Sign up
Search
Advanced search settings

Search only in certain items:

Search results
All (530)
Content
People
Apps
Books
Orbs
Movies
Music
Podcasts
Shows
Tabletop Games
Tech
TV
Video Games
YouTube Channels
Videos
40x40

ClareR (5721 KP) rated The Four Winds in Books

Feb 28, 2021  
The Four Winds
The Four Winds
Kristin Hannah | 2021 | Fiction & Poetry
10
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Four Winds is about one woman’s determination to keep her family safe in extremely difficult circumstances. It was a tough, emotional read - and I couldn’t put it down.
It’s a period of history that I know little about. I mean, I’ve watched films set in this period where people live on ramshackle farms, or in shanty-type towns, and I knew that it was something to do with the Great Depression. This book describes the side of the story of a family of farmers who lived in the Dust Bowl of Texas.
Elsa lives with her husband, children and his parents on a farm in Texas. Two children later and with the farm failing, Elsa’s husband leaves them to pursue a better life - on his own. Elsa struggles on with her in-laws and children, determined to give Loreda and Ant (her children) a home where they feel loved. But when Ant nearly dies from dust pneumonia, and the farm fails completely, they make plans to leave for California. Elsa reluctantly leaves her in-laws behind (they refuse to leave their farm), because it’s the only way to save Ant.
California isn’t the promised land of milk and honey. They arrive with little money, nowhere to stay, and Californians don’t want to help them. In fact they believe ‘Okeys’ are feckless, lazy, dirty; they refuse to house or employ them. Elsa’s only choice is to live in a tent in an encampment where poverty and typhoid are rife.
I admired Elsa’s tenacity - she works tirelessly for little money to feed her children. It’s a story of one woman’s survival and her need to protect her family.
I didn’t know anything about the Dust Bowl before I read this. I’d heard the term, but I didn’t know about the dust storms, animals dying after being filled up with dust, and people dying from dust pneumonia. This sounds like an exaggerated story, doesn’t it? But it’s not. None of this was unusual.
The Four Winds is a hard, yet compelling read. This is only the third Kristin Hannah book I’ve read, and it won’t be my last!
Many thanks to St Martin’s Press for my e-copy.
  
40x40

Midge (525 KP) rated Mr Doubler Begins Again in Books

Mar 1, 2019  
Mr Doubler Begins Again
Mr Doubler Begins Again
Seni Glaister | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Humorous And Endearing
This is the first book by Seni Glaister that I have read. Why did I choose this book? Well, I was lured by the vague synopsis which piqued my curiosity and I am also a sucker for an attractive front cover, so it ticked some of the boxes for me!

Mr Doubler, a potato farmer, lives alone at Mirth Farm, on top of a hill. He doesn’t need anyone else for company as he is content with just his potato plants and Mrs Millwood, his housekeeper. However, she is taken ill and Mr Doubler starts to feel lonely and his life is no longer as complete as he thought. Before he lost his wife, her friends were always around. Can the kindness of the village strangers bring a lonely man out of his melancholy?

Although ageing, illness, death and the difficulties arising from family relationships are pivotal throughout this book, it is also a story very much about hope.

For me, this is a charming and endearing book and I love the way that Seni Glaister has written about rural life. There are some wonderful descriptions that make me want to make a trip to Mr Doubler's farm and she has created a fantastic set of characters. Whilst they are not all likeable, there are some lovely interactions between some of them as Mr Doubler's life alters course.

I like that Seni Glaister has included plenty of humour in her writing and the story is, for me, very poignant and thought-provoking.
 
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Mr Doubler Begins Again and I would definitely recommend that you add it your reading list.

[Thank you to NetGalley, HQ and the author, Seni Glaister, for a free ARC of this book in exchange for a voluntary, honest review.]