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Homestead
Anchorage, 1956. When Marie and Lawrence first lock eyes at the Moose Lodge, they are immediately drawn together. But when they decide to marry, days later, they are more in love with the promise of homesteading than anything. For Lawrence, his parcel of 150 acres is an opportunity to finally belong in a world that has never delivered on its promise. For Marie, the land is an escape from the empty future she sees spinning out before her, and a risky bet is better than none at all. But over the next few years, as they work the land in an attempt to secure a deed to their homestead, they must face everything they don’t know about each other. As the Territory of Alaska moves toward statehood and inexorable change, can Marie and Lawrence create something new, or will they break apart trying?
Immersive and wild-hearted, joyfully alive to both the intimate and the elemental, Homestead is an unflinching portrait of a new state and of the hard-fought, hard-bitten work of making a family.
Immersive and wild-hearted, joyfully alive to both the intimate and the elemental, Homestead is an unflinching portrait of a new state and of the hard-fought, hard-bitten work of making a family.
10 pages, Audiobook
First published February 28, 2023
282 people are currently reading
8615 people want to read
About the author
Melinda Moustakis
9 books113 followersMelinda Moustakis was born in Fairbanks, Alaska, and grew up in California. Homestead, her debut novel, is inspired by her maternal grandparents who homesteaded in Point MacKenzie, Alaska. Her story collection, Bear Down, Bear North: Alaska Stories, won the Flannery O’Connor Award, the Maurice Prize, and was a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 selection. Her work has appeared in American Short Fiction, Alaska Quarterly Review, Granta, Kenyon Review, and elsewhere, and has been awarded an O. Henry Prize. She is the recipient of the Hodder Fellowship from Princeton University, the NEA Literature Fellowship, the Kenyon Review Fellowship, and the Rona Jaffe Cullman Fellowship at the New York Public Library.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 534 reviews
May 8, 2023
It’s 1956, and Marie is visiting her sister in Anchorage, Alaska. She sees a man that she instantly feels drawn to, and when he asks her to marry her a short time later, she instantly accepts. They move to his 150-acre claim, living out of an old vehicle while they work on building a cabin. As they slowly get to know each other they also start to learn about themselves but struggle against the wilderness and each other while trying to create a home together.
I enjoyed the relationship between the two protagonists or lack thereof. Lawrence was struggling with PTSD from fighting in a war but still wanting to have a family and create a home in Alaska. The exploration of what he wanted versus what he was capable of emotionally was interesting and depicted well, and I enjoyed the slow growth he underwent throughout the work. Marie also struggled with some mental health issues mostly relating to pregnancy and postpartum complications, which added another layer of tension to their relationship. However, the characters themselves felt a little flat and detached from the plot and each other, which left me wanting more.
The author’s writing style made it difficult to fully enjoy this work for me. When there was dialogue, often the dialogue tag was simply “said,” which made long series of dialogue feel repetitive and lacking in emotion. There was also zero transition between POVs, jumping straight from Marie’s third-person narration to Lawrence’s, which is not something I generally prefer, especially when the character’s voices don’t feel unique. As I listened to the audiobook it was a little difficult to know for sure, but it felt like the author overutilized short, staccato sentences both in the prose and the dialogue.
This was a fine, somewhat atmospheric historical fiction and family drama that was much more character driven than plot driven. My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read this book, which will be published 28 February 2023. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
I enjoyed the relationship between the two protagonists or lack thereof. Lawrence was struggling with PTSD from fighting in a war but still wanting to have a family and create a home in Alaska. The exploration of what he wanted versus what he was capable of emotionally was interesting and depicted well, and I enjoyed the slow growth he underwent throughout the work. Marie also struggled with some mental health issues mostly relating to pregnancy and postpartum complications, which added another layer of tension to their relationship. However, the characters themselves felt a little flat and detached from the plot and each other, which left me wanting more.
The author’s writing style made it difficult to fully enjoy this work for me. When there was dialogue, often the dialogue tag was simply “said,” which made long series of dialogue feel repetitive and lacking in emotion. There was also zero transition between POVs, jumping straight from Marie’s third-person narration to Lawrence’s, which is not something I generally prefer, especially when the character’s voices don’t feel unique. As I listened to the audiobook it was a little difficult to know for sure, but it felt like the author overutilized short, staccato sentences both in the prose and the dialogue.
This was a fine, somewhat atmospheric historical fiction and family drama that was much more character driven than plot driven. My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read this book, which will be published 28 February 2023. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
October 3, 2023
1956 Alaska
Lawrence is a 27 year old Korean war vet from Minnesota who has come to claim 150 acres of wild Alaska territory as a homestead.
Marie is an 18 yr old from Texas visiting her sister and brother-in-law in Anchorage. They attend The Moose Lodge and while there, this man Lawrence just hands Marie a slip of paper that says 150 acres.
The two agree to meet the next night and Lawrence proposes to her saying "You know what I have and what I got to offer."
Well they do get married and the going is unbelievably rough .., living in an old run down bus on the land while Lawrence builds a cabin, a pregnancy, grizzly’s … all in this wild territory.
The story had me invested right away and it’s a very hypnotic read.
April 20, 2023
If marriage isn't hard enough, try it with someone you know nothing about, accept that he is homesteading 150 acres of Alaskan Wilderness, needs a wife, wants 12 children, and is dealing with ptsd from the Korean War. My own self would have tripped over my feet from running away so fast, but 18 year old Marie wanted to get away from her grandmother and wanted a home of her own after her own mother had abandoned her and her sister. It's 1956 and Alaska is about to become a state, but tell that to the grizzlies and wolverines and wolves.
Part adventure tale, part love story, part self actualization and coming of age, I thought this book was marvelous. Marie and Lawrence are great characters, but her sister Sheila, her husband Sly, and Lawrence's father Joseph, are perfectly realized supporting figures, each with their own demons to bear.
I notice a lot of reviews found fault with the style of the writing here, which I would say was a cross between almost stream of consciousness and poetic prose, but I liked that aspect and it worked for me, although I can see how it might bother some. All in all, a satisfying novel that I would recommend. Thanks to Sandi for sharing her ARC with me
Part adventure tale, part love story, part self actualization and coming of age, I thought this book was marvelous. Marie and Lawrence are great characters, but her sister Sheila, her husband Sly, and Lawrence's father Joseph, are perfectly realized supporting figures, each with their own demons to bear.
I notice a lot of reviews found fault with the style of the writing here, which I would say was a cross between almost stream of consciousness and poetic prose, but I liked that aspect and it worked for me, although I can see how it might bother some. All in all, a satisfying novel that I would recommend. Thanks to Sandi for sharing her ARC with me
March 4, 2023
3.5 stars rounded up. Homestead by Melinda Moustakis was an engrossing historical fiction debut novel that took place in the Alaskan Territory during the mid 1950’s. I listened to the audiobook that was well narrated by Ariel Blake. Melinda Moustakis was able to describe the landscape of Alaska so vividly throughout her novel. She made it quite easy for me to close my eyes and see the imagines she so eloquently described. Homestead was very well written and the characters were well developed and believable. It was very well plotted and it clearly portrayed the dangers and challenges the people living and settling in Alaska faced during those early days of its history.
Marie and Lawrence had both chosen to settle in Alaska but for different and yet similar reasons. Lawrence was determined to own land and escape his troubled secretive past. He had kept a secret for a long time. It was a secret that Lawrence was not proud of. Lawrence was unwilling to admit to it or share this secret with anyone. He had buried his secret deep inside himself and refused to reveal it for the shame it brought him. This secret, though, found its way into Lawrence’s dreams. Lawrence had grown up on a farm in Minnesota. He had learned the importance of hard work and owning land. When Lawrence was presented with opportunity to homestead in Alaska and purchase a parcel of land that amounted to 150 acres, he jumped on it. Marie had grown up in Texas. She had come to Alaska to be near her older sister and her husband who lived in Anchorage. One night in 1956, Lawrence made a promise to himself. He had just purchased the 150 acre parcel of land. Lawrence was now determined to marry the first woman he could. As Lawrence entered Moose Lodge, Marie and Lawrence locked eyes with each other. Within days of meeting, the two agreed to get married. They were both “in love” with the idea of homesteading rather than with each other. Marriage was hard enough to navigate but homesteading brought with it more challenges and struggles than either had anticipated. Would Lawrence‘s and Marie’s marriage survive the challenges and struggles of homesteading? Would they learn to love, trust and respect each other?
Homestead by Melinda Moustakis followed Marie’s and Lawrence’s experiences of homesteading in Alaska. It captured the dangers and fears of encountering wild life face to face. Homestead portrayed the excitement and fulfillment of the people of Alaska when they were granted statehood. Through the lives of Lawrence and Marie, one got to witness the hardships of the Alaskan terrain, the courage of those living there, their struggles, tragedies, disappointments, the dangers they faced each and every day, the loneliness, their losses, hardships, the sacrifices they made without a thought and the numerous challenges they faced head on. Initially, homesteading meant belonging for Lawrence and an escape for Marie. Would those initial reasons hold true for both Marie and Lawrence or would they evolve and change over time? I enjoyed listening to Homestead by Melinda Moustakis and recommend it. I will definitely seek out future books written by Melinda Moustakis. Publication was February 28, 2023.
Thank you to Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen to the audiobook of Homestead by Melinda Moustakis through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Marie and Lawrence had both chosen to settle in Alaska but for different and yet similar reasons. Lawrence was determined to own land and escape his troubled secretive past. He had kept a secret for a long time. It was a secret that Lawrence was not proud of. Lawrence was unwilling to admit to it or share this secret with anyone. He had buried his secret deep inside himself and refused to reveal it for the shame it brought him. This secret, though, found its way into Lawrence’s dreams. Lawrence had grown up on a farm in Minnesota. He had learned the importance of hard work and owning land. When Lawrence was presented with opportunity to homestead in Alaska and purchase a parcel of land that amounted to 150 acres, he jumped on it. Marie had grown up in Texas. She had come to Alaska to be near her older sister and her husband who lived in Anchorage. One night in 1956, Lawrence made a promise to himself. He had just purchased the 150 acre parcel of land. Lawrence was now determined to marry the first woman he could. As Lawrence entered Moose Lodge, Marie and Lawrence locked eyes with each other. Within days of meeting, the two agreed to get married. They were both “in love” with the idea of homesteading rather than with each other. Marriage was hard enough to navigate but homesteading brought with it more challenges and struggles than either had anticipated. Would Lawrence‘s and Marie’s marriage survive the challenges and struggles of homesteading? Would they learn to love, trust and respect each other?
Homestead by Melinda Moustakis followed Marie’s and Lawrence’s experiences of homesteading in Alaska. It captured the dangers and fears of encountering wild life face to face. Homestead portrayed the excitement and fulfillment of the people of Alaska when they were granted statehood. Through the lives of Lawrence and Marie, one got to witness the hardships of the Alaskan terrain, the courage of those living there, their struggles, tragedies, disappointments, the dangers they faced each and every day, the loneliness, their losses, hardships, the sacrifices they made without a thought and the numerous challenges they faced head on. Initially, homesteading meant belonging for Lawrence and an escape for Marie. Would those initial reasons hold true for both Marie and Lawrence or would they evolve and change over time? I enjoyed listening to Homestead by Melinda Moustakis and recommend it. I will definitely seek out future books written by Melinda Moustakis. Publication was February 28, 2023.
Thank you to Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen to the audiobook of Homestead by Melinda Moustakis through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
June 8, 2023
Married for love or convenience?
Despite the atypical writing style, it managed to come across adequately. The story carried a haunting essence that allowed me to deeply empathize with Marie and her struggles. However, around the halfway point, I began to lose interest due to its monotonous and sluggish pace. Overall, it was a decent listen, but not a favorite for me.
Despite the atypical writing style, it managed to come across adequately. The story carried a haunting essence that allowed me to deeply empathize with Marie and her struggles. However, around the halfway point, I began to lose interest due to its monotonous and sluggish pace. Overall, it was a decent listen, but not a favorite for me.
March 18, 2023
2 stars
As much as I wanted to like this book I fear that I did not. Where other people read 'artistic prose' I read choppy hard to understand sentences that just felt incomplete in thought. Although by the end of the book I had gotten into the cadence of the writing, that did not mean that I was enjoying it.
Two virtual strangers meet and marry within days. She is looking for belonging, he is looking for children to help on the Alaskan acreage he plans to homestead. One hundred and fifty acres selected from a surveyors map in the 1950's - a wilderness that must be developed. The story is the ups and downs of both homesteading and learning to live with the stranger that you married.
As much as I wanted to like this book I fear that I did not. Where other people read 'artistic prose' I read choppy hard to understand sentences that just felt incomplete in thought. Although by the end of the book I had gotten into the cadence of the writing, that did not mean that I was enjoying it.
Two virtual strangers meet and marry within days. She is looking for belonging, he is looking for children to help on the Alaskan acreage he plans to homestead. One hundred and fifty acres selected from a surveyors map in the 1950's - a wilderness that must be developed. The story is the ups and downs of both homesteading and learning to live with the stranger that you married.
October 31, 2022
This book casts a spell. A quiet, immersive, and gorgeously written exploration of love, war, guilt, and forgiveness that asks how well one person can ever truly know another.
March 5, 2023
This book is going to be HARD to rate.
IMHO, if you love prose that crosses over into poetry or very aesthetic descriptive flights- you might with the "feeling" composite- rate this very high.
It IS compelling. I got sucked in all the way to page 53 on a very late night start. But the beginning is more clear cut. Although even there- you have this stream of consciousness type of flouncing. Without a real structured sentence form either. Run-ons as if you can't take a breathe. But it didn't stop Faulkner, come to think of it.
This is a 1956-59 period homestead story in Alaska, during the exact timing as it was trying for statehood status. An hour or two from Anchorage- in good weather that is (which means mostly summer). But the core focus of this is not just about the land ownership or the "making a go" for the homestead requirements. It's about the coupleship, the marriage- the connections. And those are huge. And who supports each partner. Flawed and filled with constant and repetitive emotional hurdles- not a bunch of them very happy feelings either. Lawrence is war aftermath and not what you'd ever call a communicator. LOL! Marie is running away from and (only my opinion) never running "toward" as much as any women I have ever known. And my age is not all that different. But 15 or so years DOES make an immense difference just then in that 20th century.
So all those 5 stars for this one are from people who like to ride the HUMONGOUS effusion desperations of life and have most of their core in loving their own reaction to feelings. I'm not either of those quantities. But I can appreciate the writing skill and the locale, timely feel, exactness of the nuance and placements so embedded within this book. And are they.
I wanted to give it a 4 star, at least. Truly I did. But I can't. So much is repetition of circling thoughts of inadequate core thinking. And I did not like the whole idea of marrying to avoid ANY home birth place or placement or any situation prior. If you like the idea of mail order or internet brides- you will probably like this more than I did. There was a real element in this couple that was VERY off putting to me. Not at all that they were bad people. Just terribly insufficient folk which tended to use each other. Not a fan.
IMHO, if you love prose that crosses over into poetry or very aesthetic descriptive flights- you might with the "feeling" composite- rate this very high.
It IS compelling. I got sucked in all the way to page 53 on a very late night start. But the beginning is more clear cut. Although even there- you have this stream of consciousness type of flouncing. Without a real structured sentence form either. Run-ons as if you can't take a breathe. But it didn't stop Faulkner, come to think of it.
This is a 1956-59 period homestead story in Alaska, during the exact timing as it was trying for statehood status. An hour or two from Anchorage- in good weather that is (which means mostly summer). But the core focus of this is not just about the land ownership or the "making a go" for the homestead requirements. It's about the coupleship, the marriage- the connections. And those are huge. And who supports each partner. Flawed and filled with constant and repetitive emotional hurdles- not a bunch of them very happy feelings either. Lawrence is war aftermath and not what you'd ever call a communicator. LOL! Marie is running away from and (only my opinion) never running "toward" as much as any women I have ever known. And my age is not all that different. But 15 or so years DOES make an immense difference just then in that 20th century.
So all those 5 stars for this one are from people who like to ride the HUMONGOUS effusion desperations of life and have most of their core in loving their own reaction to feelings. I'm not either of those quantities. But I can appreciate the writing skill and the locale, timely feel, exactness of the nuance and placements so embedded within this book. And are they.
I wanted to give it a 4 star, at least. Truly I did. But I can't. So much is repetition of circling thoughts of inadequate core thinking. And I did not like the whole idea of marrying to avoid ANY home birth place or placement or any situation prior. If you like the idea of mail order or internet brides- you will probably like this more than I did. There was a real element in this couple that was VERY off putting to me. Not at all that they were bad people. Just terribly insufficient folk which tended to use each other. Not a fan.
January 9, 2024
Homesteading was a way people could obtain federal land virtually free if they met certain requirements, including living on the land and cultivating a portion of it. This book tells the story of Lawrence and Marie, who married in 1956, just a few days after meeting. Lawrence has claimed 150 acres in Alaska, and between planting potatoes and alfalfa, plus building their 30'x30' cabin, it seems their dreams can come true.
I read where Homestead was being described as "Immersive and wild-hearted, joyfully alive." I think I may have missed the joyfully alive part. In their relationship, it seemed that Marie and Lawrence took two steps back for every step forward. I struggled a bit, too, with how the book was written. It felt like a stream of consciousness, where the sentences just went on and on and on.
Reading about Alaska becoming part of the United States was quite interesting, and I'm sure many will love this book. It just wasn't a good fit for me.
Thanks to both Flatiron Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of Homestead.
I read where Homestead was being described as "Immersive and wild-hearted, joyfully alive." I think I may have missed the joyfully alive part. In their relationship, it seemed that Marie and Lawrence took two steps back for every step forward. I struggled a bit, too, with how the book was written. It felt like a stream of consciousness, where the sentences just went on and on and on.
Reading about Alaska becoming part of the United States was quite interesting, and I'm sure many will love this book. It just wasn't a good fit for me.
Thanks to both Flatiron Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of Homestead.
June 20, 2023
It is the late 1950's and Lawrence Beringer, a veteran of the Korean War, leaves his boyhood home in Minnesota for the Alaskan Territory. There he signs a deed for 150 acres in the wilderness beyond Anchorage. According to terms established by the Bureau of Land Management the claim will become his, free and clear, provided he builds a home and farms at least 20 acres. Lawrence, taciturn, brooding, deeply withdrawn, still wants to share his life-and this massive undertaking-with someone. Less because he wants a soulmate than he wants a woman to bear him twelve children, a village who can help him work his cherished land.
So when he spies bright, cheerful Marie Kubala at the Moose Lodge in Anchorage, where she is visiting her sister, Sheila, and brother-in-law, Sly, and recognizes her spunk and vigor, he simply hands her a note that reads, "150 acres." They are married soon after and 18-year-old Marie moves sight unseen into the school bus Lawrence has renovated as temporary housing while he prepares the land to build their log cabin home.
Marie, who grew up with Sheila hardscrabble in east Texas, is no tenderfoot. She can handle a shotgun, kill and dress game, and the isolation and round-the-clock toil of their pioneer life hardly seem to faze her. But she's married a man she doesn't know; learning to love and live with him will be her hardest chore.
Moustakis creates a landscape that is breathtakingly beautiful and cruel, full of present dangers. There is no letting down one's guard in this Alaska: one misstep can lead to disaster. But Lawrence and Marie take it on, navigating their new terrain and each other through one failed pregnancy and into parenthood, their complicated families, and their dreams for this difficult, unpredictable and irresistible land. Yet Lawrence holds a secret from Marie, one that could cost him his fragile, uncertain marriage.
Homestead is an extraordinarily accomplished debut that threw me off with labored prose. Its understated, melancholy beginning fits its moody protagonist and foreshadows certain disasters to follow, but soon the stylistic, elegant writing becomes a tic:
Still, their tragic choices make it impossible to look away, and the novel charges ahead to a cathartic climax that allows hot blood to course through the story's icy veins. I believe if Melinda Moustakis can ease up on the MFA-affect in her prose, her work will be as intoxicating as that of David Vann and Maggie O'Farrell and Elizabeth Strout.
So when he spies bright, cheerful Marie Kubala at the Moose Lodge in Anchorage, where she is visiting her sister, Sheila, and brother-in-law, Sly, and recognizes her spunk and vigor, he simply hands her a note that reads, "150 acres." They are married soon after and 18-year-old Marie moves sight unseen into the school bus Lawrence has renovated as temporary housing while he prepares the land to build their log cabin home.
Marie, who grew up with Sheila hardscrabble in east Texas, is no tenderfoot. She can handle a shotgun, kill and dress game, and the isolation and round-the-clock toil of their pioneer life hardly seem to faze her. But she's married a man she doesn't know; learning to love and live with him will be her hardest chore.
Moustakis creates a landscape that is breathtakingly beautiful and cruel, full of present dangers. There is no letting down one's guard in this Alaska: one misstep can lead to disaster. But Lawrence and Marie take it on, navigating their new terrain and each other through one failed pregnancy and into parenthood, their complicated families, and their dreams for this difficult, unpredictable and irresistible land. Yet Lawrence holds a secret from Marie, one that could cost him his fragile, uncertain marriage.
Homestead is an extraordinarily accomplished debut that threw me off with labored prose. Its understated, melancholy beginning fits its moody protagonist and foreshadows certain disasters to follow, but soon the stylistic, elegant writing becomes a tic:
"She waits for him to speak of what happened and will not ask for the risk of him withdrawing. What could he be thinking all this time, and then he talks of someday planting potatoes, a vegetable garden, after long stretches of quiet on the porch if the weather is right, her in the rocking chair, her belly growing, him with his leg propped on a wooden Blazo box, how he will find a mower to cut the alfalfa in July but what was in this mind, his life in danger, did he think of her and of what has passed in these two years.What begins as evocative and atmospheric turns into authorial presence that keeps Lawrence and Maria at a stiff-armed distance from the reader's heart.
Still, their tragic choices make it impossible to look away, and the novel charges ahead to a cathartic climax that allows hot blood to course through the story's icy veins. I believe if Melinda Moustakis can ease up on the MFA-affect in her prose, her work will be as intoxicating as that of David Vann and Maggie O'Farrell and Elizabeth Strout.
February 11, 2025
Questo romanzo racconta un pezzo di storia d'America che si ricollega molto da vicino a Nella terra dei lupi letto di recente. Sì, sempre quel pezzo: il pezzo di storia sul camper o sul caravan o sul trailer o sul vecchio bus riadattato a roulotte. Se penso ai kazak con le loro jurte ma anche ai nativi americani con i loro tepee e wigwam, mi rendo conto che l'eleganza è una faccenda innata. E tuttavia: colonizzare le terre selvagge dell'Alaska nei primi anni cinquanta del ventesimo secolo deve essere stato qualcosa come un passo indietro nel tempo di cento e più anni. E un altro tuttavia: rintanarsi in una casetta fatta di tronchi ad aspettare che passi la bufera e che passi l'inverno è esattamente quello che sto facendo ora, quindi non potevo non immedesimarmi almeno un poco.
La storia ha a che fare con la durezza d'animo, i risentimenti e i ripensamenti, l'incomunicabilità e i segreti che si tengono sepolti dentro e che invece andrebbero sputati fuori come il proverbiale rospo. Ci sono anche le difficoltà, le maníe, gli attacchi di panico dei reduci (della Corea, in questo caso). Molto ammerigano, ma ci sta.
La scrittura frettolosa e approssimativa non l'ho amata particolarmente. Però la storia e l'ambientazione sono acchiappose, i personaggi arrivano a farsi conoscere nonostante la scrittura così così, non c'è romanticismo gratuito o zuccheroso, alla fin fine si lascia leggere volentieri per la curiosità di capire dove andrà a parare. E forse il vero difetto del romanzo è proprio qui: non va a parare in nessun punto preciso. Poi, leggendo i ringraziamenti finali, si scopre - com'era facile immaginare - che questa è la storia, per quanto rielaborata, della famiglia dell'autrice. Ma anche così, resto dell'idea che fosse necessario un punto di svolta maggiormente delineato.
Considerando la mia velocità media di lettura degli ultimi mesi, potrei quasi quasi dire di averlo divorato; peccato per il finale un po' pasticciato: indecisa tra tre e tre e mezza.
La storia ha a che fare con la durezza d'animo, i risentimenti e i ripensamenti, l'incomunicabilità e i segreti che si tengono sepolti dentro e che invece andrebbero sputati fuori come il proverbiale rospo. Ci sono anche le difficoltà, le maníe, gli attacchi di panico dei reduci (della Corea, in questo caso). Molto ammerigano, ma ci sta.
La scrittura frettolosa e approssimativa non l'ho amata particolarmente. Però la storia e l'ambientazione sono acchiappose, i personaggi arrivano a farsi conoscere nonostante la scrittura così così, non c'è romanticismo gratuito o zuccheroso, alla fin fine si lascia leggere volentieri per la curiosità di capire dove andrà a parare. E forse il vero difetto del romanzo è proprio qui: non va a parare in nessun punto preciso. Poi, leggendo i ringraziamenti finali, si scopre - com'era facile immaginare - che questa è la storia, per quanto rielaborata, della famiglia dell'autrice. Ma anche così, resto dell'idea che fosse necessario un punto di svolta maggiormente delineato.
Considerando la mia velocità media di lettura degli ultimi mesi, potrei quasi quasi dire di averlo divorato; peccato per il finale un po' pasticciato: indecisa tra tre e tre e mezza.
March 1, 2023
Anchorage, 1956. Marie is looking for a future, and Lawrence has a parcel of 150 acres from the State of Alaska. Both are aching for a home, and they decide to marry with little more than that between them. As they begin to work the land to earn the deed to their homestead, there is much they must learn. They not only have to carve a homestead out of unforgiving tundra, but they must also learn to know and love each other.
This is a saga of a man and a woman fighting a frozen land to claim a home for themselves, but it is so much more than that. We watch Alaska move toward statehood, and we see the sheer size and harsh realities of the territory. As Marie and Lawrence attempt to make a home, it is evident that there are problems even greater than the snow, cold, dark days, and wolves. As we watch them fight all these things, it becomes clear that there is a territory even bleaker than Alaska, and that is Lawrence’s heart.
The writing is sublime, and the reader is instantly transported to this dangerous land. But the human struggles are where this book really shines, as Marie and Lawrence battle loneliness, numbing cold, loss, and the one big lie that threatens to destroy everything. This is absolutely remarkable historical fiction that fans of Alaskan history will enjoy.
My rating is 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 on sites with no partial star option.
I received a free copy of this book from Flatiron Books via The Historical Novel Society. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.
This is a saga of a man and a woman fighting a frozen land to claim a home for themselves, but it is so much more than that. We watch Alaska move toward statehood, and we see the sheer size and harsh realities of the territory. As Marie and Lawrence attempt to make a home, it is evident that there are problems even greater than the snow, cold, dark days, and wolves. As we watch them fight all these things, it becomes clear that there is a territory even bleaker than Alaska, and that is Lawrence’s heart.
The writing is sublime, and the reader is instantly transported to this dangerous land. But the human struggles are where this book really shines, as Marie and Lawrence battle loneliness, numbing cold, loss, and the one big lie that threatens to destroy everything. This is absolutely remarkable historical fiction that fans of Alaskan history will enjoy.
My rating is 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 on sites with no partial star option.
I received a free copy of this book from Flatiron Books via The Historical Novel Society. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.
March 29, 2023
Alaska achieved statehood in 1959. HOMESTEAD opens three years earlier, in 1956, when the Bureau of Land Management in Anchorage was giving away tracts of land to the hale and hardy. Lawrence Beringer, 27, a Korean War survivor from Minnesota, jumps at the opportunity for 150 acres near a lake. All he has to do is work it, make it thrive, successfully farm a crop. He decides on alfalfa, and then seeks a wife “for the sake of children.” Lawrence is stoic, enigmatic, and socially awkward. He meets Marie, visiting from Conroe (near Houston) at the Moose Lodge, and tosses a piece of paper at her (but I won’t spoil that moment of what inane thing he wrote on it). A day later, they decide to marry. Marie’s beloved sister, Sheila, who she is visiting, lives a few hours away from the Beringer homestead with her husband, Sly. Marie comes from an optimistic place. The story mines movingly, it burrows. Moustakis has written a haunting, sensuous, and vivid novel about marriage, turf, and trust. All within the dramatic landscape of Alaska, with its four stunning seasons.
The chapters are separated by each of the twelve months, and cover approximately three years, beyond when Alaska becomes a US state. “Snow came and went, a promise and a lie, and the turned trees lose their finest gold and yellow leaves to the wind. The scrape of moose antlers on branches and the rustle of willow shrub, the rut, and the bulls in a fight over the cows, the hollow racket of antler thrown against antler, the echo through the low.”
Lawrence and Marie dance lightly around each other, strangers still, Lawrence moody and guarded. One thing Marie makes clear—she wants her name on the deed when it’s time. Lawrence’s father, Joseph, unlike his son, is easygoing and accommodating. He travels from Minnesota to help the young couple build a large cabin. For now, they sleep, eat, and bathe in an adapted creaky school bus, and own a truck for transportation. Marriage, like farming, requires attention and effort for success. The Alaskan landscape, often overwhelming, unreservedly powerful, punishing, and unforgiving, is a character in itself. Taming it is a tremendous project—impossible, perhaps. You honor your spouse and respect the land, yielding at various times to both. There’s a measure of interiority here, well-balanced by the setting, physical labor, and plot.
A past trauma grips Lawrence, which he hides from his wife behind an inscrutable shield. Vulnerability scares him, whereas Marie is keen to laugh and love and lean on each other. They both revere Alaska, despite some dangerous collisions with wildlife, and the day-to-day intersections with the landscape and their tenacity eased me naturally into the story. Marie, especially, reaches out with tenderness toward nature, and to her husband, and they both comprehend how small they are in contrast to the great Alaskan wilderness. It’s too majestic not to dominate, and it puts things in perspective.
But there are brewing conflicts gone unsaid, and at times I clenched my fists and wanted to scream. The tension in the marriage is plainly palpable, but Lawrence has an almost pathologically avoidant personality, mostly due to his trauma, I suspect. The disquieting moments build on each other, leading up to a striking denouement. "How much to be taken, and given, how much to be known, before calling this love, and will it be as sudden as a quiet hour?" This masterful debut novel swept me up in its story, prose, and depth.
The chapters are separated by each of the twelve months, and cover approximately three years, beyond when Alaska becomes a US state. “Snow came and went, a promise and a lie, and the turned trees lose their finest gold and yellow leaves to the wind. The scrape of moose antlers on branches and the rustle of willow shrub, the rut, and the bulls in a fight over the cows, the hollow racket of antler thrown against antler, the echo through the low.”
Lawrence and Marie dance lightly around each other, strangers still, Lawrence moody and guarded. One thing Marie makes clear—she wants her name on the deed when it’s time. Lawrence’s father, Joseph, unlike his son, is easygoing and accommodating. He travels from Minnesota to help the young couple build a large cabin. For now, they sleep, eat, and bathe in an adapted creaky school bus, and own a truck for transportation. Marriage, like farming, requires attention and effort for success. The Alaskan landscape, often overwhelming, unreservedly powerful, punishing, and unforgiving, is a character in itself. Taming it is a tremendous project—impossible, perhaps. You honor your spouse and respect the land, yielding at various times to both. There’s a measure of interiority here, well-balanced by the setting, physical labor, and plot.
A past trauma grips Lawrence, which he hides from his wife behind an inscrutable shield. Vulnerability scares him, whereas Marie is keen to laugh and love and lean on each other. They both revere Alaska, despite some dangerous collisions with wildlife, and the day-to-day intersections with the landscape and their tenacity eased me naturally into the story. Marie, especially, reaches out with tenderness toward nature, and to her husband, and they both comprehend how small they are in contrast to the great Alaskan wilderness. It’s too majestic not to dominate, and it puts things in perspective.
But there are brewing conflicts gone unsaid, and at times I clenched my fists and wanted to scream. The tension in the marriage is plainly palpable, but Lawrence has an almost pathologically avoidant personality, mostly due to his trauma, I suspect. The disquieting moments build on each other, leading up to a striking denouement. "How much to be taken, and given, how much to be known, before calling this love, and will it be as sudden as a quiet hour?" This masterful debut novel swept me up in its story, prose, and depth.
May 29, 2023
Bottom line: This book wasn't for me, but I can definitely see its appeal for others.
**I read an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley.**
The focus of homesteading in Alaska was what drew my attention to this book. Not that I have any desire to ever do that myself, but it's fascinating to imagine. While I sit on my couch with some chips.
The book's tone is serious, somewhat somber, almost monotone. I'd liken it to John Williams' or Steinbeck's work, from what I've read of theirs. You read this for a straightforward story, with staccato writing. There are many contemplative passages, descriptions of scenery or thoughts, all in brief sentences rather than any lengthy, purple prose.
One main character is struggling with mental trauma from having been in a war while he's looking to build a family and a life in Alaska, which brings in the other main character who also wants to build a life of her own. Their relationship is not romantic, it's more of a means to an end, a partnership.
I'm sure that many readers would get lost in the telling of this story, find it intriguing and compelling. For me, it was a struggle to get through because of the constant strife and the slow pace. Some stress and struggles are to be expected in a story about building up land in the Alaskan wilderness, but the internal and relational issues with the characters were nonstop on top of the homesteading storyline, and I just don't enjoy that. There were some parts that didn't make sense as to what characters did, said, or thought, which may be a consequence of the writing style or may just be a drafting/ editing issue that will be smoothed out before the book's release. The setting is fascinating, with Alaska on the cusp of becoming a state and the characters striking out to build homes there, but the characters and their particular story lost my interest. I'd have given this one more star if it was shorter and easier for me to get through.
**I read an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley.**
The focus of homesteading in Alaska was what drew my attention to this book. Not that I have any desire to ever do that myself, but it's fascinating to imagine. While I sit on my couch with some chips.
The book's tone is serious, somewhat somber, almost monotone. I'd liken it to John Williams' or Steinbeck's work, from what I've read of theirs. You read this for a straightforward story, with staccato writing. There are many contemplative passages, descriptions of scenery or thoughts, all in brief sentences rather than any lengthy, purple prose.
One main character is struggling with mental trauma from having been in a war while he's looking to build a family and a life in Alaska, which brings in the other main character who also wants to build a life of her own. Their relationship is not romantic, it's more of a means to an end, a partnership.
I'm sure that many readers would get lost in the telling of this story, find it intriguing and compelling. For me, it was a struggle to get through because of the constant strife and the slow pace. Some stress and struggles are to be expected in a story about building up land in the Alaskan wilderness, but the internal and relational issues with the characters were nonstop on top of the homesteading storyline, and I just don't enjoy that. There were some parts that didn't make sense as to what characters did, said, or thought, which may be a consequence of the writing style or may just be a drafting/ editing issue that will be smoothed out before the book's release. The setting is fascinating, with Alaska on the cusp of becoming a state and the characters striking out to build homes there, but the characters and their particular story lost my interest. I'd have given this one more star if it was shorter and easier for me to get through.
June 4, 2024
“Pensavo fosse un sogno, racconterà, per tutta la vita. A guardarlo non si direbbe, ma è l’uomo più forte che io abbia mai conosciuto.”
Scrive Alberto Anile, su Robinson n. 391 del 2 giugno 2024, nel suo articolo “Into the wild d’Alaska”:
“C’è un contesto storico-politico che si agita dietro il romanzo 150 acri e che al lettore italiano rischia di sfuggire, e riguarda il momento in cui l'Alaska, alla fine degli anni Cinquanta, diventò uno degli Stati Uniti d'America. Stretta fra Canada, Mar Glaciale Artico e Siberia, l'Alaska era stata inizialmente colonizzata dalla Russia e nel 1867 venduta agli Stati Uniti, il tutto nella più totale indifferenza per la presenza e i diritti dei nativi. Considerata inutile e ino-spitale, tra la fine dell'Ottocento e l'inizio del secolo successivo venne improvvisamente invasa da folle di cercatori d'oro; passate le due guerre mondiali, mentre saliva la febbre della Guerra fredda, il territorio si riempi di avamposti militari, finché nel '58 Eisenhower firmò l'Alaska Statehood Act, l'atto formale che pochi mesi dopo portò l'Alaska a conquistare la 49ª stella sulla bandiera della federazione americana.
In quel periodo l'amministrazione statunitense tentò di incentivare la coltivazione di terre difficilissime da domare, affidando enormi porzioni di territorio a chiunque si dichiarasse disponibile a metterle a frutto. Il romanzo di Melinda Moustakis racconta uno di questi tentativi, compiuto da una coppia di pionieri contro le avversità di una natura estrema. Natura da intendersi sotto molte forme: la sopravvivenza a venti gradi sotto zero, l'imprevedibile assalto degli animali selvaggi, lo schianto di qualche tronco secolare, ma anche le tempeste della gravidanza e le incertezze dell'amore.”
La storia è ambientata nel 1956: Marie e Lawrence Beringer, sono due innamorati che decidono di sposarsi e di coltivare i centocinquanta acri affidati a Lawrence, dal governo.
Un romanzo poetico e al tempo stesso asciutto, impregnato del paesaggio selvaggio dell’Alaska. Un riconoscersi per poi perdersi e ritrovarsi ancora, insieme.
“Ogni passo un peso, un dono, un rammarico. E lei quella mattina scorderà le domande che la tormentavano. Ogni nuovo giorno sarà un giorno in cui restare, un’altra alba e un altro tramonto, e cosa ci sia tra lei e Lawrence Marie ancora non lo sa, lei che porta il suo cognome, come i loro figli, e quel posto sopravviverà a entrambi, e un territorio diventa uno Stato, una donna si sposa e diventa moglie, e qual è la differenza, cosa è giusto che sia ripagato – e quanto valgono quest’acqua, questa terra?”
Scrive Alberto Anile, su Robinson n. 391 del 2 giugno 2024, nel suo articolo “Into the wild d’Alaska”:
“C’è un contesto storico-politico che si agita dietro il romanzo 150 acri e che al lettore italiano rischia di sfuggire, e riguarda il momento in cui l'Alaska, alla fine degli anni Cinquanta, diventò uno degli Stati Uniti d'America. Stretta fra Canada, Mar Glaciale Artico e Siberia, l'Alaska era stata inizialmente colonizzata dalla Russia e nel 1867 venduta agli Stati Uniti, il tutto nella più totale indifferenza per la presenza e i diritti dei nativi. Considerata inutile e ino-spitale, tra la fine dell'Ottocento e l'inizio del secolo successivo venne improvvisamente invasa da folle di cercatori d'oro; passate le due guerre mondiali, mentre saliva la febbre della Guerra fredda, il territorio si riempi di avamposti militari, finché nel '58 Eisenhower firmò l'Alaska Statehood Act, l'atto formale che pochi mesi dopo portò l'Alaska a conquistare la 49ª stella sulla bandiera della federazione americana.
In quel periodo l'amministrazione statunitense tentò di incentivare la coltivazione di terre difficilissime da domare, affidando enormi porzioni di territorio a chiunque si dichiarasse disponibile a metterle a frutto. Il romanzo di Melinda Moustakis racconta uno di questi tentativi, compiuto da una coppia di pionieri contro le avversità di una natura estrema. Natura da intendersi sotto molte forme: la sopravvivenza a venti gradi sotto zero, l'imprevedibile assalto degli animali selvaggi, lo schianto di qualche tronco secolare, ma anche le tempeste della gravidanza e le incertezze dell'amore.”
La storia è ambientata nel 1956: Marie e Lawrence Beringer, sono due innamorati che decidono di sposarsi e di coltivare i centocinquanta acri affidati a Lawrence, dal governo.
Un romanzo poetico e al tempo stesso asciutto, impregnato del paesaggio selvaggio dell’Alaska. Un riconoscersi per poi perdersi e ritrovarsi ancora, insieme.
“Ogni passo un peso, un dono, un rammarico. E lei quella mattina scorderà le domande che la tormentavano. Ogni nuovo giorno sarà un giorno in cui restare, un’altra alba e un altro tramonto, e cosa ci sia tra lei e Lawrence Marie ancora non lo sa, lei che porta il suo cognome, come i loro figli, e quel posto sopravviverà a entrambi, e un territorio diventa uno Stato, una donna si sposa e diventa moglie, e qual è la differenza, cosa è giusto che sia ripagato – e quanto valgono quest’acqua, questa terra?”
March 28, 2023
This is a prayer.
It is the prayer of living in the margins. I’m not trying to say marginalized as that implies victimization. I mean living a dream so close to the bone that one tiny misstep or misfortune can mean the end of it all.
Lawrence is going to homestead 150 acres in Alaska in 1956 with a severe case of war PTSD. He wants a wife and 12 kids.
Marie is going find a man with some land because she grew up in Texas with the promise of nothing.
This is a marriage of convenience in the truest sense.
Now, reader, watch them live through every hardship while navigating a marriage of strangers.
Pay attention to Lawrence’s dad, Joseph. He plays Father, capital F. He shows them the right way to live.
You will find passages that are prayers:
A time for purpose. A time to rest. A time for good. A time for tears. A time for stones. A time for music, a record on the Victrola. A time for keeping, and what is he keeping?
A time for provisions…
A time for waiting. A time for cutting and halving. A time for planting. A time for giving. And what has been given? And what has been taken?
A time for yolk, the soak in the bread. A time for hunger. A time for salt. There will be a time for preserving. For jars. For every hurt to bruise. For spoil. For a dishrag to sour. There will be a time to call hers. When the child is of age. If another is not already in her arms. Not for chopping wood. Or wringing laundry. Time to sit on the porch in the sun long enough to know the hour. To sing with no end. Time to be out of grasp, and sight. Time to be.
**this is not a cute little pioneer story. This is pretty real stuff of a married couple working hard, hard for it.
BEST OF 2023 for the beautiful prose to describe the hard scrabble life in nature.
It is the prayer of living in the margins. I’m not trying to say marginalized as that implies victimization. I mean living a dream so close to the bone that one tiny misstep or misfortune can mean the end of it all.
Lawrence is going to homestead 150 acres in Alaska in 1956 with a severe case of war PTSD. He wants a wife and 12 kids.
Marie is going find a man with some land because she grew up in Texas with the promise of nothing.
This is a marriage of convenience in the truest sense.
Now, reader, watch them live through every hardship while navigating a marriage of strangers.
Pay attention to Lawrence’s dad, Joseph. He plays Father, capital F. He shows them the right way to live.
You will find passages that are prayers:
A time for purpose. A time to rest. A time for good. A time for tears. A time for stones. A time for music, a record on the Victrola. A time for keeping, and what is he keeping?
A time for provisions…
A time for waiting. A time for cutting and halving. A time for planting. A time for giving. And what has been given? And what has been taken?
A time for yolk, the soak in the bread. A time for hunger. A time for salt. There will be a time for preserving. For jars. For every hurt to bruise. For spoil. For a dishrag to sour. There will be a time to call hers. When the child is of age. If another is not already in her arms. Not for chopping wood. Or wringing laundry. Time to sit on the porch in the sun long enough to know the hour. To sing with no end. Time to be out of grasp, and sight. Time to be.
**this is not a cute little pioneer story. This is pretty real stuff of a married couple working hard, hard for it.
BEST OF 2023 for the beautiful prose to describe the hard scrabble life in nature.
May 8, 2023
This is possibly the worst book I have ever read and I am not going to finish reading it. I only got 10% of the way in and I completely disliked every single sentence so I am bailing out now.
The book reads like a Wikipedia summary of someone’s life. There is no emotion whatsoever, just a listing of facts about where each character was born, who their relatives were, where they moved to, who they married, and where they worked.
I asked Netgalley for this free audio book ARC and they approved my request, in exchange for my unbiased review. Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio.
The book reads like a Wikipedia summary of someone’s life. There is no emotion whatsoever, just a listing of facts about where each character was born, who their relatives were, where they moved to, who they married, and where they worked.
I asked Netgalley for this free audio book ARC and they approved my request, in exchange for my unbiased review. Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio.
January 21, 2023
Wow! I am so glad I'm done with this book. I wanted to like this story of Lawrence and Marie, a newly married couple, strangers to each other, trying to eke out a living on Lawrence's Alaskan homestead in the mid-1950s. I liked both characters and wanted to know more about their lives, but I really disliked the writing style. I know some reviewers have enjoyed what they called the spare prose but my experience was different. I felt there were so many run-on sentences and an extreme lack of verbs that some of the sentences were very confusing. This diluted my enjoyment of the story.
October 8, 2023
This started off promising then turned into one of those strange books where I honestly have no idea how I feel about it. I disliked the blatant sexism in some of it, and the characters felt forced. I don't know. The writing was fine, but the story overall wasn't what I hoped in it being Alaskan frontier life. It was a strange little book, and I'll leave it at that. 3 ⭐.
March 12, 2023
This was a tough one to rate. There were a lot of outstanding pieces here—the portrayal of a challenging marriage was nuanced and well done (and gives us a type of difficult relationship with tricky gray areas and a see-sawing of desire in marriage we often don’t see on the page but feels very real) and the prose shined at moments. But there were also times I struggled with the cadence of the writing and just never felt hooked into the book. This may just be the case of it being the wrong moment for me to pick this particular book up and so it didn’t quite click for me; I was initially drawn to the homesteading in Alaska, and if that appeals to you this is still worth exploring if you’re a fan of literary historical fiction.
March 7, 2023
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for accepting my request to audibly read and review Homestead.
Published: 02/28/23
Narrator: Ariel Blake
Ariel Blake did a nice job as the narrator. She carried my interest for at least a third of the book.
Homestead started on page one for me. Step-by-step as the characters grew I was invested. The life changes, moves, and marriages all made sense. Alaska was the key to a better life and that made sense. Marie, the main character, had really no options where she was. At one point, she is told -- you don't have to marry the first man that asks. The reality was, she did.
Once Alaska became a state, the book changed. They were in territory Alaska, with con men, bears, and natural childbirth. I understood all those things and was fine with the story. But the author went too personal I think, and I lost interest in the outcome. Marie's husband wasn't likeable at any point for me, therefore approximately two-thirds in, I was shutting down and ready for the end.
It's a nice snowy or rainy day listen. Three stars: It wasn't bad and it wasn't great; it was okay.
Published: 02/28/23
Narrator: Ariel Blake
Ariel Blake did a nice job as the narrator. She carried my interest for at least a third of the book.
Homestead started on page one for me. Step-by-step as the characters grew I was invested. The life changes, moves, and marriages all made sense. Alaska was the key to a better life and that made sense. Marie, the main character, had really no options where she was. At one point, she is told -- you don't have to marry the first man that asks. The reality was, she did.
Once Alaska became a state, the book changed. They were in territory Alaska, with con men, bears, and natural childbirth. I understood all those things and was fine with the story. But the author went too personal I think, and I lost interest in the outcome. Marie's husband wasn't likeable at any point for me, therefore approximately two-thirds in, I was shutting down and ready for the end.
It's a nice snowy or rainy day listen. Three stars: It wasn't bad and it wasn't great; it was okay.
March 22, 2023
3.5 🏠🏠🏠
Bingo B 1 ✅
Bingo B 1 ✅
February 19, 2023
A beautifully written story of two people with a shared dream who try to make a life together.
Set in the late 1950s, this book follows Lawrence and Marie as they try to fulfill the homesteading requirements in Alaska Territory.
Lawrence was discharged from his service in Korea when his father applied for a hardship exemption. After Lawrence helps get his family farm in Montana back on track, he moves to Alaska and stakes a claim on 150 acres. He silently lives with serious PTSD, though at the time there was no such diagnosis or treatment. He dreams of having a wife and 12 children to help him homestead, but women are scarce in the Anchorage area.
Marie comes to Alaska to see her sister and brother-in-law, knowing only that she has to leave Texas and that she wants something of her own.
Though they've known each other only a day or so, Marie and Lawrence decide to get married: she wants 150 acres and a home; he wants 150 acres and a family. Is their shared dream enough to keep them together? Will their secrets bind them or tear them apart?
The novel is emotive and atmospheric. Wild Alaska is as much a character as any person. This is no fairy tale: Marie and Lawrence's struggles to make a life and to get to know and trust each other are rough. Mistakes in the harsh northern environment can be fatal. Hard work isn't an option.
Against the backdrop of Marie and Lawrence's relationship and the beautiful Alaskan landscape is Marie's sister's marriage, the Korean War, the Cold War, Alaskan statehood, and the displacement of indigenous populations.
I'll be thinking about this book for a long time.
Narrator Ariel Blake does justice to the author's style, augmenting the emotional impact of the novel. She respects both the beauty of the language and the stark realities the characters face.
Thanks to the publishers for review copies in various formats.
Set in the late 1950s, this book follows Lawrence and Marie as they try to fulfill the homesteading requirements in Alaska Territory.
Lawrence was discharged from his service in Korea when his father applied for a hardship exemption. After Lawrence helps get his family farm in Montana back on track, he moves to Alaska and stakes a claim on 150 acres. He silently lives with serious PTSD, though at the time there was no such diagnosis or treatment. He dreams of having a wife and 12 children to help him homestead, but women are scarce in the Anchorage area.
Marie comes to Alaska to see her sister and brother-in-law, knowing only that she has to leave Texas and that she wants something of her own.
Though they've known each other only a day or so, Marie and Lawrence decide to get married: she wants 150 acres and a home; he wants 150 acres and a family. Is their shared dream enough to keep them together? Will their secrets bind them or tear them apart?
The novel is emotive and atmospheric. Wild Alaska is as much a character as any person. This is no fairy tale: Marie and Lawrence's struggles to make a life and to get to know and trust each other are rough. Mistakes in the harsh northern environment can be fatal. Hard work isn't an option.
Against the backdrop of Marie and Lawrence's relationship and the beautiful Alaskan landscape is Marie's sister's marriage, the Korean War, the Cold War, Alaskan statehood, and the displacement of indigenous populations.
I'll be thinking about this book for a long time.
Narrator Ariel Blake does justice to the author's style, augmenting the emotional impact of the novel. She respects both the beauty of the language and the stark realities the characters face.
Thanks to the publishers for review copies in various formats.
January 9, 2023
Homestead is an astonishing book, full of heart and beauty, and yet it never looks away from the hard stuff of life. Set in 1950s Alaska when a pair of newlyweds (who are almost brand new to each other) set about to make a new life for themselves in Alaska, after difficult events in each of their lives. These characters unfold to the reader the way they unfold to each other--slowly, but with great purpose and resonance. The author's prose is practically poetry, it's so lush and lovely, and the story is so full of discovery that it's hard to put the book down! Highly recommended.
April 24, 2023
A lyrical, evocative, and at times deeply moving short novel…light on plot, character-focused (the two main characters are both ornery and damaged in equal but different ways), and notable for its beautiful and vivid writing about the Alaska setting and the natural world. There’s enough of a story to keep you engaged, but it’s the writing itself (if you like this kind of thing) which is the standout here.
February 27, 2023
My Interest
In my twenties I often wondered if I could handle Alaska. In my late 20s I went out to Northern Idaho, where my artist great-uncle and great-aunt lived until some lamentable far-far-far right wing groups invade and before the area was “developed” to cater to tourists and Hollywood. It gave me thoughts of a life lived in peaceful solitude, and the beauty of nature. You are laughing, of course. Never did I consider the WORK involved! LOL So, anyway, Alaska has long been on my radar. About 10 years ago a young friend moved there just for an experience. Even with an excellent health profession, it was so expensive we all mailed her food!
The Story
Not too long before Alaska achieved statehood [January 1959], a young woman from Texas journeys to Anchorage to stay with her sister and brother-in-law. Not wanting to go back, she looks around and finds herself a suitable guy. Marie and Lawrence marry and take out a homestead. This is back in the days of American Colonialism, when there were “no” settlers in Alaska because there were only the indigenous people whose land it was.
Lawrence has what we call PTSD today from his stint in the Army during the Korean “Conflict”–it was never declare as a “war.” He deals with it as best he can through hard work or even exercise. Meanwhile, he and Marie set up house in an an old bus modified to have a wood stove, while they clear the land and build a cabin. In town they see “natives” treated badly, but being people of their time and not woke individuals of today, they don’t like it, but they feel they must mind their own business. Lawrence is a little obsessed with “proving” his claim–[maybe a minor spoiler] it ties in a bit with his PTSD. Marie wants to share in the “proving up” of the claim. She though is by now pregnant. Her sister, back in Anchorage, has not been able to have a child. This is predictably a cause of tension between them.
The hard work of the homestead is obvious. Lawrence’s father arrives to help build the cabin and Marie is grateful. Her sister is her sole “support” in terms of a “support network,” as we’d call it today, but Lawrence’s father is soon added to that.
Late in the story, they take a risk and ask to be introduced to a father and son–Native Alaskans. They learn a bit about how they see things. The story does not catapult them (thankfully) into modern views, but they do learn and grown from it.
The parallels are between Lawrence and Marie growing in their marriage and Alaska going through the growing pains from Colonial “Territory” to full statehood–even though many would prefer they be independent (just like Puerto Rico).
My Thoughts
In Peace Corps I learned a lot of the idiocy of the “Great White Savior” mentality like bringing in Monsanto for fertilizer so that without it crops failed. Or showing people who had been successfully growing their own food for centuries a “better” way to do it based on what worked in North Dakota. At the time I read this I saw the “other” side of Mt. Rushmore–a mountain that to certain Native Americans symbolized their history. I can honestly say I knew nothing of that. And, while I would still like to see Mt Rushmore, I will view it differently. All of these things, as the woke would say, provide the “lens” though which I viewed the story–or “informed” how I took in the story.
No matter, it is a very compelling story told mostly with the manners and mores of the time–something I value in historical fiction. Not everyone was as clairvoyant as many authors want their historical characters to be. That Lawrence and Marie even agreed to meet Alaskans was a huge deal and made an impression on them.
That said, I did not really “get” the symbolism (if there was any) of Lawrence’s big “thing” [no spoilers]. Was it a modern-day attack on men? Was it something to do with his PTSD? Hmmmmmmm. Otherwise, I thought the book was very “real.” The actions of the characters were believeable. The author planted me firmly in that homestead. I felt the angst of Anchorage residents at statehood as they waited to see if their lives would improve with the Capital being moved there (hint: Capital is still Juneau). This part of the story caught my attention as I was in Peace Corps with one of the Anchorage City Planners from just after that era. Fond memory.
No matter, I enjoyed this book tremendously. I look forward to reading more from this author.
My Verdict
4.0
In my twenties I often wondered if I could handle Alaska. In my late 20s I went out to Northern Idaho, where my artist great-uncle and great-aunt lived until some lamentable far-far-far right wing groups invade and before the area was “developed” to cater to tourists and Hollywood. It gave me thoughts of a life lived in peaceful solitude, and the beauty of nature. You are laughing, of course. Never did I consider the WORK involved! LOL So, anyway, Alaska has long been on my radar. About 10 years ago a young friend moved there just for an experience. Even with an excellent health profession, it was so expensive we all mailed her food!
The Story
Not too long before Alaska achieved statehood [January 1959], a young woman from Texas journeys to Anchorage to stay with her sister and brother-in-law. Not wanting to go back, she looks around and finds herself a suitable guy. Marie and Lawrence marry and take out a homestead. This is back in the days of American Colonialism, when there were “no” settlers in Alaska because there were only the indigenous people whose land it was.
Lawrence has what we call PTSD today from his stint in the Army during the Korean “Conflict”–it was never declare as a “war.” He deals with it as best he can through hard work or even exercise. Meanwhile, he and Marie set up house in an an old bus modified to have a wood stove, while they clear the land and build a cabin. In town they see “natives” treated badly, but being people of their time and not woke individuals of today, they don’t like it, but they feel they must mind their own business. Lawrence is a little obsessed with “proving” his claim–[maybe a minor spoiler] it ties in a bit with his PTSD. Marie wants to share in the “proving up” of the claim. She though is by now pregnant. Her sister, back in Anchorage, has not been able to have a child. This is predictably a cause of tension between them.
The hard work of the homestead is obvious. Lawrence’s father arrives to help build the cabin and Marie is grateful. Her sister is her sole “support” in terms of a “support network,” as we’d call it today, but Lawrence’s father is soon added to that.
Late in the story, they take a risk and ask to be introduced to a father and son–Native Alaskans. They learn a bit about how they see things. The story does not catapult them (thankfully) into modern views, but they do learn and grown from it.
The parallels are between Lawrence and Marie growing in their marriage and Alaska going through the growing pains from Colonial “Territory” to full statehood–even though many would prefer they be independent (just like Puerto Rico).
My Thoughts
In Peace Corps I learned a lot of the idiocy of the “Great White Savior” mentality like bringing in Monsanto for fertilizer so that without it crops failed. Or showing people who had been successfully growing their own food for centuries a “better” way to do it based on what worked in North Dakota. At the time I read this I saw the “other” side of Mt. Rushmore–a mountain that to certain Native Americans symbolized their history. I can honestly say I knew nothing of that. And, while I would still like to see Mt Rushmore, I will view it differently. All of these things, as the woke would say, provide the “lens” though which I viewed the story–or “informed” how I took in the story.
No matter, it is a very compelling story told mostly with the manners and mores of the time–something I value in historical fiction. Not everyone was as clairvoyant as many authors want their historical characters to be. That Lawrence and Marie even agreed to meet Alaskans was a huge deal and made an impression on them.
That said, I did not really “get” the symbolism (if there was any) of Lawrence’s big “thing” [no spoilers]. Was it a modern-day attack on men? Was it something to do with his PTSD? Hmmmmmmm. Otherwise, I thought the book was very “real.” The actions of the characters were believeable. The author planted me firmly in that homestead. I felt the angst of Anchorage residents at statehood as they waited to see if their lives would improve with the Capital being moved there (hint: Capital is still Juneau). This part of the story caught my attention as I was in Peace Corps with one of the Anchorage City Planners from just after that era. Fond memory.
No matter, I enjoyed this book tremendously. I look forward to reading more from this author.
My Verdict
4.0
January 1, 2024
2.5 stars rounded up
tedious & repetitive story of two people who should have never married. the setting could have been anywhere.
tedious & repetitive story of two people who should have never married. the setting could have been anywhere.
December 23, 2022
I would totally be on board with this idea – but my husband would not survive. He is the type of person who needs to interact with others daily, whereas I’m more of a leave me be type of person.
Its 1956 when Marie and Lawrence first meet and are drawn together. They decide to marry days later and homestead in Alaska. Lawrence sees his newfound land as an opportunity to belong in the world, Marie sees it as an escape from the empty future she sees before her. Over the next few years they work the land hoping to secure the deed to the homestead, while facing everything they don’t know about each other. As Alaska moves towards statehood, can Marie and Lawrence create something new, or will they break apart trying?
This one is an immersive amazing read. I fell in love. I grabbed this one because it said if you like The Great Alone by Kristen Hannah, you’d like this one. I love Kristen Hannah novels, so I knew I had to grab this one, and I am so glad I did. This one is a gorgeous representation of what it means to love and grow.
If you’re looking for a fully immersive Alaskan experience, then check this one out February 28th of next year! The publisher, Flatiron Books, @flatiron_books, and @netgalley, provided me this e-arc copy for review
Its 1956 when Marie and Lawrence first meet and are drawn together. They decide to marry days later and homestead in Alaska. Lawrence sees his newfound land as an opportunity to belong in the world, Marie sees it as an escape from the empty future she sees before her. Over the next few years they work the land hoping to secure the deed to the homestead, while facing everything they don’t know about each other. As Alaska moves towards statehood, can Marie and Lawrence create something new, or will they break apart trying?
This one is an immersive amazing read. I fell in love. I grabbed this one because it said if you like The Great Alone by Kristen Hannah, you’d like this one. I love Kristen Hannah novels, so I knew I had to grab this one, and I am so glad I did. This one is a gorgeous representation of what it means to love and grow.
If you’re looking for a fully immersive Alaskan experience, then check this one out February 28th of next year! The publisher, Flatiron Books, @flatiron_books, and @netgalley, provided me this e-arc copy for review
February 16, 2023
3.5 stars
18 year old Marie and 27 year old Lawrence want to have their own piece of the American dream, land ownership. They get married after knowing for just a few days so they could homestead a large tract of land in Alaska in hopes of eventually owning it. The rugged Alaskan landscape isn’t for the faint of heart. Will Marie and Lawrence be able to survive all that Alaska throws at them while keeping their marriage intact.
I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this book. I really felt the heartache and betrayal that Marie was going through. Her life was not an easy one and it was all about basic survival. I honestly didn’t like Lawrence at all, and Marie was the only one I kind of felt bad for since she was 18 when this journey began. After finishing the book, I felt a bit pessimistic and empty. The book just ended, and the story didn’t feel complete.
Possible trigger for people who are sensitive to miscarriage and child loss.
The narrator was direct and to the point, much like the story. There was very little fluctuation in the narration style which helped to convey the bleakness of the story. I started listening at normal speed and eventually sped it up to 2.5.
18 year old Marie and 27 year old Lawrence want to have their own piece of the American dream, land ownership. They get married after knowing for just a few days so they could homestead a large tract of land in Alaska in hopes of eventually owning it. The rugged Alaskan landscape isn’t for the faint of heart. Will Marie and Lawrence be able to survive all that Alaska throws at them while keeping their marriage intact.
I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this book. I really felt the heartache and betrayal that Marie was going through. Her life was not an easy one and it was all about basic survival. I honestly didn’t like Lawrence at all, and Marie was the only one I kind of felt bad for since she was 18 when this journey began. After finishing the book, I felt a bit pessimistic and empty. The book just ended, and the story didn’t feel complete.
Possible trigger for people who are sensitive to miscarriage and child loss.
The narrator was direct and to the point, much like the story. There was very little fluctuation in the narration style which helped to convey the bleakness of the story. I started listening at normal speed and eventually sped it up to 2.5.
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