She misses her mother. Once Loreda meets Jack, her mindset begins to shift quickly. At the station, she recognizes the man she saw get beat up when she was waiting in the food line (Jack Valen). Meanwhile, Elsa finishes her workday and exchanges her chit (payment for her work) for credit (theres a 10% fee for doing so and no other place to cash it in). She puts the gas mask on Loreda and they hide in the darkness, under a sheet thrown over a table. The family is overjoyed. She says goodbye to her kids, and asks Jack to take them home. The next morning, Jack wakes Elsa with a kiss. Right before they depart, Tony and Rose announce that they are not leaving. Excerpt from Amazon: Texas, 1921. Meanwhile, Loreda now sees Elsa as the person who is trying to trap her into a life that she doesnt want, and she resent her mother and her mothers love for her because of it. Farmers are fighting to . . Hes not enthused about it, wanting to learn by doing instead. Loreda recognizes Mr. Welty who advocates for ending relief during cotton picking season. In this uncertain and dangerous time, Elsa Martinellilike so many of her neighborsmust make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or go west, to California, in search of a better life. Its 1921 in the Texas Panhandle town of Dalhart, and Elsinore Elsa Wolcott is turning 25 tomorrow. The Life-Changing Energy Medicine Program. What Loreda wanted was not to leave her family, but to feel like she had something to fight for, a goal to be going toward and something she could do to better her life. The woman also says they dont rent to Okies, and instead, the woman directs her to a campground. Similarly, she saw how Rafe tried to be happy at the beginning of their marriage, but has watched as he gave up in the face of poverty. Loreda goes outside to find Rafe crying. When Elsa digs up her flower and it slumps over in the dirt, its a symbol of how Elsas hopes for this land and this place have officially been dismantled. Doing stuff only out of responsibility and necessity is disheartening to him. He mentions a new shipment of red silk that her sisters might be interested in, but Elsa decides to purchase it for herself. In the Welty camp, Elsa enjoys the convenience of having shopping and laundry nearby, but she notes that the stores prices are quite high. When she goes home and tells Loreda that they need to stay at the camp for now, Loreda is horrified and angry, but its the only option. Loreda screams and cries, while Ant is sad and cries. The dust storms rage for the entire week. pain are too much and too descriptive and colourful. As art comes toward them, Elsa sees that Art has no shoes (they broke), and then they head off into an uncertain future. Jack encourages Elsa to speak to the crowd, but Elsa pushes Jack to speak. Men with weapons emerge from the trucks, looking for people. Tony and Rose pretend that they are going with them until the last minute, because they know that Elsa needs to go but will be reluctant to leave them behind. Loreda interrupts their conversation and tells them that she thinks they should strike. The woman tells her to take some shoes and clothes, and she instructs Loreda to help pour coffee if she wants to help. "Hope is a coin I carry. They watch in horror as the flowing waters dismantle their tent and their stove is washed away. They listen in on the meeting, but then the sound of truck engines and a spray of headlights cause the men to disperse. Elsa had rheumatic fever at 14, which cut off her studies. The boss requires that they purchase Welty bags even though they have their own. She claims to be 13, but the truck driver knows shes lying. Then, he disowns Elsa and leaves. Still, as the cotton picking continues, theres a tension among the workforce regarding the decreased wages. All 68 characters in The Four Winds are listed by chapter with character descriptions included. The Four Winds (St. Martin's) by Kristin Hannah is a sweeping saga of a family's struggle to survive set against the backdrop of The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl of America's Plains states. Elsa rushes inside with the rest of the family. And when she gets home, Elsa tells herself to be brave before chopping off her hair into a chin-length bob. At the party, she also runs into Rafe, who looks uncomfortable because he is with his wife, Gia Composto. She fears that her future will consist of living with her parents and their household maid, Maria, eventually caring for her parents when Maria retires. He still longs for big-city life and his unhappiness over it likely drives his drinking. They purchase supplies from Eugene on credit. In February, Elsa has the baby, a little girl they name Loreda (after her grandfather Walter who was born in Loredo). Gia: Composto: Rafe's fianc. Jack takes Elsa to a Welty camp where there is a cabin that vacated yesterday. Her unloving parents keep Elsa . It was believed that the Romans pray to him for protection and guidance towards victory. So appreciative that this is available. Then one night as they are sleeping, a flash flood hits. Instead, she puts him in a wheelbarrow, so she can push him the two miles into town. She assumes that worst that Ant is dying, but the adults dont want to tell her. Elsa is genuinely surprised to be pregnant since she doesnt know how any of it works, and the books of fiction she reads dont really cover the technical details of what happens after sex or the conditions under which someone gets pregnant. Elsa knows that everyone has received instructions to go into the fields and sit, but no one moves so she takes her kids and they go first. As the people flee, Elsa turns back to get their truck. Millions are out of work and a drought has broken the Great Plains. The Four Winds is a historical fiction that recounts a survival story centered on a mother and daughter. Elsa notes that it was only possible to live without love when youd never known it. She is hurt by Loreda withdrawing and rejecting her because she recalls what it felt like to have that closeness. The night she meets Rafe Martinelli changes everything in more ways than she could have ever imagined. A testament to hope, resilience, and the strength of the human spirit to survive adversity, The Four Winds . May 11, 2022 ; Posted by what are chemokines and cytokines; Kristin Hannah. She waits for hours in the cold to pick up a small box of food, though shell have to wait another two weeks to get another. The next morning, Elsa finds Rafe at the family cemetery in front of the headstone of their son. The Four Winds is not the book for you if you're looking for an easy read that you can just blow through (no pun intended) and say, "Yeah, that was great." No it's a real story of a horrible time in American history. The campground is filled with tents and looks like a shantytown, but Elsa doesnt want to drive around and waste gas when they only have $27 left. Ultimately, Elsa knows that if she stops trying and admits defeat that it sends the message to her children that even she thinks theres no hope which would be bad for their morale. As Elsa gets settled, shes surprised to find the Martinellis have no indoor plumbing. The alternative is to give them false hope that hell be coming back, only to realize painfully and slowly over time that he wont be returning. Even without the card yet, the woman still lets her check out a book for now. Phases of life? Rose agrees. The workers then filter into the fields, and the strike continues that day. If this summary was useful to you, please consider supporting this site by leaving a tip ($2, $3, or $5) or joining the Patreon! Once she realizes that unionizing is a do-or-die prospect for her and her family, its clear to Elsa what needs to be done. In 1921, as a sickly, homebound teen, Elsa dreams big. Elsa, Loreda and Ant visit a barn that serves as an office for the Communists. The meeting takes place in the old schoolhouse. In the prologue, the narrator makes a pointed statement about how saying are always about men or a man. Meanwhile, Loredas perspective is shaped by the time shes living in. Rafe Cameron is one of the main characters and the secondary antagonist in Outer Banks. With that, Elsa decides they are leaving immediately while theyre all still alive. She feels restless and destined for spinsterhood. When school lets out, Loreda tells her mother that shes going to have to work as well so they can save money that theyll need when theres no work during the winter. Her dress is made from old flour sacks, as is customary now. The truck driver introduces himself as Jack Valen. When Elsa goes to pick up her kids from school, she finds out that Ant got in a fight when he was punched by another kid and Loreda was laughed at by the other kids for her lunch food. The next day, Elsa gets the kids ready for school a mile away. He came toward her, sat down on the bed. But Hannah structures this narrative in a way that forces the reader to think about the things that Elsa likely took for granted as well. Elsa runs inside and looks for the kids, but Ant says Loreda has run away. This exquisite novel follows Elsa through nearly two decades of hardship, including the Dust Bowl, droughts, the Great Depression, migrant farming in California, and a devastating flood. When she attends the party, Elsa is upset at the sight of her sisters red silk clothing. I often read my book club selection as soon as it is chosen, then forget details by the time it rolls around. Before she departs, Rose and Tony announce they won't be going. Afterwards, they see another dust storm headed their way. I knew this would be a big hit for 2021 and that's why I included it in my huge must-read book club picks for 2021 list. The last part where Elsa magically finds . . Elsa and Loreda decide that they will both work instead of having Loreda go to school. Hannah also throws in various historical details. Still, she does not give up and eventually improves. Different translations give . Over time, Elsa finds her place on the Martinelli farm, and the baby (name Loreda) is born. She says that she loved her son too much, just as Elsas parents loved her too little. T he Four Winds is a 2021 novel about the Martinelli family, who migrate from Texas to California during the Dust Bowl. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as the crops are failing, the water is drying up, and dust threatens to bury them all. Still, Elsa knows theres a longer road ahead since most of the people have no savings and the Welty store and credit will not be available to any of them. Loreda returns home and apologizes to her mom. If my Twitter feed is any indication, THE FOUR WINDS is one of the most highly anticipated books of 2021, which is not surprising. Rose Martinelli (Rafes mother) protests at first, but Tony puts a stop to it and quickly decides that Rafe needs to marry Elsa. The next day, Elsa stays asleep, too sad to get out of bed. When the woman refuses, Elsa grabs a bat and smashes the door and the desk until the woman gives her the aspirin in fear. Elsa is reading The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton when she gets up the nerve to talk to her father about potentially attending college. Theres a steep learning curve, but eventually they are able to get to the point where they pick enough cotton to be earning around $4 a day between the two of them. Loreda longs to leave as well, and she prefers her father's dreams to her mother's dreary, joyless work ethic. Even with the gas mask, Ant is weak, has a bad cough and is soon unable to get out of bed. In the The Age of Innocence many of the characters sacrifice their personal freedoms and what their heart desires to their detriment, and they end up full of regrets. When she's finally able to leave with her kids, they become migrant workers in California -- which she quickly realizes is an exploitative system. Good recap and commentary. The phrase "four winds" is used principally to describe the whole of the earth or heaven. She has a fever, and she thinks its typhoid. At church, another family inquires about whether Rafe has found a job, since Tony has not told them the shameful truth that Rafe abandoned them. Her decision to cut her hair is likely because it serves as a loud signal to everyone else that they should look at her differently than before. With her dress and makeup on, she walks down the stairs with confidence. Loreda Martinelli is the result of Elsa's shotgun wedding, and Rafe's stories inspire her to become a dreamer like her young mother. Elsa, Loreda and Ant all get ready to pick cotton. That night, Loreda acknowledges that shes been a crumb (a jerk) to Elsa since Rafe left. What were the four winds referred to in the title? By giving her the penny, they are endowing her with their hopes and dreams as she takes their grandchildren to build a new life. Loreda scares him off with the shotgun. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as crops fail, water dries up . When Elsa gets to the front of the line, she learns that because shes capable of picking cotton (as demonstrated by her address at Welty Farms), shes not eligible for relief during cotton picking season. They dont have proper shoes and theyd likely need to walk a thousand miles. His kids pick cotton, too, instead of going to school since otherwise they would starve. They talk about how everyone is leaving, and how they could die out here. Elsa Wolcott is the eldest daughter in a middle-class family that treats her like an ugly heirloom. After Elsas unpleasant encounter with a man who assumes they are impoverished, she considers the discriminatory attitudes her own father had held against people of different backgrounds. Your email address will not be published. Elsa stops at a gas station in time to see a hunger riot nearby as a mob attacks a grocery store belonging to the local mayor. The novel is a sweeping, emotional story of love, family, and survival, set in Texas and California during the dark days of The Great Depression. Rafe is engaged to a girl from another Italian family and on his way to becoming the first Martinelli to have a university degree. realize were true when I read the book . In 1921, Elsa Wolcott is a 25-year-old unmarried woman who is not particularly pretty and too tall for most men. what happened to rafe in four winds. Elsa soon realizes that Welty's camp is designed to keep their workers poor and indebted to them, but she doesn't want to risk her job. When they stop for the night, a man tries to siphon their gas and demands Elsas money when she spots him. Never seen or heard from again, I would have liked . The next day, her mother offers little sympathy. In Chapter 18, we learn that the huge dust storm was on April 14, 1935, an event dubbed Black Sunday by the newspapers. Life is good for many years for the family until there was a drought and many farm families paid a high price for the way in which they had been farming. Despite knowing the logistical reasons why the plan was bad, a part of Elsa wishes she wouldve just agreed to go to California, and she misses Rafe. 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