320 pages
English language
Published Sept. 6, 2021 by St. Martin's Press.
Texas, 1921. A time of abundance. The Great War is over, the bounty of the land is plentiful, and America is on the brink of a new and optimistic era. But for Elsa Wolcott, deemed too old to marry in a time when marriage is a woman’s only option, the future seems bleak. Until the night she meets Rafe Martinelli and decides to change the direction of her life. With her reputation in ruin, there is only one respectable choice: marriage to a man she barely knows.
By 1934, the world has changed; millions are out of work and drought has devastated the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as crops fail and water dries up and the earth cracks open. Dust storms roll relentlessly across the plains. Everything on the Martinelli farm is dying, including Elsa’s tenuous marriage; each day is a desperate …
Texas, 1921. A time of abundance. The Great War is over, the bounty of the land is plentiful, and America is on the brink of a new and optimistic era. But for Elsa Wolcott, deemed too old to marry in a time when marriage is a woman’s only option, the future seems bleak. Until the night she meets Rafe Martinelli and decides to change the direction of her life. With her reputation in ruin, there is only one respectable choice: marriage to a man she barely knows.
By 1934, the world has changed; millions are out of work and drought has devastated the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as crops fail and water dries up and the earth cracks open. Dust storms roll relentlessly across the plains. Everything on the Martinelli farm is dying, including Elsa’s tenuous marriage; each day is a desperate battle against nature and a fight to keep her children alive.
In this uncertain and perilous time, Elsa―like so many of her neighbors―must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or leave it behind and go west, to California, in search of a better life for her family.
Content warning Synopis ahead
Really enjoyed this one. It's about the life of a woman during the Dust Bowl and the struggles she and her family go through due to drought and dust storms in Texas after the Great Depression. I came away with quite a few questions about what was going on in that period of US history, especially with regards to workers rights in California and static electricity during dust storms.
Kristin Hannah: I've got a great idea for my next book. It’s a story about a family who leaves the Dust Bowl during the Depression and travels to California where they face hardships and fight against prejudice.
Editor: Um, isn't that just like John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath?
Kristin Hannah: Yes, but my version will be different in several small ways and I won't even mention Steinbeck in the Acknowledgments!
Editor: Well, it's not quite plagiarism, I suppose, and I'm sure it will sell, so let's go for it.
Grapes of Wrath from a female point of view. Resiliency and family.
Kristin Hannah: I've got a great idea for my next book. It’s a story about a family who leaves the Dust Bowl during the Depression and travels to California where they face hardships and fight against prejudice.
Editor: Um, isn't that just like John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath?
Kristin Hannah: Yes, but my version will be different in several small ways and I won't even mention Steinbeck in the Acknowledgments!
Editor: Well, it's not quite plagiarism, I suppose, and I'm sure it will sell, so let's go for it.
Interesting read. The missing fourth star is personal, in that the book was just too bleak for me. Almost suffocating. Obviously the intent, and historically correct, just not my jam.
I got 100 or so pages into it because of great reviews, and indeed, very well-written.
But then began realizing, “What on earth am I doing? This is one of the most grim, horrific times in American history (just short of the Civil War.) So why am I reading page after page of dying birds, trees, cattle, and abject suffering?"
I know stories about this much-ignored time are important. I know the reviews promise ultimate hope.
But I just could not get through the grinding misery, haunted by the fact that for me, it’s only a book. These things really were happening to thousands of families, not that long ago.
If a book makes me lie awake at night in tears, with visions of horrors that were real, I just can’t continue. Maybe another time. Probably not. Just don’t have it in me anymore.
I loved this book. So good to get a picture from part of American history from the women's perspective.
This book is like lying down and letting someone kick you repeatedly.
Except if someone kicks you, at some point they might get tired and take a break.
This book just keeps kicking.
Right up until – and through – the end.
Call me weak, but I'm not a fan of that.
Positives:
This book conjured a vivid picture of what it was like to live through the Depression, deal with the Dust Bowl and be treated like an immigrant in California searching for a better life.
Negatives:
The characters were almost universally unsympathetic, whiney, selfish and unlikeable.
It felt melodramatic – even in hard times, I'm sure there were SOME highlights. This book had none.
The protagonist seemed to only find pleasure in sex. Otherwise her existence was miserable.
**MORE - I'm just too tired to chronicle them and I don't want to spoil the plot.
I hated this …
This book is like lying down and letting someone kick you repeatedly.
Except if someone kicks you, at some point they might get tired and take a break.
This book just keeps kicking.
Right up until – and through – the end.
Call me weak, but I'm not a fan of that.
Positives:
This book conjured a vivid picture of what it was like to live through the Depression, deal with the Dust Bowl and be treated like an immigrant in California searching for a better life.
Negatives:
The characters were almost universally unsympathetic, whiney, selfish and unlikeable.
It felt melodramatic – even in hard times, I'm sure there were SOME highlights. This book had none.
The protagonist seemed to only find pleasure in sex. Otherwise her existence was miserable.
**MORE - I'm just too tired to chronicle them and I don't want to spoil the plot.
I hated this book from cover to cover. I would give it zero stars if I could.
