The Four Winds

It was pretty interesting reading Kristin Hannah's latest, The Four Winds, so soon after reading West With Giraffes by Laura Rutledge. Both historical fiction novels deal with the Dust Bowl. Both have main characters who are looking for the Land of Milk and Honey in California. Their backstories are somewhat similar. But that's where the similarities end.

Elsa Martinelli always felt as though she didn't belong. She never quite fit in. The Martinelli farm is failing. The land has dried up, the town is in the midst of The Great Depression. Eventually, Elsa needs to decide if she is going to stand by the land or travel west to California in search of a healthier, better life.

Hannah says that she has taken some liberties with some of the historical content of the novel, but I believe it is a fairly accurate portrayal of Texas and a part of California in the early 1930s.

This is a novel about overcoming obstacles and finding your voice. Elsa's beloved grandfather always told her to be brave, and if she couldn't be brave, she had to fake it. As life becomes more and more difficult, Elsa is really challenged to be able to do so.

The Four Winds was very well written, harrowing at times, but a book I couldn't wait to get back to each night.

West with Giraffes

One of the nice benefits from being an Amazon Prime member is their monthly first reads program. Every month Prime members are offered 6 to 8 titles that they can purchase for free. I'm not sure how these are selected. Some are new books, some are older. Some months there's nothing that appeals to me. Other months, I have trouble deciding which book to select.

In January, my sister-in-law texted me a recommendation to West with Giraffes, by Lynda Rutledge. I hadn't yet selected my first read title and this was one of them. My sister-in-law have pretty similar tastes in reading so off I went to download this one.

What a different tale this tells. Woodrow Wilson Nickel is an elderly man in a nursing home when he learns that giraffes are going extinct. He had an experience with giraffes back in 1938. He's over 100 and is now determined that his story about his time with the giraffes doesn't end with him.

This is a coming of age story, a story about the benefits that animals bring to the lives of the humans who interact with them, a story about remembering... and about passing along stories to those who might care about the stories being told.

Woody is a survivor of the Dust Bowl. He finds himself in New York facing yet another tragedy when he first spots the giraffes. He learns that they are traveling across the country to go live at the San Diego Zoo. This is based on a true story of the giraffes cross-country trip. It's an eloquent time piece and heartwarming to watch the way Woody grows up and develops as the story moves along.

West with Giraffes is based on a true story of the first San Diego Zoo's giraffes cross-country journey. I highly recommend.