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Four Freedoms: A Novel

3.61 of 5 stars 3.61 · rating details · 152 ratings · 49 reviews

One of the most admired and honored of our contemporary literary artists, author John Crowley now brilliantly re-creates a time in America when ordinary people were asked to sacrifice their comforts and uproot their lives for the cause of freedom.

In the early years of the 1940s, as the nation's young men ship off to war, the call goes out for builders of the machinery nece...more One of the most admired and honored of our contemporary literary artists, author John Crowley now brilliantly re-creates a time in America when ordinary people were asked to sacrifice their comforts and uproot their lives for the cause of freedom.

In the early years of the 1940s, as the nation's young men ship off to war, the call goes out for builders of the machinery necessary to defeat the enemy. To this purpose, a city has sprung up seemingly overnight in the windswept fields of Oklahoma: the Van Damme airplane factory, a gargantuan complex dedicated to the construction of the B-30 Pax, the largest bomber ever built. Laborers--some men, but mostly women, many of whom have never operated a rivet gun or held a screwdriver--flock to this place, eager to earn, to grow, to do their part. Many are away from home for the very first time, enticed by the opportunity to be something more than wife and homemaker. In the middle of nowhere they will live, work, and earn their own money, fearing for the safety of their absent fighting men as the world around them changes forever.

Vi, with her gun of a pitching arm, finds Van Damme after fleeing a dying ranch and a stubborn, broken father to chase a future built on something stronger than poison earth. Connie, once fragile and helpless, follows an unfaithful husband here with their little boy in tow--and inadvertently discovers who she is and what she's capable of achieving. Before Diane can enter the factory's gates, the restless young woman must leave behind the hot music and soldier boys she followed, taking a sudden, bold, and dangerous step in pursuit of something different, adult, and real.

Their journeys will be liberating in ways they couldn't imagine, and will lead each of them to Prosper Olander. Disabled, an artist, a forger, a friend--a surprising lover and compassionate listener--Prosper has followed unlikely opportunity down a painfully twisting path to take his place as the true heart and soul of a temporary city. And before the B-30 Pax takes flight, he will change the lives of four women in profound and unexpected ways.

Destined to stand tall among his previous acclaimed fiction--including "Little, Big"; "The AEgypt Cycle"; "The Translator"; and "Lord Byron's Novel"--John Crowley's "Four Freedoms" is perhaps his most heartfelt and compelling novel to date. It is a moving, evocative, and unforgettable saga of wives, mothers, and lovers--of strangers, outcasts, and damaged Quixotes--who, unmoored by conflict's unpredictable tides, find community, purpose, identity, independence . . . and one remarkable man who will touch them all.(less)

Hardcover, 400 pages

Published May 26th 2009 by William Morrow & Company (first published May 22nd 2009)

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Apr 14, 2013 NC Weil rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

John Crowley explores mind, body, spirit and human society through intriguing individuals. He's unafraid of coincidence, magic, or mystery, every person enmeshed in a life that constricts in some ways but exalts in others.

His 2009 novel Four Freedoms is about World War II America.
"We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression--everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way-- every...more John Crowley explores mind, body, spirit and human society through intriguing individuals. He's unafraid of coincidence, magic, or mystery, every person enmeshed in a life that constricts in some ways but exalts in others.

His 2009 novel Four Freedoms is about World War II America.
"We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression--everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way-- everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want . . . everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear . . . anywhere in the world."
--President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Message to Congress, January 6, 1941

Roosevelt's optimistic assertion is not enough to transform the status quo, but in combination with America's shift to a wartime economy and the removal of white men, drafted and sent overseas, from their accustomed dominance, it adds impetus to a sea-change. Marginalized people - cripples, minorities and women - are suddenly wanted, and paid, to step into the vacancies - and so they flower, and thrive, and find fulfillment far outside their accustomed niches.

We follow Prosper Olander, a young man with a twisted spine and useless legs, who journeys from Chicago to an airplane factory in Oklahoma. This factory, the creation of a pair of brothers long fascinated by flight, is a self-contained village: houses and streets, clinics, child care, a newspaper, cafeterias and entertainment - an ideal community dedicated to war materiel. Its round-the-clock workforce have come from all over the country to earn top wages. Most are women, many married to servicemen but others single, excelling at work they've never before been allowed to do.

Crowley's story flows from one character to another, into their lives and thoughts. We learn important moments in their histories, we see how love and loss have blunted them, and we watch as they form alliances then break them. Prosper, though crippled, attracts certain women, and proves a simpatico and able lover, a catalyst who makes them consider a more open future.

This book is primarily about women: Prosper's father left when he was small, his struggling mother fell ill, he grew up with a pair of maiden aunts. Meanwhile, the women he meets are on their own in ways unthinkable just a few years before, their resourcefulness surprising not just to them but to society at large. One is a standout softball pitcher, another a young mother who becomes a highly competent inspector in the factory.

Crowley fully evokes wartime: the way ramped-up military manufacturing ended the Depression; the rationing of food, gasoline, and other resources; the sounds, smells and habits of an era. Changing circumstances shook society into motion: new places, new roles, new confidence. The weakening of the family gave rise to individual success, and like-mindedness trumped blood ties as people sought personal freedom within relationships. By ending the story after V-E Day but before the servicemen come home, he leaves us with a hopeful vision of America's future - along with the realization that in every era greatness is squandered, and we permit or maybe even welcome the fetters of the past.(less)

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Oct 19, 2010 Linda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: current-events-social-history

If only we had Franklin Roosevelt with us now. This story is much different from The Translator, my first exposure to Crowley. Much is made up in the novel--a family industrial dynasty, a Utopian city on the plains where the world's biggest war plane is under construction, and wonderful characters all deeply involved in America's progress in the war and in civil society.

I had to look up Roosevelt's Four Freedoms since I pulled only two from within the narrative. They are contained in a speech of...more

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Aug 29, 2009 John rated it 4 of 5 stars

Crowley's newest book is a departure from the undercurrent of gentle mystery, paranormal phenomena, myth and literary fantasy that pervade his previous novels like Little Big and the four books that make up the Aegypt Cycle. Four Freedoms is a character study set in the transitional period in America just before and during World War II. The changes that swept the nation during that time, the vast industrial sweep of the war effort across the land and its effects on the women and men working on t...more

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Apr 07, 2009 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars

John Crowley’s Four Freedom’s takes its title from FDR’s speech to Congress in January 1941 in which he says, “In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms:
• “The first is freedom of speech and expression -- everywhere in the world.
• “The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way....
• “The third is freedom from want....
• “The fourth is freedom from fear….”
Crowley’s use of the term, however, doesn’t f...more

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Jul 18, 2009 Aaron rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: esoteric-favorites

Preface:
A few years ago I introduced Crowley's work to my father, by way of Little, Big, which has since become his favorite book... it's likely mine as well. Since my dad still lives in Northampton, MA and I'm quite a few leagues west, when Mr. Crowley announced he'd be doing a reading from his "new novel" at a bookstore in Amherst last week, my dad, great dad that he is, made sure to attend on behalf of both of us. Yesterday I received a mystery box from the good ol' brown truck... inside, a c...more Preface:
A few years ago I introduced Crowley's work to my father, by way of Little, Big, which has since become his favorite book... it's likely mine as well. Since my dad still lives in Northampton, MA and I'm quite a few leagues west, when Mr. Crowley announced he'd be doing a reading from his "new novel" at a bookstore in Amherst last week, my dad, great dad that he is, made sure to attend on behalf of both of us. Yesterday I received a mystery box from the good ol' brown truck... inside, a copy of Four Freedoms, signed by John Crowley with the dedication: "For Aaron, From Dad -- And the Author..." This being the first gift of its kind ever to fall into my hands, you'll have to forgive me if the forthcoming review is just a hair biased.

Review:
Easily Crowley's most accessible book, without question. This time around the 'magic', which is usually one of the most recognizable qualities in Crowley's writing, isn't literal... it's the sense of discovering a fully realized world that seems at once familiar, but wholly new. He taps into a particular nostalgia we can all relate to from watching movies from the time period, and from the photographs, mementos, stories, and lives of our grandparents (or parents, i suppose, if you're older than me). Whatever it is -- and it is clearly a fiction in Crowley's hands -- it rings true. Beyond even the feat of nailing a forgotten time period, the characters are the true heart of the story. They resonate, possessing a life outside the page, tickling the inside of your head with indescribable subtleties... It's a little hard to explain. The story itself isn't so much a progression from point A to Act II to climax and beyond; it's more of an organic composition. The linearity of time isn't necessary, as we shift forwards and back, fleshing out histories, or quickly illuminating how a peripheral character might die decades later. Its a technique Crowley used quite often in the Aegypt sequence, though it appears in much more refined form here (rarely clunky, never frustrating as the John Dee / Giordano Bruno chapters were at times). The structure does throw our well-trained sensibilities for a loop at times, particularly with the way we constantly seem to be introduced to new characters and histories, rather than elaborating on these characters' forward progress, but simply shedding some of our baggage of preconceived notions goes a long way toward enjoyment. Lose yourself in the language, the emotion, and the forgotten time, and you may not want to find your way back.(less)

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Aug 18, 2009 Nancy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I received this book from the publisher. When I started it I though it was going to be about WWII and flying, which was interesting to me because I had two uncles who piloted planes during the war. As the story progressed, it became a character study of a man who worked in plants building planes, during the war. The characters were interesting, "little people" who went into the insides of the wings to finished things off, women who had never had jobs before doing all kinds of assembly, and the m...more

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Feb 20, 2010 The Library Lady rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fiction

I think I bought a paperback copy of Crowley's Little, Big back in college and have read it many, many times since. It's that beautiful and compelling to me.

I have not been a fan of his "Aegypt" series or most of what he has written since. And while this one held me, kept me reading, it did not move me. It seems disjointed and a lot of it seems gratuitous--I didn't find Prosper or most of the other characters as interesting as the Van Damme brothers who begin this book.

I wish he had made them th...more

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Dec 15, 2009 Jim Lane rated it 4 of 5 stars

John Crowley could probably describe a garbage dump and I would enjoy reading it. He brings nuanced insights to light so gently, and illustrates his characters so subtly.

Besides the pleasure of reading his graceful prose, the most enjoyable aspect of this book was the vivid picture of life in the U.S. during the Second World War through the very real feeling lives of the characters. I enjoy musing about Crowley's suggestion of specific historical periods as being fundamentally transforming to t...more

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Jun 01, 2009 Catherine Siemann rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009-favorites

It seems like all my favorite genre writers are turning to literary fiction this spring; at least, China Mieville's The City and the City is set in our world, sort of (though I'd term it Kafkaesque/Bruno Schulzian magic realism). John Crowley's The Four Freedoms is his most straightforwardly realistic novel yet (even The Translator, which seems to be realism throughout has a sudden, transcendant twist at the end). While the story of people working in an aircraft factory during World War II would...more

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Jun 23, 2009 Debbie rated it 4 of 5 stars

A book that takes all of the romance out of the idea of the home front. In this novel several people meet at an airplane factory in Oklahoma. Most of the novel, though, goes back into the lives of several characters telling how they came to be at the factory, and what they were escaping from back home. The freedoms of the title are related not so much to Roosevelt's four freedoms, but to the freedom each character gains in the upheaval of war. Good characterizations, but not a book for people wh...more

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May 16, 2012 Kat rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: wwii, historical-fiction, oklahoma, 2012-read, updated

Four Freedoms was one of the first books I purchased when I was given my first e-reader, erm, 2 1/2 years ago. I looked at it and contemplated reading it several times and each time found something slightly more appealing on my towering TBR.

It was only when I participated in a themed read-a-thon last month and one of the challenges was to read a book that has been on your TBR the longest, it was the perfect opportunity to read it - after all, historical fiction has long been one of my favourite...more

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Jan 01, 2010 Shirley added it

Interweaving of the lives of war-time women with one remarkable man (a lover not a fighter) - interesting because Crowley says in his afterword that his book is set in a place of time and space "of the Mind" which builds on the historical truths of the Home Front and the War - takes a geographical setting and fictionalizes it - makes a living truth of fiction. The plentiful and rich research that went into the novel - ramped up and layered with the imagination.

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May 09, 2011 Ken Ficara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ww2, current

One of Crowley's clearest and most compelling novels ever. Eschewing the multi-level baroque storylines of his more fantasy-oriented work, he tells the story of a bunch of misfits gathered in a midwestern company town to build a new bomber. The evocation of the privations and mood of WW2 America is beautiful, and the characters and story are simple and sad. If "Little, Big" is an intricate cloisonne, this is a sepia photograph.

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Nov 08, 2010 Elizabeth Hunter rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: uw, uncat

Even though World War II is not a period of great interest for me, John Crowley's beautiful prose and deftly drawn characters pulled me in and kept me reading to the end. This is almost a series of short stories, sketches of various women whose lives are changed and dislocated by the war, but all of whom end up in an aircraft factory in Oklahoma where they meet Prosper Olander, a disabled man whose own story ties all the others together.

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Jan 06, 2013 Shane Hatagawa rated it 4 of 5 stars

A very interesting look at WWII, from the perspective of people who stayed in the states, but were still involved in the war effort (building planes in this case). In some ways, it's a romance novel, although as with Crowley's other work, it doesn't have a clear-cut happy ending or moral. It is also interesting for it's detailed description of just what life was like for these americans during this time.

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Nov 10, 2009 Marta Mellinger marked it as to-read

This is a photograph of my DAD on the cover...he found this novel in the Newton Public Library and was astonished to see himself on the cover....a photo taken of him when he was just 16 - he built the airplane he's holding and was launching it at a Wichita, Kansas model airplane competition that he and his friend drove down to compete in....

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Sep 29, 2009 Peter rated it 1 of 5 stars

Meh.

Meh.

Random sex, World War II, a main character on crutches because that's symbolic, random flash-backs, some bizarre character naming schema, and, oh yeah, nothing actually happens in the direct stream of narration. Can't even have a deus ex machina tornado / excuse for an ending without creating a minor character and then not even bothering to describe it.

Meh.

Still liked Lord Byron's Land, though.

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Aug 03, 2010 Plsschoolcounselor rated it 4 of 5 stars

I wasn't thrilled with this book when I first started, I couldn't quite get into it. But I had no other books, so I kept reading... and I really enjoyed the book! I grew to really like the characters and enjoyed reading about a different period of time than I normally read; and a different style of novel.

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Apr 16, 2010 Pamela rated it 5 of 5 stars

This view (through magical realist lenses) of aircraft factory workers during World War II--women and disabled men who make unexpectedly fulfilling lives for themselves and are valued only as long as they can contribute to the war effort--is one of the best novels I've read this year.

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Jul 30, 2009 Cathy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

An interesting, but not captivating, read about a wartime factory during the 40s which is "manned" mostly by women. Strangely, the plot revolves around a disabled fellow, following his life from childhood up until the factory closes post V-E Day. Why he was central is a mystery as it seems like there was a much deeper story waiting to be fleshed out about the women making their way in a world formerly run by men while their men were at war. Our central character meets a handful of these women, a...more

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Aug 26, 2009 Mherriges rated it 4 of 5 stars

As someone who often falls for production author mysteries and the like, I found myself pleasantly absorbed with this story. Crowley has a style that challenges you to pay attention to his writing. I found the lilt of his voice comforting and the reading enjoyable!

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Mar 10, 2013 Barb Peterson rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is a combination of a few things - first a story of some different types of personalities set in the same situations. Also, the historical notes are interessting. It's a good read

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Aug 09, 2011 Wendy added it

I didn't really read this. But I like to use this as a rating system for books. I was very disappointed that the author, whose "Little Big" was so good, can be so vulgar. I had to stop reading.

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Jun 23, 2009 Kathy Horgan rated it 4 of 5 stars

It started out slow and I had a hard time getting into it. Once I got to the 3rd chapter,I had a hard time putting it down. Great stories of the role of women in industry in WW2.

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Oct 29, 2010 The Reader's Bookshop rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book started a bit slow but just kept getting better and better. It really grew on me. And by the end I felt like I wanted to read it again. Really well written,.

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Sep 03, 2009 Dawn rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was beautifully written--lyrical sentences, but not "show-off" sentences. Characters were well-developed and I really cared about what happened to each one.

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Aug 25, 2010 Cmbrooks rated it 4 of 5 stars

An imaginary factory city, where great airplanes are made during World War II, and some of the people who lived in it. Very well written.

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Sep 19, 2009 Carolyn is currently reading it

One of my favorite authors ...this time writing about a group of people brought together in 1940s to build planes in Oklahoma.

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Jul 06, 2009 Selene Gudino rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, read-2009

John Crowely is a very talented writter... i didn't think i'll like this book but i found myself getting so involved with the characters.. they are so unique and at the same time you can relate to them.
This is a very good novel to spend your time.. weather you have ot of time to read or you have just a few minutes a day, i strongly suggest this one.

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Dec 21, 2011 Cliff Thompson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Looks to be my first non-fantasy by Crowley, but I may be wrong; I've avoided reading the description on the endpaper, but was hooked y the end of the first paragraph.

Now finished - Marvelous, Crowley does a masterful job of delineating the lives of people who are brought together at an airplane factory during World War II. I miss his fantasy/magic realism writing though; after I reread the Solitudes series, I'm going to catch up on his other work that I haven't read. Great to be reminded of why...more

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About John Crowley

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

John Crowley was born in Presque Isle, Maine, in 1942; his father was then an officer in the US Army Air Corps. He grew up in Vermont, northeastern Kentucky and (for the longest stretch) Indiana, where he went to high school and college. He moved to New York City after colle...more Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

John Crowley was born in Presque Isle, Maine, in 1942; his father was then an officer in the US Army Air Corps. He grew up in Vermont, northeastern Kentucky and (for the longest stretch) Indiana, where he went to high school and college. He moved to New York City after college to make movies, and did find work in documentary films, an occupation he still pursues. He published his first novel (The Deep) in 1975, and his 15th volume of fiction (Endless Things) in 2007. Since 1993 he has taught creative writing at Yale University. In 1992 he received the Award in Literature from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
His first published novels were science fiction: The Deep (1975) and Beasts (1976). Engine Summer (1979) was nominated for the 1980 American Book Award; it appears in David Pringle’s 100 Best Science Fiction Novels.
In 1981 came Little, Big, which Ursula Le Guin described as a book that “all by itself calls for a redefinition of fantasy.”
In 1980 Crowley embarked on an ambitious four-volume novel, Ægypt, comprising The Solitudes (originally published as Ægypt), Love & Sleep, Dæmonomania, and Endless Things, published in May 2007. This series and Little, Big were cited when Crowley received the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature.
He is also the recipient of an Ingram Merrill Foundation grant. His recent novels are The Translator, recipient of the Premio Flaianno (Italy), and Lord Byron’s Novel: The Evening Land, which contains an entire imaginary novel by the poet. A novella, The Girlhood of Shakespeare's Heroines, appeared in 2002. A museum-quality 25th anniversary edition of Little, Big, featuring the art of Peter Milton and a critical introduction by Harold Bloom, is in preparation.

Note: The John Crowley who wrote Sans épines, la rose: Tony Blair, un modèle pour l'Europe? is a different author with the same name. (website)(less)

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