Title: Home Front
Author: Kristin Hannah
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Women’s Fiction
For my March Kristin Hannah Backlist Bookclub we read Home Front! This book was published 2013, but the bulk of the story takes place in 2005 during Operation Iraqi Freedom. As a military spouse who’s husband is a combat arms armor guy and went on three deployments there; I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about this one. And to be honest . . . I’m still not.
Synopsis:
All marriages have a breaking point. All families have wounds. All wars have a cost. . . .
Like many couples, Michael and Jolene Zarkades have to face the pressures of everyday life―children, careers, bills, chores―even as their twelve-year marriage is falling apart. Then a deployment sends Jolene deep into harm's way and leaves defense attorney Michael at home, unaccustomed to being a single parent to their two girls. As a mother, it agonizes Jolene to leave her family, but as a solider, she has always understood the true meaning of duty. In her letters home, she paints a rose-colored version of her life on the front lines, shielding her family from the truth. But war will change Jolene in ways that none of them could have foreseen. When tragedy strikes, Michael must face his darkest fear and fight a battle of his own―for everything that matters to his family.
At once a profoundly honest look at modern marriage and a dramatic exploration of the toll war takes on an ordinary American family, Home Front is a story of love, loss, heroism, honor, and ultimately, hope.
Rating: I’ve chosen to leave this one unrated. Part of me really loved it. And part of me really didn’t. But I think it’s my fault and not the author’s. I read this one with too much of a military microscope. I felt very sensitive to the topics of PTSD and war. I read ever sentence carefully and crucially to make sure it was done right; And less for fiction and entertainment as I should’ve. Kristin Hannah did a superb job and I’m confident, most, like the group I read with will really love this one.
*Thanks to my hubby model who let me snap a quick picture! 😍