The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck

I found this amazing; un-put-downable and left me speechless at times. It really stays with you. An understated masterpiece.

I love Steinbeck and this book sums up a whole period in the USA where industrial capitalism takes over the lives of people who don't understand what is happening or why. Money rules and families are just pawns in the game. It is a story of desperation, poverty but above all how there is still kindness and generosity amongst those who have nothing. Get out the tissues!

This is the sort of book to move you on many levels. Through the bleakness of the situation, the families' love for one another shines out. However, this only makes some of the events in the novel even more shocking. A sad sad story, beautifully written. I was sorry to finish it and it left me wanting to know more.

A book I read over a decade ago, but one which stays with me. Set in the Great Depression years, the novel tracks the progress of a family of migrant workers across the American dustbowl. More than just a family saga, Steinbeck's almost biblical language captures the scale of this human disaster, and evokes despair and pity in an almost cinematic way. Coming back the book as a mother, it moves me even more. Timeless classic.