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The Year We Left Home

3.42 of 5 stars 3.42 · rating details · 3,258 ratings · 755 reviews

From National Book Award finalist Jean Thompson comes a mesmerizing, decades-spanning saga of one ordinary American family—proud, flawed, hopeful— whose story simultaneously captures the turbulent history of the country at large. Over the course of a thirty-year career, Jean Thompson has been celebrated by critics as “a writer of extraordinary intelligence and sensitivity”...more From National Book Award finalist Jean Thompson comes a mesmerizing, decades-spanning saga of one ordinary American family—proud, flawed, hopeful— whose story simultaneously captures the turbulent history of the country at large. Over the course of a thirty-year career, Jean Thompson has been celebrated by critics as “a writer of extraordinary intelligence and sensitivity” (O, The Oprah Magazine), “an American Alice Munro” (The Wall Street Journal), and “one of our most lucid and insightful writers” (San Francisco Chronicle). Her peers have been no less vocal, from Jennifer Egan (“bracing . . . boldly unconventional”) to David Sedaris (“if there are ‘Jean Thompson characters,’ they’re us, and never have we been as articulate and worthy of compassion”). Now, in The Year We Left Home, Thompson brings together all of her talents to deliver the career-defining novel her admirers have been waiting for: a sweeping and emotionally powerful story of a single American family during the tumultuous final decades of the twentieth century. It begins in 1973 when the Erickson family of Grenada, Iowa, gathers for the wedding of their eldest daughter, Anita. Even as they celebrate, the fault lines in the family emerge. The bride wants nothing more than to raise a family in her hometown, while her brother Ryan watches restlessly from the sidelines, planning his escape. He is joined by their cousin Chip, an unpredictable, war-damaged loner who will show Ryan both the appeal and the perils of freedom. Torrie, the Ericksons’ youngest daughter, is another rebel intent on escape, but the choices she makes will bring about a tragedy that leaves the entire family changed forever. Stretching from the early 1970s in the Iowa farmlands to suburban Chicago to the coast of contemporary Italy—and moving through the Vietnam War’s aftermath, the farm crisis, the numerous economic boomsand busts—The Year We Left Home follows the Erickson siblings as they confront prosperity and heartbreak, setbacks and triumphs, and seek their place in a country whose only constant seems to be breathtaking change. Ambitious, richly told, and fiercely American, this is a vivid and moving meditation on our continual pursuit of happiness and an incisive exploration of the national character.(less)

Hardcover, 325 pages

Published May 3rd 2011 by Simon & Schuster

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May 27, 2011 Angela rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads, fiction

This was the first Goodreads giveaway that I won and it did not disappoint.

Jean Thompson created a wonderfully quiet and subtle work with The Year We Left Home. She draws you seamlessly into the characters and the place. The story has a rather unassuming beginning: Iowa in winter, a wedding, two cousins getting high in a truck.

"He wished he was out there right now, in some desert, instead of smack in the middle of his family, who, because they knew his origins and his history, thought they knew...more This was the first Goodreads giveaway that I won and it did not disappoint.

Jean Thompson created a wonderfully quiet and subtle work with The Year We Left Home. She draws you seamlessly into the characters and the place. The story has a rather unassuming beginning: Iowa in winter, a wedding, two cousins getting high in a truck.

"He wished he was out there right now, in some desert, instead of smack in the middle of his family, who, because they knew his origins and his history, thought they knew everything about him."

I grew up in a rural area similar to the one in the book and I have experienced this dynamic. There is a friction between people who stay and people who leave (or long to leave) that Thompson captures in all its nuances.

It's not a very long book. I think brevity serves the story well. The language is direct, evocative without being weighty:

"It felt like neither of them ever quit working. They could barely keep three kids on two salaries when his parents had raised four on his dad's job alone. The math of the world had got screwed up somehow."

You only get snippets of the characters and their lives through the years, but Thompson is able to demonstrate the complexity of their relationships. By the end, you've experienced the push and pull that a family goes through as its members grow up, grow old and die. There is a nice balance to the story that leaves you satisfied with its conclusion even if there is no resolution.

I feel bad for books like this because despite being brilliant and moving in their own way, it's so easy to brush them off as boring and depressing. The Year We Left Home focuses on the everyday stuff of life. There are heartbreaks and accidents and tragedies but these are only alluded to in terms of the characters' present circumstances. This book is not going to blow your socks off with drama, but you will find yourself sinking into it, captivated, during the quiet parts of the day.

As others have mentioned, there are quite a few typos in the ARC edition. Hopefully those were sorted out for the actual release!(less)

6 likes · like · see review

Jul 28, 2011 Kim rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

This book was wonderful. Jean Thompson is a masterful writer and you begin to feel that you know her characters as close friends, even people you love and care about.

"The Year We Left Home" follows four siblings and a cousin through their lives beginning in 1973 and ending in 2003. You follow their triumphs and their disappointments through the years and find that Ryan, Anita, Blake, and Torrie are not so different from your own family or other peoples' families. You know, that might be boring o...more

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Dec 20, 2011 Kathryn rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

This book is interesting and thought provoking. Interesting in that it follows the lives of four siblings and their cousin, Chip. Thought provoking in that it causes us to consider how we feel about our own families. I loved it!

"The Year We left Home" reminds me "The Embers" by Hyatt Bass, but if you have to choose one of them - choose this one! I plan to read this book again someday. I only wish that I could continuly catch up with Ryan, Torrie, Anita, and Blake. While you don't always like the...more

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Aug 19, 2012 Edward Truong rated it 3 of 5 stars

"The Year We Left Home" shares several glimpses into the Erickson family, based in Iowa and largely stuck there. Primarily focused on the soon-to-be-adult children: Ryan, Anita, Tori and Blake, every chapter is a moment in time, easily mistaken for a short story rather than a section of a novel. Together, the chapters form a loose narrative spanning the late 70s with Vietnam, the recession and boom of the 80s and breezing through the last two decades toward the end.

Nobody seems to like one anot...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 29, 2012 Jonathan rated it 4 of 5 stars

A good engrossing novel, basically a bunch of chapters which each recount a brief moment of personal revelation in the lives of the members of an Iowa family over the course of three decades. The ongoing creation and recollection of the Ericsson family's ties -- common memories, traits, small trinkets and shared tragedies -- through the course of their very different lives was written gracefully, it felt real and satisfying; even minor moments or conversations early in the book are echoed, poign...more

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Dec 20, 2011 Becky rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: for-fun

This book is one of a new genre...I'm not sure what it's called...but basically it's a book that calls itself a novel but is really a bunch of interconnected short stories. This is an extremely popular thing to do in the publishing industry as of late, mainly, I believe, because short story collection sell like crap when they are labelled accurately.

What has bothered me in other instances of this "novel-but-really-we're-a-collection-of-short-stories" genre, ala A Visit from the Goon Squad and O...more

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Dec 13, 2011 Chris Blake rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I decided to read this book based on a review in The Chicago Tribune. It attracted me because the subject matter was similar to that of my first novel, Small Change, which centered on two families in the Midwest over a period of 30 years. As it turned out, The Year We Left Home by Jean Thompson was dissimilar to my book in style and tone, but was a real treat.

Thompson is an acclaimed author of several short story collections and has taught creative writing at the University of Illinois at Urbana...more I decided to read this book based on a review in The Chicago Tribune. It attracted me because the subject matter was similar to that of my first novel, Small Change, which centered on two families in the Midwest over a period of 30 years. As it turned out, The Year We Left Home by Jean Thompson was dissimilar to my book in style and tone, but was a real treat.

Thompson is an acclaimed author of several short story collections and has taught creative writing at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and other universities. She is a National Book Award finalist.

The Year We Left Home focuses on the Erickson family of Grenada, Iowa. It covers a lot of ground in terms of time (30 years), geography (Chicago, Iowa, Italy, Mexico, Reno and Seattle), and events, on a personal and a national scale. Thompson uses alternating points of view for each chapter to great effect, with much of the story told from the perspective of Ryan Erickson, the second oldest of four children.

The story begins in 1973 at a festive occasion, the wedding reception for the oldest daughter, Anita, who has just married Jeff, a banker from Denver. The joy of the event soon gives way to grim realities. Ryan leaves home to pursue an academic career, but his plans are derailed. Chip, his
cousin, is an addled Vietnam veteran who drifts from city to city, haunted and unsettled. Anita is trapped in a bad marriage with an alcoholic husband. Her younger sister, Torrie, is involved in a tragic accident. Their brother, Blake, stays in town, but wonders what his life might have been if he left town. Their mother, Audrey, struggles to adjust once her children leave home.

Ryan often feels like a detached observer, looking at his family from the outside. Thompson illustrates this perspective with great skill. In an early scene, Ryan is in a car getting high with Chip during a snowstorm. Ryan looks at the snow outside and observed:

“It reminded him of a snow globe, one of those pretty scenes under glass, and then he had the sad, stoned thought that he was outside of the snow globe, looking in. Just as something in him always stood apart, and he was not who people presumed he was.”

As the family members struggle with personal challenges, Thompson chronicles major trends facing the nation, from wars and farm foreclosures to recessions and the technology boom-and-bust, through the prism of the characters.

Each chapter covers a key phase of one of the family member’s life. The chapters function like short stories—each with an arc—yet each chapter flows seamlessly into the story as a whole. Thompson’s prose is simple, but packed with emotional power. Each family member leaves home, but
never leaves the family for good.

Thompson has an insightful, uncluttered writing style. Her simple prose belies the complex and conflicting emotions of the characters. The Erickson siblings, especially Ryan, are both eager to break away from their nuclear families, but find themselves pulled back by the enduring
ties.

The Year We Left Home was one of the most enjoyable and well-crafted novels I’ve read this year.
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Aug 06, 2011 Kat rated it 4 of 5 stars

Not sure what the title refers to as most people in this book stay in Iowa and some of those who leave return by the end of the book. But it is a great American story taking place over roughly 30 years, touching on some of the key historical events as they affect the members of one family. Told from multiple perspectives of siblings and the mom, though Ryan is kind of the main character. I liked how we could tell who will stick/be important in Ryan's life how they were refered to (the ones who d...more

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Jul 21, 2011 Nancy rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book took me back back back. I could almost see the shadows shifting across the room -- the descriptions of place and time brought up all sorts of memories for me. All the ages resonate with me at this point in my life and watching the characters grow was like reliving growing up. Blake, Torrie, Ryan and Anita are siblings and the books takes you through from Anita's wedding through to a time where Anita's children are grown. One very odd thing about the book that made me curious. All of a...more

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Jul 21, 2011 Amy S rated it 1 of 5 stars

Pretentious piece of crap. Supposed to be the summer darling of the intellectual elitists. The whole book is nothing but a series of vignettes about being miserable. The whole family takes a turn on the misery train where I get to be in the caboose. The name of this book should have been "My Life Sucks More Than Yours." Each chapter follows a family member and there is no resolution to their story. Every marriage is miserable, every child a bratty little spawn of horror, every parent a nag, ther...more

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Jul 17, 2011 Lisa Lepore rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I like how Thompson looks at class issues, marriage, the push and pull of family. Iowa, Midwest ethos. Great characters.

She wrote:

"She was a bad, foul, unnatural mother."
"You turning into one of those crazy women? Nothing maks you happy?"
"She asked him where he was from and he said Iowa. Darkest Iowa."
"Outside, the same frozen street, same dirty-pink mercury-vapor streetlight, the same stick tree throwing its bare shadow....It was easy for him to imagine, at such times, that he was lost in a...more

2 likes · like · see review

May 30, 2011 Kathleen Hagen added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-audio-books, 2011-general-fiction

The Year We Left Home, by Jean Thompson, narrated by Cassandra Campbell, produced by Blackstone Audio, downloaded from audible.com.

This is the story of an Iowa family, the Ericksons, stretching from 1973 to the present. We begin at the wedding of eldest daughter, Anita, where we meet all the family for the first time. She wants to remain in her home town and raise a family, and she marries a banker. Her brother, Ryan, leaves as soon as he can, goes to Chicago, enrolls in a business program but t...more

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May 13, 2011 Christi rated it 3 of 5 stars

Very well written. The story followed a family from the seventies to 2003. It showed just snapshots in different years of their lives. Some questions were answered in future snapshots, but some were not. For instance, Anita takes $5000 out of personal funds to help a family member who is losing their farm. You never find out any follow up to that event. What did her husband say? Did they have the money? She took it from two banks and I wondered if she took more out than they had? Then Jeff is an...more

1 like · like · see review

May 30, 2011 Michelle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, goodreads-giveaways

4+ stars. I adored this little book. It is a cross between a collection of interlinked short stories and a novel. It follows four Iowa-bred siblings (and their cousin) through the thirty years between two ill conceived wars. Because of the shifting narrative structure and the fact there’s not an actual plot, it’s a little hard to get your hooks into at first. Stay with it though! These characters are absolutely worth getting to know. I liked every one of them, even the ones I’d never voluntarily...more

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Apr 29, 2011 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

I received this book as part of a first-reads giveaway.

The Year We Left Home is a well-written novel and an enjoyable read. The novel follows the lives of members of an extended family through several decades from the 1970s on. Each chapter is a snapshot in time. At first it seems as though the stories don't really fit together but by the end of the novel I was left with a sense of the big pitcure not only of this one family but of the times they lived in and of America as a country during each...more

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May 04, 2011 Judy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-reads, first-reads, iowa

This is the story of the Peerson family: Ryan, Anita, Blake, Torrie and their cousin, Chip Tesman (Ray, Jr). What I liked:

* Jean Thompson does an excellent job of portraying the family's life in a believable way. You almost feel they could be the family next door.

* The book is well-written, no annoying writing quirks, too much dialect, etc.

* The story is woven deftly around the events of three decades

* There is just the right amount of action, events to keep the story believable

What I didn't lik...more

3 likes · like · see review

Apr 11, 2011 Jill rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: best-of-2011

Jean Thompson has been aptly labeled “an American Alice Munro”, and as a reader who has been mesmerized time and again by her captivating short-story collections, I wholeheartedly concur.

Now, in The Year We Left Home, Ms. Thompson leverages all her strengths and skills as a short-story writer and creates a sweeping and emotionally satisfying novel composed of interlocking, decade-spanning stories of a family in flux. As her grand theme, she takes on the universal quest for “home”, exploring all...more Jean Thompson has been aptly labeled “an American Alice Munro”, and as a reader who has been mesmerized time and again by her captivating short-story collections, I wholeheartedly concur.

Now, in The Year We Left Home, Ms. Thompson leverages all her strengths and skills as a short-story writer and creates a sweeping and emotionally satisfying novel composed of interlocking, decade-spanning stories of a family in flux. As her grand theme, she takes on the universal quest for “home”, exploring all the manifestations of that search.

The novel is bookmarked by two wars – the Vietnam War and the Iraqi War. It begins in 1973 when the Erickson family of Grenada, Iowa, gathers to celebrate the continuing of tradition with the marriage of the eldest daughter, Anita. As some family members – the parents, Anita and her new husband Jeff – get ready to take their place in pre-defined roles, others are restlessly searching for a way out of Iowa – notably, her brother Ryan.

As this fiercely American novel takes this family down the road of its personal setbacks and triumphs, the country, too, is going through its own weaving road: from war to peace to war again, through economic booms to heartbreaking farm crises, from conventional values to sweeping changes. Ryan reflects, “The Great State of Alienation. It stretched from sea to shining sea. Everybody in America is one of two things, either in or out. His wife was right, they’d worked so hard and were so proud to be on the outside of everything they’d grown up with. But they were inside of nothing but themselves.”

As the family disperses, each must strive to get back to that central core, a place to feel at ease. Their cousin Chip, a war-damaged Vietnam vet whose mind has become uncentered, has, perhaps, the further distance to navigate; he must travel geographically and emotionally to reach the place that he has known as home.

But the others must also embark on their own personal journeys – confronting alcoholism, life-altering accidents, divorces, agoraphobia, professional setbacks, low-grade discount and changing standards to reach their own personal centers and to embrace their own realities. Ms. Thompson seems to imply that we all face our own forms of disconnect, but with recognition and a little effort, we will eventually arrive at “true home.”

Only one of the characters – the younger brother, Blake – chooses to stay home and follow what appears to be his predestined path. Although he is the most content of the siblings, he does not escape unscathed. There are days in which he, too, ponders where life has taken him and whether he should have been more of a risk-taker.

As a new generation follows their generation, Ryan again reflects, “They had done so much. They had meant to do so much more. Imagine them slipping off to death regretting the task unfinished, the field unplowed, the child unloved.”

Richly told, finely crafted, authentically explored, The Year We Left Home gives new insights into home, family, and indeed, the American experience. Those who enjoy books such as Elizabeth Stout’s Olive Kitteridge – quiet books that pack a big wallop – this is a must-read.

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Sep 05, 2011 Linda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: bestseller-backlash, road-trip, kindle-the-horror

I REALLY want to deduct for glaring errors and make this 3.5 or maybe even 3: it was The Bob Newhart Show, not Newhart, that aired in the 1970s, and "apparent" is spelled, well, like that. Not like this: apparant. How does a book get published with those errors? There were a handful of other 70s/80s details that were just a hair off, too. However, I actually really enjoyed the experience of reading the book. And I liked the sardonic musings and misery and observations quite a lot. Luckily, I did...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 30, 2011 Emilie rated it 3 of 5 stars

I don't even remember how this book ended up in my hands...I think I must have read a review on NPR about this being a hot summer read or something like that. It was a good read, but one I'm glad came from the library and not one that I bought.
As most people have mentioned, there is no plot per se, it is just the story of this family over the course of 30 years, skipping between narrators and jumping forward a couple of years each chapter. Because of this, many of the characters seem to lack dep...more

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Jun 16, 2011 Anne rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Year We Left Home is the story of the Erickson family, it begins in the 1970s and follows them to 2003. It is mainly about four siblings and their cousin and follows them through the ups and downs in their lives. It is a detailed look at an American family in small town Iowa and how they all individually cope with the problems they face.

Each of the main characters is shown in such an honest, candid way that you come away feeling you really know each of them. None are made into a two-dimensi...more

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Jun 13, 2011 Stephanie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Jean Thompson tells an updated family saga that spans 30 years between 1973 and 2003, the time periods punctuated by references to national phenomena like "the tech bubble," and "the farm crisis" and culinary trends from carpaccio to pomegranate juice. The novel revolves around the Erickson family of Grenada, Iowa: Anita, the former prom queen who marries an Ames banker and becomes an embittered stay-at-home mom; Torrie, whose rebellious ambitions to attend college in New York and leave the Midw...more

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May 20, 2011 Brian rated it 4 of 5 stars

I won this book on GoodReads First Reads. This book was a literary journey through the history of one family. It begins in the earlyish 70's with a wedding with taking center stage in the first section, and then jumping forward a few years and telling the story from a different character's perspective. I liked this because it gave the book a fresh feel as you jumped forward through time. The family themselves were pretty interesting. They consisted of a mother and father and their three kids, ea...more

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Mar 21, 2012 Bea rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book seems almost like a series of short stories about a family based in Iowa. It started slow but picked up. I actually did enjoy falling into this family's life every evening, even though the characters who stayed in Iowa seemed to have an incredibly boring life, and the book concentrated on all the bad things that can go wrong in everyone's life, leaving them to wonder if they missed out on something and seemingly disappointed in their lives, even in having children.
I don't really know t...more

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Jun 12, 2011 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars

As I was reading this novel, I kept thinking about something Toni Morrison said about the writing of Beloved. She said that she had to "engineer" moments of lightness--enough so that she and the reader could breathe.

While The Year We Left Home is absolutely not as stunningly depressing as Beloved (one of my favorite novels), it does just push forward relentlessly through mundane and acute sadnesses of one extended family. I was engaged with them and wanted to know what happened, but I also felt...more

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Mar 03, 2012 Susanhayeshotmail.com rated it 2 of 5 stars

Oh my. Like Olive Kitteridge I wanted to like this so much more than I actually did but I just can't. This novel is a series of vignettes centered around the Erickson family of podunk Iowa spread over 3o years or so. Time passes, the kids leave home, or don't, things happen, some people change and others not much, and, uhm, time passes. The writing is lovely and subtle and there were some little gems sprinkled throughout but like "Olive" it just felt so darn sad to me. As I sit here I keep tryin...more

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Aug 22, 2011 Greg Zimmerman rated it 2 of 5 stars

A few weeks ago, The Year We Left Home, by Jean Thompson, appeared on Entertainment Weekly's back-page Bullseye feature. It suggested that if you "love" Jonathan Franzen, check out this book. It's kind of rare that a not-big-name novel shows up in Bullseye. And I do love Jonathan Franzen.

So, I thought, let's do this! I'd never heard of Thompson, but luckily, I had a copy of the novel on hand — I'd won it several months ago in a Friday Reads giveaway. So I dug it up from where it'd been buried at...more A few weeks ago, The Year We Left Home, by Jean Thompson, appeared on Entertainment Weekly's back-page Bullseye feature. It suggested that if you "love" Jonathan Franzen, check out this book. It's kind of rare that a not-big-name novel shows up in Bullseye. And I do love Jonathan Franzen.

So, I thought, let's do this! I'd never heard of Thompson, but luckily, I had a copy of the novel on hand — I'd won it several months ago in a Friday Reads giveaway. So I dug it up from where it'd been buried at the bottom of a pile of non-priority novels, and dug in. Especially after reading Murakami, I needed something more realistic, relatively straightforward and not long. The Year We Left Home fit the bill.

I'm telling you all this because, at least to me, the story of how I came to read the novel is actually more interesting than the novel itself. Beginning in 1973 with the marriage of the eldest daughter, the story traverses 30 years in the lives of the members of a small-town Iowa family. We get short 20-page or so vignettes advancing the stories of each of the four siblings (as well as a crazy cousin named Chip) a few years at a time, chronicling their successes and failures, tragedies and victories.

Yes, it rings very true; it is some the more authentic fiction I've read — as someone who grew up in a small Midwestern town, I can say that definitively. But it sure isn't very interesting. My favorite mini-story was one that takes place in Chicago, and I only liked that one because of the "recognizable places / street names" effect.

Overall, I kept wondering if the story of this family is a story that really needed to be told. It's just so mundane. For example, one of the first stories is about one of the siblings and her mother going to visit their sick aunt. And that's it. They visit her. And they're sad she's dying. And then we jump ahead a couple years, and she's already died. In fact, in the rare cases that something interesting happens, it always happens either off-page or at the very end of one of the vignettes, and we wouldn't learn the true effect of that interesting or important event until several years later, and then from the perspective of one of the other siblings. Strange storytelling choice, that. The effect is that it pretty much removes any of the drama from the novel.

So, I wasn't a fan. But if you're looking for an ultra-realistic Midwestern family saga, you may enjoy this. Also, if you like depressing fiction, man, this is right in your sweet spot. A little 'net research has revealed that Jean Thompson is better known for her short stories, including her National Book Award finalist collection Who Do You Love: Stories. Her short-fiction prowess is pretty clear from the style and structure of this novel, so I'd also suggest checking out any of her volumes of short stories. (less)

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Apr 15, 2011 Trish rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, midwest

Ah, the Midwest. One has notions of the Midwest that the characters in this novel try to disabuse one of all the way through, but in fact, it's pretty much the way I imagined it: overgrown family farms gone to ruin; empty, neglected storefronts on main streets; young kids dying to get out. This novel follows an extended family through the 1960s to the new millenium, and isn't lavish with descriptions of beauty or of success or even of happiness. But the author does treat us to moments of transce...more

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May 31, 2011 Lauren rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was a quiet but powerful novel with an interesting structure. The book follows the lives of three generations of an Iowan family. Each chapter of the book is set a couple of years after the previous chapter, and in each chapter Thompson delves deeply into an episode in one of the character's lives. I read that the author is a master of the short story, sometimes compared to Alice Munro, and each chapter has the arc of a standalone short story.

Interrelated short stories seems to be a p...more

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May 18, 2011 Scott rated it 4 of 5 stars

Sure have been seeing this sort of narrative structure in novels a lot lately, in which the author tells an epic-ish tale in discreet set pieces, skipping months and years between each (what amounts to) short story, and shifting our perspective among multiple characters. Jean Thompson's mostly pretty great The Year We Left Home spans thirty years of an Iowa family--and, equally important to the story, of an Iowa town, and, by extension, the country as a whole--beginning in 1973 and ending in the...more

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Apr 07, 2011 Dan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

I wasn't aware of Jean Thompson or her work before I received an ARC of this at work. Based on the cover and title, I was afraid it was going to be yet another memoir, since that seems to be what 4 out of 5 ARC's are anymore. It was actually a wonderful collection of interconnected short stories following a mid-west family through the last several decades. I was thankful for the format because, while several of the characters were interesting and fleshed out enough to be deserving of several cha...more

1 like · like · see review

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About Jean Thompson

Jean Thompson is a New York Times bestselling author and her new novel, The Humanity Project will be published by Blue Rider Press on April 23, 2013.

Thompson is also the author of the novel The Year We Left Home, the acclaimed short fiction collections Do Not Deny Me, and Throw Like a Girl as well as the novel City Boy; the short story collection Who Do You Love, and she is a 1999 National Book A...more

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Quotes from The Year We Left Home

“After all, your head only had so much room in it. No surprise if it overflowed once in a while with little bits of sparkle and electrical fizz.” — 2 people liked it

“She'd permed her hair to within an inch of its life. When she moved her head, the mass of hair followed along behind her a split second later."

Perhaps you had to live through the late 70's, early 80's to appreciate this.” — 2 people liked it

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title link	preview: The Year We Left Home
avg rating	preview: The Year We Left Home Goodreads rating: 3.42 (3258 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8979518-the-year-we-left-home?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327883554l/8979518.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8979518-the-year-we-left-home?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Year We Left Home by Jean Thompson[/url]

The Year We Left Home

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