Review: Home Front by Kristin Hannah

First of all, I want to thank the men and women of the armed forces that protect this great country of ours.  If not for your loyalty, honor and sacrifice this country would be a shell of what it is today.  Thank you so much and may God Bless You!

"Home Front" is an amazing novel about how war affects not only the men and women serving in our military but also for the spouses, families and friends that remain behind.  I cannot imagine the toll it must take on all concerned.  Not only is it a struggle to leave or be left behind, be in the midst of a war or at home praying to God that your loved one is safe, but also when returning home the transition that everyone must go through, it is so heart wrenching. 

Kristin Hannah does an exceptional job of portraying life with PTSD and the effects of war.  This book is an emotional read with much detail and yet like Hannah's other novels reads very smooth and fast, you will not want to put it down.  Highly recommend for book club discussion. 

SYNOPSIS by Barnes & Noble

In her bestselling novels Kristin Hannah has plumbed the depths of friendship, the loyalty of sisters, and the secrets mothers keep. Now, in her most emotionally powerful story yet, she explores the intimate landscape of a troubled marriage with this provocative and timely portrait of a husband and wife, in love and at war. 

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 an unexpected 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.

FAVORITE QUOTES:

"We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us." - Marcel Proust

"Some families were like well tended parks,with pretty daffodil borders and big, sprawling trees that offered respite from the summer sun.  Others were battlefields, bloody and dark, littered with shrapnel and body parts."

"A good offense was the best defense."

"I'm here for you.  I've got your back."

"Motherhood in the preteen years was a series of paper-cut disappointments."

"Marriages go through hard times.  Sometimes you have to get in there and fight for your love.  That's the only way for it to get better."

"I guess war doesn't only change the warriors.  Those of us on the home front go through our own stuff."

"To young to have a beer but old enough to keep his head calm in battle and die for his country."

"I saw firsthand how good men could be swallowed by war.  The human mind can't safely or healthily process that kind of carnage and uncertainty and horror.  It just can't.  No one comes back for war the same."


RATING - 5 STARS  - AMAZING!!