An extremely boring and shallow exploration of the US during the dust bowl. I, a self purported hater of Steinbeck, wish I had read The Grapes of Wrath instead. Among other things, my main complaints are the characters and the writing style. The characters are just not deep or interesting at all, and there is little to no foundation for their relationships despite this being OVER 400 PAGES??? Example: pretty immediately Elsa starts a thing with this almost literal child and we are supposed to root for that? Despite there never being any foundation for their "love"? I also could not find it in my heart to like Elsa or her daughter even a little bit. Elsa was painfully pitiful, even when she was supposedly being strong for her family, and her daughter was the stereotypical idealist who can't get along with her mom. As for the writing style, I am not a believer that saying one word in italics on its own line will convey any depth of meaning. It just felt like I was reading a book for 10 year olds. Maybe I was. I'm not sure.Final thoughts: disappointed. I can't believe I spent a gift card on this. ( )

As someone who grew up in California, I find it deeply shameful that my education (which was in many ways excellent) did not address nor talk about the horrors of the Dustbowl and the migrants who came West seeking refuge. Sure, there was mention of Cesar Chavez and the Delano Table Grape strike at some point, but other than that, if you had asked me who the "Okies" were, I could not have told you until much later in life, when Dorothea Lange's famous photograph "Migrant Mother" (1936) finally posted on my radar screen. Kristin Hannah's beautiful novel helps to give voice to the Americans who were so mistreated--by local governments, by the Federal government, by private interests--and in so doing unearths a pattern of power that has plagued us since the first colonists oppressed and stole land from indigenous peoples.

The story is generational as well...Elsa Martinelli works hard not to recommit the sins of her unloving and abusive parents, and each new challenge adds dimension and growth to her character. Elsa's daughter Loreda navigates abandonment while also slowly shaping her own sense of justice. Elsa's in-laws represent the deep connection farmers have to the land, and the faith they hold on to that it will provide--even when it does not. Hannah writes of community in the darkest hours--whether it is a kindred soul in a tent-city, a handful of folks with the courage of their convictions, or a librarian surreptitiously providing access to education. Her characters are strong and vibrant, set against beautifully rendered scenery (some of it gorgeous, some of it awful).

[VERY MILD SPOILER IN NEXT PARAGRAPH]
The American Dream is very real, and Hannah exposes the rips and tattered shreds alongside the hope and abundance. The Great Depression is in the past, yes, but it would be folly not to understand the legacy of its narratives. My only true disappointment with the book is the deaths, as there are but two major ones--both women--and I think it (slightly) undermines the celebration of women that is the spine of the story, but it is recompensed by the unresolved disappearance of someone who seems like he might be a major character. Hannah artfully turns the road of the narrative from where it might have gone at the outset and centers it on the story of Elsa. ( )

Excellent book about the dustbowl and the hard time the migrants faced in CA and how they were taken advantage of by the farm owners. It's a history I did not know and was shocking to read. The descriptions of the conditions in both Texas during the dustbowl era and CA at that time were really well done.

I listened to this book and the reader was excellent. So well done. ( )

When Elsa, told over and over by her parents that she is unattractive and won’t amount to anything, finds a boy who likes her (Rafe), she ends up pregnant. Their parents force them to marry, and though Elsa loves Rafe, he does not seem to return the love. By the mid-1930s, they have two kids: Loreda (13) and Anthony (aka Ant, 7?), but life on the farm in the Texas panhandle during the Dust Bowl is incredibly difficult. So difficult, Rafe up and leaves. Elsa, her kids, and his parents (who have grown to love Elsa like a daughter) are left to struggle on their own. After too many dust storms and Ant getting too ill from all the dust, the three of them pack up and head to California. Of course, California is not the place it was made out to be: “the land of milk and honey” it wasn’t!

This was another slow-moving book, but she did such an amazing job describing the conditions – the dust storms and the struggles in Texas, as well as living conditions and struggle for survival once they got to California. It went in a direction I didn’t expect toward the end. It did remind me of “The Grapes of Wrath”, though I don’t recall details on that one; it’s been a long time since I read it. ( )

Amazing writing. Beautiful description of great plains unfolding. So very impressed. TWO thumbs up. ( )