In 2014, All The Light You Cannot See, was on the bestseller lists. The story was set in WW II Europe. It was followed the next year by Kirstin Hannah's The Nightingale, also on the best seller lists. It's also a novel WW II, of two sisters in occupied France. . Both of the books were memorable enough for me to yet recall much of them.
Hannah, has been busy. Since Nightingale she's published twenty two books. The last published is The Four Winds, in 2021. When I sat down to read Winds I'd read 150 pages before I looked up. That's also my memory of Nightingale, real page turners.
Winds is the story of farmers in the Texas plains buffeted by drought and depression. It follows some to relocation to California hoping to find work and stability. It's not a cheery book, recounting the trials and tribulations of ordinary persons facing financial hard times, abysmal weather and rampant discrimination. It is the story of charcter, strong family ties, moral courage, bravery and the struggle for workers equity.
Elsa, the main charcter writes in her journal:
"For most of my life, weather was a thing remarked upon by old men in their dusty hats who stopped to jaw with each other outside Walcott Tractor Supply. A topic of conversation. Farmers studied the sky the way a priest read the word of God, looking for clues and signs and warnings. But all of it from a friendly distance, all of it with faith in the essential kindness of our planet. But in this terrible decade, the weather has proven itself to be cruel. An adversary that we underestimated at our peril. Wind, dust, drought, and now this demoralizing rain, I fear--"
Yes, I recommend it.
Takk for alt,
Al
Today's random: Highway 81, (this 7 miles south of Arlington)is no longer flooded but they're raising and widening it anyway.
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