History Through Story
The Four Winds
A Novel by Kristin Hannah
“My land tells its story if you listen. The story of our family.”
Kristin Hannah's novel set in America's dark Depression years, is not merely an entertaining story with a protagonist one can applaud and cry for, it's a deep dive into a time we cannot imagine in our warehouse box stores filled with multi-pack toilet paper. Deprivation of necessities wasn't a light topic for discussion over a cup of coffee.
Within the span of a decade, America no longer the land of abundance, where hard work achieves dreams, has become a wasteland. Millions are unemployed, drought brings storms to carry away farmers' fertile topsoil, and families have lost their homes.
In the center of the storm, Elsa stands alone, determined to provide for her two children. Faced with agonizing choices to stay with the land or leave it behind for an uncertain life in California, she draws on a well of courage she never expected to find within her. Ms. Hannah captures the emotional turmoil tearing Elsa into fragments of herself, revealing in her arc the essence of a resilient spirit.
The reader may discover pieces of forgotten history within the fictional story of Elsa and her children. For me, it was the role of communism in the 1930s as those who worked to unite farm laborers against unfair wages and working conditions. Ultimately, the story becomes a fight for social justice, where Elsa finds her voice.
I highly recommend The Four Winds as an ideal book makes history stick in your memory as no text book could. The quote that resonates for me is that of Loreda.
"Courage is fear you ignore."
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The Samurai's Garden
A Novel by Gail Tsukiyama
From the author Gail Tsukiyama. "On the eve of the Second World War, a young Chinese man is sent to his family's summer home in Japan to recover from tuberculosis. He will rest, swim in the salubrious sea, and paint in the brilliant shoreside light. It will be quiet and solitary."
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In this simple, yet elegant book description, much is revealed about the author's mastery of understatement. Perhaps because I am an artist, the description paints images of what the author has created with words in her narrative of what a sheltered young man encounters within the blissful year of his recovery. Every word is a brush stroke.
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For a typical American reader, the history of tensions between Japan and China leading up to our entrance into WWII are not as well known. Until recently, historical fiction relating to the war focused primarily on European conflicts. As a result, the undercurrent of events in this part of the world enhances the mystery of each character's backstory. Here is where I find the author's strengths as a writer excel, because she never resorts to information dumps. With grace and a true storyteller's slow reveal, she draws the reader into the story as through a door opened the moment when we can no longer hold our breath.
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Even before she introduces the past of master gardener, Matsu, he is a fully formed and intriguing character. She has revealed him to be a humble personage with a hint of his noble character. With each passing month, through the eyes of the young Stephen we come to know and understand Matsu one small story at a time. At its heart, The Samurai's Garden is the older man's story and how he has rescued and cared for a woman shunned by society. Brilliantly combining a love story with the young man's coming of age prepares us for the final revelations of what lies ahead as Stephen is called home to China and the atrocities of war.
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For its fluid style and engaging characters, I may have recommended this book more often than any other in the past year. I believe that Ms. Tsukiyama is no less of an artist than is her tender-hearted protagonist, Stephen.
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Published in 1992, the book may not appear on searches as readily as others written in the time period, but for amateur historians I believe it is well-worth adding to one's library.
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