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47th out of 134 books
—
14 voters
Home Front
by
Kristin Hannah (Goodreads Author)
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...more
All marriages have a breaking point. All families...more
ebook, 400 pages
Published
January 31st 2012
by St. Martin's Press
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Home Front is the newest book by author Kristin Hannah, and I was thrilled to receive an ARC of this book through GoodReads First Reads.
When I first read the synopsis of this book, I will admit it didn't seem like something that would appeal to me. After reading and loving Night Road I gained confidence in Hannah's writing, though. I loved that book so much I decided I will read everything she writes from now on.
This book is really about a lot of things. Jolene is a 41-year old woman who had a p...more
When I first read the synopsis of this book, I will admit it didn't seem like something that would appeal to me. After reading and loving Night Road I gained confidence in Hannah's writing, though. I loved that book so much I decided I will read everything she writes from now on.
This book is really about a lot of things. Jolene is a 41-year old woman who had a p...more
61 likes · like · see review
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Started and finished this on one tear-soaked Sunday afternoon. Reading it reminded me somewhat of the experience of watching Lord of the Rings - cried through the whole thing for no good reason. There's just something about the characters that tugs on your heartstrings. And there were all the orcs and elves running around*.
Okay, really not so much like Lord of the Rings, but definitely stirring emotionally. I didn't think I'd find much in common with a woman in the military, but the author made...more
Okay, really not so much like Lord of the Rings, but definitely stirring emotionally. I didn't think I'd find much in common with a woman in the military, but the author made...more
17 likes · like · see review
This book initially caught my attention because it was about a female soldier in Iraq. As a civilian we are actually clueless when it comes to the sacrifice and service that soldiers give to hold our freedom. I think we forget the real men and women involved in War and focus on numbers or statistics. It is easier for us to be blissfully ignorant. Kristin Hannah reveals an intimate dual experience of both the soldier and the family. She explores the journey from both sides before, during, and aft...more
Although I can say that I did enjoy this book, there were several times that I couldn't put it down, I have to be honest and also say that I cannot give it 5 stars and am not sure that I really want to give it 4 stars. The storyline was very good, the characters of Michael and Jolene were likeable, by the end of the book I really wanted their marriage to work out and I felt terrible for everything they had been through as a couple and as individuals. However..... I could not stand their older da...more
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This book affected me in a very deep way. I have not cried this much in months (a year?). This book reminds me of how lucky I am to live where I live with my small hardships and my small sacrifices. I am so thankful for those who have given their fellow Americans so much by taking on large hardships and enduring large sacrifices. I strive to be worthy. I give this book my highest recommendation.
This is a hard review to write because I'd like to give Home Front four stars, but I just can't. Kristin Hannah handles the subject of a military family with clear compassion and doesn't gloss over the homecoming to make everything ok. Her novel highlights many of the issues facing military families, such as PTSD, arriving home injured, and a soldier feeling changed forever after war. The story was very well done and I definitely recommend this book.
Hannah's writing is excellent in parts, but th...more
Hannah's writing is excellent in parts, but th...more
I did not realize when I agreed to review Kristin Hannah's new book that I was getting the audio version. I usually prefer to read my books, rather than listen to them. Thus I need to divide my review into two parts. First, the audio version takes much longer than the print version would take me to read. For me, this is a flaw. Also, Maggi-Meg Reed, the reader, has several spots in the book where her voices for characters are not consistant, which is a bit off-putting. Hearing the book also acce...more
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The beautiful, peaceful beach scene on the cover of this book did not prepare me for what I was about to encounter within it's pages. When I finished this book, I was emotionally wrung out. To say that I have a greater appreciation for what our servicemen and women go through when they are deployed and then come home again, is an understatement. I could not stop thinking about the troops who are on their way home even now - and what life for them and their families will be like when they get her...more
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Maybe I expected too much after Hannah's brilliant NIGHT ROAD and most of her other books. I found the story to be incredibly predictable and cliche. The premise of the story is a good one, but this story lacks the originality found in most of Hannah's books. I don't want to say too much detail about what was predictable, for fear of spoiling the book. The character of Michael is the most well rounded and well written, because he's a flawed good guy. His major flaws--workaholism, poor communicat...more
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I found this book extremely emotional for me. I am a great fan of Kristin Hannah novels, Firefly Lane I think was my favorite...until now.
The Zarkades family seems like your ordinary American family...till you take a closer look. Michael is a criminal defense attorney, starting to wonder if he will ever be able to defend an innocent person. He is quite affected by his fathers death, but is unable to express his feelings. Consequently, he's removed himself from the family, and working harder than...more
The Zarkades family seems like your ordinary American family...till you take a closer look. Michael is a criminal defense attorney, starting to wonder if he will ever be able to defend an innocent person. He is quite affected by his fathers death, but is unable to express his feelings. Consequently, he's removed himself from the family, and working harder than...more
I tried to like this book. For the love of book club I really did. In the end I decided that there are two kinds of people in this world: those who like Nicholas Sparks and cats; and those who don't. I fall into the latter category. Kristen Hannah must be in the first.
6 likes · like · see review
This is Kristin Hannah's newest novel. It was great. I loved the portrayal.
Can't put this down. Will be reading into the early hours i think to finish it !
1 like · like · see review
As someone that's experienced a loved one going away to war I understand firsthand the emotions family members face when they're gone. This story cuts through your heart with a knife when you read the ups and downs of the uncertainty and fear when a mother has to leave her husband and children to serve in Iraq and comes home a very different person to a changed family. Hannah gives the unique perspective of both sides and does it well. This story will tug at your heart and make you so grateful f...more
Tear jerker from begining to end! Worth reading!
Kristin Hannah'ın yazdığı ''Evden Çok Uzakta'' okundu, bitti. Soluksuz, bir çırpıda, bir günde okundu. :'( Ağla ağla helak oldum ! Ateşböceği Yolu ve Kış Bahçesi'nden sonra beni en çok etkileyen kitabı bu oldu.
Hannah denilince aklınıza dram yazdığı gelmesin. Dram değil bu. Bu; aile bağları, aşk, annelik, arkadaşlık... Kısacası hayat. Hannah 'duyguyu, hissetmeyi' yazıyor... Önce bir kala kalıyorsun. Kitaplarında ki karakterle gibi. Sonra bir çok şey katıyorsun, hayatına. Öğreniyorsun. Anlıyorsun...more
Hannah denilince aklınıza dram yazdığı gelmesin. Dram değil bu. Bu; aile bağları, aşk, annelik, arkadaşlık... Kısacası hayat. Hannah 'duyguyu, hissetmeyi' yazıyor... Önce bir kala kalıyorsun. Kitaplarında ki karakterle gibi. Sonra bir çok şey katıyorsun, hayatına. Öğreniyorsun. Anlıyorsun...more
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This was a book that was difficult for me to put down. I thought it was strangely predictable and yet compelling. The characters were good and not too stereotypical. The mother is a helicopter pilot for the Army National Guard and gets sent to Iraq; the book is about their family dynamic before and after she is deployed, and there is some description of her time in Iraq. I have pretty strong feelings about whether mothers should be in the military, in a situation where they may be deployed and h...more
Apr 28, 2013
Deb
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
kindled-ebook,
2013-books-read
Jolene Zarkades joined the National Guard at 18, after her parents' deaths left her without family or direction. She became a helicopter pilot and met her best friend, Tami, also a helicopter pilot. Eventually she marries Michael, a lawyer, they have 2 children, and she has her dream life. Although Jolene continues her National Guard commitment, Michael wants nothing to do with it or the gatherings of military colleagues that Jolene depends upon. After 12 years of marriage, Michael announces he...more
An entertaining and thoughtful journey, I thoroughly enjoyed this fictional work about the real-life peaks and valleys of marriage, family and work when they collide in the crucible of life.
Kristin Hannah has crafted a story that feels both empathetic yet real when covering the difficult life of a pilot, dedicated member of the armed services, and loving mother. These three roles quickly collide and actually lead to family growth and transformation, rather than the typical tales of tradegy conv...more
I can't think of the last time I've been this emotionally involved in a book. I started it about 3 1/2 hours ago, and I just finished it at 2 am. I could not put it down, I cried through most of it, and my heart was broken over and over and over again for this family who had more to bear than most people should have to bear, but was representative of the sacrifices the members of our military, and their families make.
I've been very much against sending our soldiers into the various military conf...more
I've been very much against sending our soldiers into the various military conf...more
Home Front by Kristin Hannah will break your heart and then patch it back together, much like Jolene’s heart and body. Our Book Club, Ancora Imparo had the pleasure of winning this book as a free read. The greatest pleasure however, was reading it. Here is what some of our members had to say:
Karen’s Review:
Jolene, a wife and mother who is also a respected and accomplished military helicopter pilot is deployed to Iraq, against her husband’s wishes, in fact without his truly understanding and app...more
Karen’s Review:
Jolene, a wife and mother who is also a respected and accomplished military helicopter pilot is deployed to Iraq, against her husband’s wishes, in fact without his truly understanding and app...more
My little Playaway says "Unabridged" on it…
I'd like to offer an eloquent analysis of characters and plot and such, but all I can say is the following:
1) Even just thinking about all the research that has to have gone into this book makes my brain hurt. (This is why, if I become an author, I will be an author of memoirs or fantasy: less research.)
2) I will admit to weepiness. Lots of watery-eye-swipes. Some sniffles.
3) I did not walk away from the end of this book and need some time to absorb it....more
I'd like to offer an eloquent analysis of characters and plot and such, but all I can say is the following:
1) Even just thinking about all the research that has to have gone into this book makes my brain hurt. (This is why, if I become an author, I will be an author of memoirs or fantasy: less research.)
2) I will admit to weepiness. Lots of watery-eye-swipes. Some sniffles.
3) I did not walk away from the end of this book and need some time to absorb it....more
Home Front led me to think back over non-fiction books I have read about the Iraq War, particularly David Finkel's The Good Soldiers. Home Front makes vivid the conflicts between in battle in Iraq and coming home to ones family, particularly in this case where the soldier is a Chief Warrant Officer female helicopter pilot. Hannah makes the physical and psychic nature of pain real, both in the instances of original pain and then in revisiting that pain and fear during nightmares and awake flash-b...more
Our book club won copies of this book in a drawing sponsored by Reading Group Guides. com. To be honest, initially I wasn't thrilled about the prospect of reading it: popular women's fiction, story about a woman helicopter pilot in Iraq....it was not a book I would have chosen to read.
However, it turned out to be a very worthwhile book. The characters were clearly defined and real (the over controlling mother, the workaholic father, the warm grandmother, the snotty pre-teen, the cutesy baby of t...more
However, it turned out to be a very worthwhile book. The characters were clearly defined and real (the over controlling mother, the workaholic father, the warm grandmother, the snotty pre-teen, the cutesy baby of t...more
Short synopsis: Jolene, a stoic National Guard pilot, is married to selfish, brooding Michael. She has two kids: cute little Lulu and bratty Betsy. She also has a plucky friend named Tami and an angelically supportive mother-in-law. Then Jolene is deployed to Iraq, and everyone Learns Something and Jolene isn't so stoic and Michael isn't so selfish and brooding and Betsy isn't so bratty. Lulu is still cute.
A woman in my book club won free copies of this book for all of us, so we picked it up as...more
A woman in my book club won free copies of this book for all of us, so we picked it up as...more
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Oh. My. Goodness. I am trying to remember whether I have ever cried so much, so often, while reading any other novel. I loved this book and it tore at my emotions for its entirety. Jolene is a helicopter pilot in the US National Guard, and she works/trains part-time, so that she can also raise her two daughters, a tween and a four year old. She loves her husband but they have grown apart, are detached from their marriage, entrenched in their roles, their duties and themselves. One night Jolene's...more
2 likes · like · see review
Home Front by Kristin Hannah
An eye opener on real combat.
Mom was pretty much a controller (the recipe book for her husband). Loved it that he had to learn to cook, become a real, nurturing and involved father, not just the sperm donor in the marriage. I think she also operated on the "peace at any price" thinking it would provide a happy marriage (does not work).
The twelve year old gave me alternate feelings of "spoiled brat" to the agonies of being twelve and the peer pressure that goes with th...more
An eye opener on real combat.
Mom was pretty much a controller (the recipe book for her husband). Loved it that he had to learn to cook, become a real, nurturing and involved father, not just the sperm donor in the marriage. I think she also operated on the "peace at any price" thinking it would provide a happy marriage (does not work).
The twelve year old gave me alternate feelings of "spoiled brat" to the agonies of being twelve and the peer pressure that goes with th...more
This book will give you a greater understanding of our soldiers and how being a soldier affects everyone in family.
When a husband or wife (in this story) go off on deployment, they are struggles both at home and on the front. Life goes on at home but sometimes family feel abandoned and children do not understand.
Jolene in this story loved being a soldier but her husband did not support her career. So when she leaves it is with words he doesn't love her anymore. Her children did not understand h...more
When a husband or wife (in this story) go off on deployment, they are struggles both at home and on the front. Life goes on at home but sometimes family feel abandoned and children do not understand.
Jolene in this story loved being a soldier but her husband did not support her career. So when she leaves it is with words he doesn't love her anymore. Her children did not understand h...more
This was a book chosen to be done for our book club. I would not have normally picked out something like this but am glad I did read it. It was a tearjerker from beginning to end for me and I just couldn't put it down. I can't even begin to imagine how hard it would be to leave children behind and head into a war zone. I thought the children's ages were good choices to make an interesting mix (the preteen years with a mom who is different and a 4 year old simply wanting her mom). I liked how the...more
I have not read fiction in a while, and this book was just the escape I needed. It had a strange effect on me - drawing tears, lots of tears, even when the specific passage didn't seem to warrant it.
So, from an emotional, drew me in, standpoint, I would have rated it 4 stars. I'm not at all sorry that I read it.
I think the author did a better job of describing and evoking emotions than she did creating believable characters. The characters were a little too one-dimensional, and not credible in s...more
So, from an emotional, drew me in, standpoint, I would have rated it 4 stars. I'm not at all sorry that I read it.
I think the author did a better job of describing and evoking emotions than she did creating believable characters. The characters were a little too one-dimensional, and not credible in s...more
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| Live Video Chat with Kristin Hannah | 331 | 152 | Sep 01, 2012 02:48am |
Kristin Hannah is the New York Times bestselling author of eighteen novels, including the blockbuster Firefly Lane and Night Road. She is a former lawyer turned writer and is the mother of one son. She lives in the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii with her husband.
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“I know about forgiving people and loving them anyway, even after they hurt you.”
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“He is a man, and he is afraid. This is not a good combination.”
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