The Four Winds

by Kristin Hannah

[Quirky Cat]

Kristin Hannah is back, and that means it's time to get ready for all of the feels. But seriously, The Four Winds is yet another highly anticipated novel, even if I knew going into it that it was going to make me cry.

Elsa Martinelli grew up believing that she would never be loved. Yet her whole world changed the moment she saw even a glimmer of it, granting her a level of determination and fortitude that she never would have imagined.

Had her story not been set in Texas during the Great Depression, her story might have ended there, with a blooming heart. That is not the case, as she must not struggle to bring her family through the Dust Bowl era, with all the complications one could expect, and about a hundred more on top.

“Courage is fear you ignore.”

If you're looking for a book that will tug on your heartstrings and forge a strong emotional connection to the characters within, then The Four Winds is the book for you. This is by far the most emotionally compelling book I've read this year, and I feel like that is saying something.

Kristin Hannah's writing is evocative and beautiful, creating characters that truly do feel human – the good and the bad. The raw and the beautiful. It's all there, in stark and unavoidable detail. That's a talent she's known for, so I probably should have expected how far this book would bury into my soul.

I didn't, and the surprise made for a wonderful yet painful journey. Think about her writing, and the setting, and my statement will make complete sense, and not contain all that much of a spoiler either.

“A warrior believes in an end she can’t see and fights for it. A warrior never gives up. A warrior fights for those weaker than herself. It sounds like motherhood to me.”

The Four Winds really did blow me away. It was compelling, it was wonderful, and it was everything in between. I'll confess that this book absolutely made me ugly cry, and I'm not even ashamed to admit it either. It just goes to show how well written it is. Hannah really grasped (and portrayed) all the hardship and struggles of these years, while also highlighting the strength of will some people carry within themselves.

Admittedly, that means that this will not be a book I'm rereading anytime soon, but that's okay. It had the impact I was hoping for (more than, really).

Check out more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks