The Four Winds - May/June 2022

[Ben]

The May/June selection is The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah. It's about a mother and daughter who flee their hometown during the Great Depression after the father abruptly leaves. Hannah's book was a huge sensation when it came out early last year. This thread is open to discussion around the book. We will be having a Zoom discussion in June. Details to come.

[Ben]

Here are some questions to get started thinking about this novel.

1. Life was very different for unmarried young women in earlier generations. Expectations for their future were sharply defined. How is Elsa shaped by these expectations and her failure to meet them? How difficult is it to defy both family and society in a small town?

2. “My land tells its story if you listen. The story of our family. We plant, we tend, we harvest. I make wine from grape cuttings that I brought here from Sicily, and the wine I make reminds me of my father. It binds us, one to another, as it has for generations. Now it will bind you to us.” How are people connected to the land that they occupy? What about the land they farm? Describe that unique and complicated connection.

3. Fighting for any kind of social equality or radical change often requires great personal sacrifice. How does Elsa represent the courage it takes to stand up and make trouble and be counted?

4. Did you find the end of Elsa’s and her family’s journey satisfying? Where do you think Ant and Loreda ended up? How do you see Loreda’s life being like her mother’s? How will it be different?

[Ben]

We're meeting via Zoom on Tuesday, June 28 at 7 pm to discuss Kristin Hannah's The Four Winds. Sign up here today: https://barringtonlibrary.libcal.com/...

[Kristina]

I liked the book a LOT,colourful language and work in
Nature environment in ca state

It was bad when labour politics came in to calm
Environment of ca state with mountains

Like to read Pearl buck from Vietnam and about Workning
In rice Fields,comparabel situation

Kristina Martinsson

[Rachelle Z]

I just finished this book a couple weeks ago. Would be interested to hear what others say!

@Kristina Martinsson, The labor politics were very much part of the history of the migrant workers, as the labor camps were quite oppressive to those who made their way to California.

[Kristina]

I could not attend yesterday Evening, i fell asleep
On Sofa, i am in Europe

Can you send recast of Skype yesterday evening or
Write a report What you discussed

Kristina