The Four Winds

First of all, I have to say that I really enjoyed the narrator for the audiobook version. She did a great job with the southern accents and differentiating between the characters' voices. I'm generally a book “reader” not a “listener” but I've started listening to an audiobook during my evening commute to take my mind off the traffic and am really enjoying it.

Now that I've got my audiobook review out of the way, on to the book itself. Kristin Hannah is a great writer and you can tell she did an immense amount of research on the time period and the various difficulties the characters encounter. But it's one of the most depressing books I've ever read. It's the Depression in the Dust Bowl. The hardships are numerous, even more so for the main character, it seems. I got so sick of the dirt, heat, deprivation, and starvation. I also found myself crying in my car on several occasions while listening to a particularly sad part. I'm glad I read it, but I'm glad it's over too. Honestly, if it hadn't been for book club I may not have stuck it out and finished it because of how depressing it was.