Historical Fiction -- 4 stars
The year 1921 dawns as a time of plenty, but by 1934 the Great Depression has taken hold, drought and dust storms have forced thousands of farmers from their land, and the great migration to the promised land of California is proving to be a lesson in promises not kept. In Texas, with her husband gone and her in-laws' farm no longer able to sustain Elsa and her two children, the decision is made to join the thousands who are seeking a better life in California. Instead they exchange dust and hunger for a new brand of poverty fed by bigotry and greed. ----- Like Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath," this is a book filled with suffering and hopelessness. It is also a story of the resilience of the human spirit, the ability to keep going even when the dark keeps getting darker no matter the effort put into finding the light. I kept turning pages hoping that one thing, anything, would prove Elsa's efforts worthwhile; surely she and her family deserved a break at last. But this is a story based on real American history, and Ms. Hannah refuses to turn away from the truth. Resoundedly atmospheric with strong, well-developed characters, this is a book I loved and hated in equal measure.
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