How is the American Dream defined throughout the story? Do the characters all have differing ideas of what the American Dream means to them? Do you think the American Dream is still something we reach for now, almost 100 years later?ĭiscuss Elsa’s feelings for the land and the farm she lives on. How does Elsa’s life change when she becomes a mother?

How is Elsa’s life defined by the expectations of others, rather than her own desires? Do those external expectations change or shift throughout the novel?

If you have any questions about the Great Depression or you see events referenced you don’t understand, write them down to look up later.

Consider what you know about the Great Depression, and what stories get told about that time period. Check out one of the most iconic images from that time period, Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother, and learn about the context of that photograph. The Four Winds Reading Guideīefore reading, you might want to check out some facts about The Great Depression, and learn about its causes and the effects that the economic downturn had on politics and on the great migration of Midwesterners to the west coast. With her marriage falling apart and no work to be had anywhere, Elsa finds herself faced with an impossible choice: Stay on her Texas farm and fight for the land she loves dearly, or give up everything and face an uncertain promise of a future in California. The story picks up again over ten years later, when the Dust Bowl has ravaged Elsa’s family’s farm and options are bleak.

When she meets Rafe Martinelli, she takes a fateful choice that sends her to the alter with him, and soon finds herself embarking on a marriage to a man she barely knows in order to preserve her reputation. The Four Winds follows Elsa, a young woman in 1921 who is already considered too old to marry. In her latest book, she takes on the years spanning the American Great Depression, which makes for an engrossing and bittersweet saga about loss and starting over…and would a great pick for your next book club meeting! These are some The Four Winds book club questions to get started with! The Four Winds Book Summary Kristin Hannah is known for her sweeping, emotional books that focus on women and their relationships with their families, often set against fascinating time periods throughout history.

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