City girl Elsa Wolcott has been unloved and ignored for her entire life when she unexpectedly ends up pregnant and married to a farmer. As out-of-place as she feels at first, the farm and her in-laws soon become the sort of loving home she never had before. Yet times are tough in the early 1930s, with a never-ending drought and dust storms that drive her husband to leave for (theoretically) greener pastures. But Elsa can't leave the land and people she's come to love, despite the harm it's doing to her children and herself.
This is a beautifully written and evocative story of Midwestern farmers and migrant workers. Hannah's depictions of both the horrendous conditions and mental strength, the fight for rights and the oppression, echoes through the years and is particularly prescient today. An amazing book. No wonder there's such a long hold list for this one.
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