Calling All Readers: Book Club (1/3) - The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

Welcome to Calling All Readers Book Club!
Week by week, we'll discuss sections of the book we were assigned as a group to read. Our book club is described as "episodic" since we do not read as a group, instead we read on our private time the sections we were assigned to read, and the following week we have an open discussion. We'll note theories, questions, concerns and predictions, until we reach the end.

About the book- 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.

Meeting ID: 842 5277 5083

Schedule:
There are 36 chapters and we're splitting by 12 a week.

Week 1 - First 12 chapters
Week 2 - Next 12 chapters
Week 3 - Final 12 chapters

Page count: 480 pages
Price: $10.13 Paperback
Genre: Historical Fiction

Where to purchase:
[Amazon.com: The Four Winds: 9781250178619: Hannah, Kristin: Books](https://www.amazon.com/Four-Winds-Novel-Kristin-Hannah/dp/1250178614/ref=sr_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ZHk86GYtgb-Hz7mRQwjXxxZXGfffGfmP-AurBj3c7dTijDlU3p4t_x-ht80eqNAPQD5zAzbtBd4KLX6-eHwEa6IFPkdv-bwsPHr_v_8ZAx1reqFSvNVngLhi4mutzSxkYCGscrveZqZrhS-rEEs3iIhgE4guFG592sgFLeXDVKtM3PO-0aJ76lvtuUWTyyEV7Iun4PeX0RPNCVZz6pgjieY8sbVMqhbJiIrPHLu3ReM.wFtDSiYUe24OLiYPFA1QtepJ2mHgQdFuwpGc2JTHXDE&dib_tag=se&hvadid=693652129830&hvdev=c&hvexpln=67&hvlocphy=9021685&hvnetw=g&hvocijid=6270745920843046759--&hvqmt=e&hvrand=6270745920843046759&hvtargid=kwd-1168085036110&hydadcr=10052_13483911&keywords=the+four+winds+-+kristin+hannah&mcid=4453f17921ce3705b0179e7a9698b36b&qid=1790371967&sr=8-1)

About the Author:
Kristin Hannah is the award-winning and bestselling author of more than 20 novels. Her newest novel, The Women, about the nurses who served in the Vietnam war, will be released on February 6, 2024.
The Four Winds was published in February of 2021 and immediately hit #1 on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Indie bookstore's bestseller lists. Additionally, it was selected as a book club pick by the both Today Show and The Book Of the Month club, which named it the best book of 2021.
In 2018, The Great Alone became an instant New York Times #1 bestseller and was named the Best Historical Novel of the Year by Goodreads.
In 2015, The Nightingale became an international blockbuster and was Goodreads Best Historical fiction novel for 2015 and won the coveted People's Choice award for best fiction in the same year. It was named a Best Book of the Year by Amazon, iTunes, Buzzfeed, the Wall Street Journal, Paste, and The Week.
The Nightingale is currently in pre-production at Tri Star. Firefly Lane, her beloved novel about two best friends, was the #1 Netflix series around the world, in the week it came out. The popular tv show stars Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke.
A former attorney, Kristin lives in the Pacific Northwest.

Things to note:
1. This book was voted on by fellow readers of Calling All Readers.
2. Before each meeting, make sure you've read the assigned pages.
3. The author is always notified that our group is reading the book. We'll try to connect with them for an interview.
4. It's okay if you arrive late.