passion and desire for her have made her a stronger person. Do you or your family have any keepsakes that represent your familys hope for the future? Do you have sympathy for how broken he felt by the poverty and hardship? After the family arrives in California, Elsa feels a mounting sense of guilt as Ant is continuously forced to take on more adult responsibilities, including picking cotton instead of attending school. If youre looking for a feel good type of book. And you couple that with the reality of the impacts of climate change. Thank you Kristin for hours of enjoyment while listening to The Four Winds! publication online or last modification online. She visited Dalhart, Texas, the town where Elsas story begins, and later, after driving remnants of Route 66 west to California, spent time at the Sunset migrant camp near Arvin, in order to see the conditions into which she later placed Elsa and her children. Her dreams of a better future are interrupted who recently moved to Cambridge, MA. Its such a vivid read and you feel like youre right there along with Elsa and her children on this hard journey. The two protagonists of the book, Elsa and Loreda, are both fully drawn and compelling characters. . Despite Loreda's interest in the cause, Elsa firmly resists. She and Loreda clash often, as Loreda is a youthful idealist who views her mothers survivalist mentality as a weakness rather than a strength. When Ana commits a brazen act that puts her in peril, she flees to Alexandria, where startling revelations and greater dangers unfold, and she finds refuge in unexpected surroundings. Elsa is 25, and her parents, wealthy members of the local social scene, consider her too old and too plain for marriage, relegating her to the status of spinster. Indeed, she only ends up marrying Rafe as a result of a surprise pregnancy. But as winter approaches and darkness descends, Ernts fragile mental state deteriorates. Jack helps the Martinellis move into a cabin on camp for a large farming operation, Welty Farms, while also encouraging Elsa to unionize its workers. Disowned by her parents for casting shame upon the family, Elsa marries Rafe and is taken in by Tony and Rose Martinelli, Rafes parents. I make wine from grape cuttings that I brought here from Sicily, and the wine I make reminds me of my father. I found it very depressing and had to force myself to finish it, Just started The Four Winds and Im wondering where Elsa would have found a copy of Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure given the times and small town she lived in. 5: Loreda: Martinelli: Elsa and Rafe's daughter. Uncertain and scared, Elsa reluctantly leaves with just Art and Loreda. Embittered by their terrible luck in California, Loreda resolves to take her mothers body back to Texas and bury her on the farm, in the land she grew to love. With her reputation in ruin, there is only one respectable choice: marriage to a man she barely knows. More broadly, he represents the capitalistic interests of the wealthy farm owners, who rely on exploitative labor practices to increase their profits. The chief of police. Tony and Rose were the kind of people who expected life to be hard and had become tougher to survive. Prejudice: In California, the Martinellis face the dehumanizing prejudice . The two women often fantasize about better times, and they promise to go dancing and drink gin together someday when their situations have improved. She believes that Elsa is the one inhibiting their dreams and does not understand how her mother can work so hard around the farm for so little payoff. Years later, when Loreda is 18, she bids a final farewell to Elsa and the farm as she heads back to California to attend college, the fulfillment of her mothers most important wish. Or do you think theres something deeper involved? Corrections & clarifications: A previous version of this story misidentified a 2018 film titled The Nightingale. The adaptation of Kristin Hannah's book of the same name has not yet been released. If this summary was useful to you, please consider supporting this site by leaving a tip ($2, $3, or $5) or joining the Patreon! Why do you think Loreda doesnt take her education that seriously? With your friends? As the Texas panhandle parches out, Elsa watches their crops wither and has to send her children scrambling through the dirt to find any scrap potatoes that might remain in the fields. Ernt Allbright came home from the Vietnam War a changed and volatile man. The story of our family. Elsa Martinelli was born the daughter of a wealthy farming supply salesman. Rafe is unhappy, drinks heavily and dreams of going West to pursue new opportunities. Chapter 5 Summary. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah is a historical novel about the Dust Bowl and subsequent westward migration by drought-stricken farmers. The catalyst for her decision is the death of her best friend, Jean Dewey, who dies from typhoid in a roadside encampment. I really loved Elsas finding her strengths & the relationship between mother & daughter, throughout the story is fascinating, touching & heart braking, but hopeful! This strains their marriage, and Elsa acknowledges that Rafe never really loved her in the way that she came to love him. She sees early on that the land is dying and tries hard to convince her family to leave for California, though much of this desire is based on the fanciful notions that Rafe has instilled in Loreda about living in a big city and becoming famous. Source materials at the University of Texas in Austin also helped, including the writings of novelist Sanora Babb and the memoirs of many who lived through the Dust Bowl and westward migration, Hannah says. What does it say about Elsa that she went with Rafe so willingly? Kristin Hannahs last novel, The Great Alone, was about a family taming the unforgiving Alaskan wilderness. This holds true when the Bible refers to the "four winds.". Check out my book club questions here. Rafe dreams of leaving for the big city, but does his duty. The second date is today's Book club questions for The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah takes a deep dive into all the major events and character development in this epic read. Loreda longs to leave as well, and she prefers her father's dreams to her mother's dreary, joyless work ethic. Why was it so important for Loreda to get her mother back to Texas, even if at such a high cost? Edit: Someone in the comments mentioned that its mentioned at some point that people in that area pronounced drought as DROW-TH at that time in that case, I love that the narrator included it in the audiobook! It binds us, one to another, as it has for generations. publication in traditional print. Graduated from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore. with degrees in English and Communications. What would you have done if you were in Elsas position? Grounded in meticulous research and written with a reverential approach to Jesuss life that focuses on his humanity,The Book of Longingsis an inspiring, unforgettable account of one womans bold struggle to realize the passion and potential inside her, while living in a time, place and culture devised to silence her. Kristin Hannah had spent a year researching and writing an early draft of her new novel when she realized shed gone astray. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Were you surprised that Elsa set off without her in-laws? She moved in with his family, and together they made a healthy living, raising two children while they worked the earth. Hannah is the author of more than 20 novels, including the bestsellers Winter Garden, Night Road, and Firefly Lane. How does Elsa represent the courage it takes to stand up and make trouble and be counted? The ending was terribly sad, but true to life. Rose and Tonys ability to see beyond Elsas appearance and frailty enables Elsa to rise to meet their expectations, and she becomes a strong and capable farm wife. How do you think future generations will judge the America of today? They pack up the truck and head west, while Tony and Rose stay behind to salvage what they can of the farm. 5 books not to miss: Kristin Hannahs The Four Winds, 'Mike Nichols: A Life'. Its not a difficult read, so if youre on the fence about it, Id encourage you to give it a shot. Why is it a risk to associate with them and what is Elsas hesitation? With its dust storms and earth dry and zigzag cracked, is it like any youve known? They might have come off the boat as Anthony and Rosalba, but hard work and the land had turned them into Tony and Rose. online is the same, and will be the first date in the citation. When Elsa has to tell her children, Loreda blames Elsa (says he left her, not them), and Anthony just doesn't understand. If youre a fan of Kristin Hannah or a historical fiction fan in general, I think youll really like this book. 1. What does she learn by becoming a mother? With her reputation in ruin, there is only one respectable choice: marriage to a man she barely knows. There was a quiet knock on the door. Rafe is her only surviving child, and she admits to having spoiled him as a result. One of the things that was so amazing to me in doing the research was the vast majority of these families who had these Dust Bowl farms, they stayed in the area. He has dreams of moving to a big city. There is a strong thread running through this novel about mans connection to the land. What do Jack and the Communist union organizers offer the migrant workers, and Loreda in particular? An armed guard fires through the teargas and hits Elsa in the abdomen. Lets talk about the climax of the story. Elsa falls in love with a union organizer and helps to organize a strike against their bosses, but gets shot by the farm boss.
