The Four Winds audiobook review

By Kristin Hannah
Narrated by Julia Whelan

January 2021 Group Selection

THE WALKING BOOK CLUB SNEAKER RATINGS:

Motivation to Move: 5 Sneakers
Quality of Narration: 5 Sneakers
Overall Experience: 5 Sneakers
Moving and listening time: 15 hours 2 minutes

The Four Winds Audiobook Review: ANOTHER KRISTIN HANNAH GEM!

Once again, you are hooked from the start, especially the audiobook version of The Four Winds. The Walking Book Club listens to audiobooks while moving and rate our selections on motivation to move and quality of narration — five sneaker reviews for all categories.

Julia Whelan delivers once again as the narrator! Her cadence and ability to seamlessly bring each character to life through slight variation in tone give dimension and depth to the story. We’ve had the pleasure of listening to other Whelan narrations in The Great Alone and Educated. She’s a Walking Book Club favorite.

And the story keeps you wanting to move. I appreciated the exploration of mother-daughter relationships in The Four Winds. I was surprised to learn that Hannah’s favorite character in recent books was Elsa (there’s a bonus interview with Hannah and Whelan at the end of the audiobook.) It’s a tough call for me because we loved Isabelle from The Nightingale and Leni from The Great Alone. Character comparison would make for a worthy discussion for book clubs.

Hannah tackles the Depression and Dust Bowl from a female perspective. “I was looking for a story about female strength and that would show history from a female perspective. The Great Depression was a time where there were a lot of women who ended on their own, and there were a lot of women who ended up being primarily responsible for their families. I had never read that story.” The Four Winds delivers.

There is a curriculum of book extras on our Facebook Discussion Group Facebook Page. Simply search the #thefourwinds through the spyglass at the top right of the Discussion Group page. You will find iconic pictures and book quotes that enrich the listening experience.

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