Home Front [Kindle Edition]

Kristin Hannah (Author)

Book Description

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. 

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Delilah Reflects On What Makes Home Front Great

A "best friend" to millions of women, Delilah blends 5 hours of music with listener call-ins, personal anecdotes, and interviews with top artists, touching lives and giving comfort through music. Delilah is a full-time mother sharing family stories through the airwaves. Her family is the center of her life, reflected nightly on her show. With 12 kids, she can relate to callers who juggle kids, family and work.

Kristin Hannah's written so many good books that I knew this one--her 20th book--Home Front--was going to delight me. And it did. But in ways I did not expect when I started reading the story and met Jolene, the character in this book that so many women have related to.

Jolene is a woman like so many of us, busy as a mother and a wife, with smarts and potential that might never be fully explored, if only because of the priorities in her life. Her selfless act of enrolling in our National Guard hints at that and her selflessness, and that act alone changes her life forever. And that of her family, forever.

What Jolene discovers in herself is an amazing ability to use her intellect and instincts to be a true hero in the middle of a war, and to carry the burdens of what so many of our men and women experience in wartime. My own trip to Iraq and Afghanistan to visit our troops years ago allowed me to understand for the first time how truly hard war is.

So many men and women in uniform keep the secrets and burdens of what is witnessed to themselves. It's our secrets that keep us captive. I found myself feeling Jolene's pain and stress as she returned home to family life, and thought of the number of listeners that have called me over the years hinting at the same issues of post-traumatic stress that ripple through each family.

Home Front is the kind of story that keeps you awake longer than you want to, reading in the few quiet moments of my day, negotiating with myself for just ten more pages, and then ten more.

Home Front is a story that keeps you reading longer than you tell yourself you're going to allow yourself. It's that good!

Review

“Hannah masterfully details the unraveling of a family.” —Associated Press on Night Road

“Kristin Hannah is back in top form with…Night Road. The novel grips the reader from the
first appearance of despondent 14-year-old Lexi Baill…[and] will hook Hannah fans from start
to suspenseful finish.” —Washington Post

“Night Road is a do-not-miss for fans of Jodi Picoult and will stay with you long after you’ve
turned the last page.” —Justine Magazine

 

“[A] rich, multilayered reading experience, and…an easy recommendation for book clubs.”
—Library Journal, *starred review on Night Road

 

“Hannah’s latest is a moving and realistic portrait of a complex and enduring friendship.”
—Booklist on Firefly Lane

 

“[Hannah] really knows what women-her characters and her audience-want.”
—Publishers Weekly on True Colors

“This terrific buddy saga about two best girlfriends who survive all sorts of escapades and
catastrophes will inevitably provoke comparisons with Iris Dart’s ‘Beaches,’ but the story is
all Hannah’s own.”
—The Seattle Times on Firefly Lane

“You cannot read Night Road and not be affected by the story and the characters. The total impact of the book will stay with you for days to come after it is finished.”
—Newark Star-Ledger

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 733 KB
• Print Length: 397 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0312577206
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; Reprint edition (January 31, 2012)
• Sold by: Macmillan
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005OQGC1Q
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,386 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #57 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Family Life
  • #71 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Women's Fiction > Domestic Life

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

147 of 162 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars ANOTHER WINNER FROM KRISTIN HANNAH November 28, 2011

By Maudeen Wachsmith VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Ahhhh --- the newest Kristin Hannah book. Perfect for the day it came in the mail - a windy, rainy autumn day. I snuggled in knowing full well that once I got started reading, I wouldn't budge until I finished. The only negative thing about reading a Kristin Hannah book is knowing I'll have to wait a year until the next one. I have come to expect not only a quality read, but one in which I will be emotionally involved. As a reader I don't feel like I'm merely a spectator to the drama in a Kristin Hannah book. I become part of it. HOME FRONT was all I expected--and more.

After a tough childhood and the death of her parents, Jolene enrolled in the "high school to flight school" program. Now, 23 years later, she's a Blackhawk pilot with the National Guard. Married to Michael Zarkades, they are the parents of 12-year-old and four-year-old daughters, Betsy and Lulu and lead an idyllic life on the shores of Liberty Bay in Poulsbo, Washington.

Michael, who recently lost his father and business partner, is a workaholic. He has been getting home later and later each night, leaving a resentful Jolene to make excuses for his multiple absences from family and children's activities. Things escalate until, in midst of a heated argument, Michael tells Jolene he no longer loves her. It's like a slap in the face.

The two are unable to reconcile before Jolene and her best friend and neighbor, Tami, are deployed to Iraq. Now Michael (with help from his insightful mother, Mila) is left to assume a role he has no experience in, with daughters he barely knows. When the unthinkable happens, will Michael swallow his pride and let Jolene know how he really feels before it's too late?

Hannah excels in the women's fiction subgenre of domestic drama; in fact, I don't know of anyone who does it better. Added in is the subject of PTSD and the commentary on how the VA in particular, and government in general dismisses the critical condition of the brave men and women who have served their country until many times it's too late. The lives of both Michael and Jolene finally come together when his client, an ex-marine accused of killing his wife is able to provide assistance neither one of them saw coming. Hannah is able to address the issues here without becoming political, something that could push many readers' buttons.

Hannah's keen observations of the human condition and family life along with her spot-on descriptions of the landscape further makes the reader one with the story. The mist on Liberty Bay is as keenly felt as the heat and sand in Iraq. Kristin Hannah is simply one of the best, if not THE best writer of women's fiction today. Read HOME FRONT and see why she is beloved by so many readers. I can't recommend a book more highly than to say I will be buying copies for my daughter and her daughter-in-law, whose husband (my grandson) has just recently returned from Iraq.

52 of 58 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars RUN out and get it! November 27, 2011

By Tonya Speelman VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

I waited forever for this book... doesn't it seem like that with all the good ones?? I am soooo going to carry this book with me for awhile. Kristin Hannah writes about subjects that are very in-depth -- I know with Winter Garden I needed tissues after reading the ending. With Home Front, you will need tissues throughout! Just sayin!

We meet Jolene and Michael. Married with 2 girls. Michael is a defense attorney and Jolene is a woman helicopter pilot for the Guard. Michael has taken Jolene for granted and not really been there for her. It all comes to a head one night when he tells her he doesn't love her anymore. The VERY next day, she gets orders to go to Iraq.

Michael and the girls are all feeling different emotions, but Michael doesn't have a change of heart then. Can you imagine? Your wife or husband going to Iraq, who knows if they will return or not? And you don't tell them you were sorry and love them and support them.

So what happens from there? READ IT! You will tell everyone to read it after you are done. I never really thought about what happens when they come home. However, even though they are back in the States with such trauma as they are put into over there, PTSD is real over here.

More importantly, what are we doing to support our troops when they come home? That is a good question for all of us to ponder!

Thanks Kristin, for another outstanding read! Any book that makes you think like this, is an excellent book in my opinion!

I received this book for free from Amazon in exchange for my honest opinion.

100 of 121 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars From a military spouse February 8, 2012

By AndreaF

Format:Hardcover

While I appreciated the focus on military families and PTSD, I was less than enamored of this particular family and their struggles with a deployment, an injury obtained in theater, the return of the military member, and just life in general.

I found Michael, the military spouse, to be extremely unlikable from the first "this war is stupid and I don't support you" moment. ESPECIALLY considering the fact that Jolene was an army reservist before they even started dating; did he mention how he felt and she said, "okay, no problem, we just won't talk about it for twenty years"? If he was so anti-military, anti-war, etc, why on earth did he marry into such a situation in the first place?

Additionally, Michael was so lost regarding how to take care of his own children that I had to wonder: What ON EARTH did he do with his two daughters when his wife was gone one weekend each month and two weeks each year? In my opinion, this is a huge flaw in the book; if he was married to a reservist then the past 11-12 years (after the children arrived), there would have been these drill absences. Sooo... it would stand to reason that he would have some idea how to care for them on his own, wouldn't it?

Also, after nearly TWO DECADES together, he was such a putz that he didn't realize the caliber of the person to whom he was married? He had no knowledge of what being a military spouse entailed? There were no pre-deployment briefs, info, classes that he would have gone to? As a military spouse, I was inundated with information from the beginning of our marriage, and am still to this day, especially prior to deployments. My husband is active duty and in a different branch of service than Jolene, but my friends who are married to soldiers have plenty of support available to them, even if they don't go to the meetings.

When I read that Michael's mother, Mila, was going to be there to help a lot as well as to practically run his household during Jolene's deployment, I thought, "LUCKY!", but noooo... It was still a disaster. Do you know how many military spouses would love to have even 1/4 of the help Mila provided? The children were spoiled and not expected to contribute to the well-being of the family. Betsy was unlikable to the point that I wondered if it would be possible to just skip over every paragraph that contained her name, but found that to be unrealistic, so plowed ahead, cringing with every bratty comment and action. I could not imagine being at the deployment staging area and witnessing a child refuse to tell the deploying parent that they love them. Jolene's 20 years as a reservist should have taught these children plenty about her job, the military, etc, but somehow her whole family remained clueless.

The issue of being in Iraq was well written, for the most part. There were obviously a lot of details provided by a soldier who'd been there (yes, I also saw the acknowledgements). However, the representation of the former US Marine, and the corps in general left a lot to be desired. Jolene's return as an injured vet was spot-on.

I realize that many of the aspects of deployment, amputation due to a war injury, difficult homecomings and PTSD are probably over-stated to a certain extent in order to make a point regarding our military and some of the obstacles and difficulties they face, but the amount of tears, defeatist attitudes, and angst began to be redundant.

While I usually enjoy Ms Hannah's books, in my opinion "Home Front" was not recommendable. I felt that the book was not only a bit trite, it was predictable and, as others have mentioned, contained too many editorial mistakes.

More About the Author

Kristin Hannah was born in September 1960 in Southern California and grew up at the beach, making sand castles and playing in the surf. When she was eight years old, her father drove the family to Western Washington which they called home.

After working in a trendy advertising agency, Kristin decided to go to law school. "But you're going to be a writer" are the prophetic words she would never forget from her mother. Kristin was in her third-and final-year of law school and her mom was in the hospital, facing the end of her long battle with cancer. Kristin was shocked to discover that her mother believed she would become a writer. For the next few months, they collaborated on the worst, most clichéd historical romance ever written.

After her mom's death, she packed up all those bits and pieces of paper they'd collected and put them in a box in the back of her closet. Kristin got married and continued practicing law.

Then Kristin found out she was pregnant and was on bed rest for five months. By the time she'd read every book in the house and started asking her husband for cereal boxes to read, she knew she was a goner. That's when her husband reminded her of the book she'd started with her mom. Kristin pulled out the boxes of research material, dusted them off and began writing. By the time their son was born, she'd finished a first draft and found an obsession.

The rejections came, of course, and they stung for a while, but each one really just spurred her to try harder, work more. In 1990, Kristin got "the call," and in that moment, she went from a young mother with a cooler-than-average hobby to a professional writer, and has never looked back. In all the years between then and now, she have never lost her love of, or her enthusiasm for, telling stories. Kristin feels truly blessed to be a wife, a mother, and a writer.

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#82 Overall (See top 100 authors)

#22 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary Fiction

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