We Came All This Way

by Mike Heppner

We Came All This Way is the first novel in 8 years from the author whom Entertainment Weekly calls “...a fearsome cultural critic disguised in a novelist’s clothing,” and The Washington Post calls “... a young master of this old art.” It’s the story of Roseanne Okerfeldt, a 31-year-old mother of four who finds her life in Grand Rapids, Michigan stultifying and runs off with her brother and eldest child to live on a decommissioned oil rig in the middle of the North Atlantic. There, Roseanne and the thirty-seven other residents of “Mobility” (as they call their new home) struggle against the elements and their own basic oddness to establish an independent society based on utopian principles of cooperation and self-sufficiency. As the months pass, the pressure increases on Roseanne to return to Michigan and confront her former life, while Mobility itself—with its delicate balance of extreme personalities—splinters toward chaos. Roseanne tells her own story in a comic, aware, and self-deprecating voice, starting with her childhood in suburban Ohio, her early marriage and pregnancies, and her experiences on Mobility, which involve pirate attacks, the vague omens of a Belgian soothsayer, and a man with blue skin. We Came All This Way is about finding a place in the world and trying to grow up before your kids do.

436 pages, Paperback

First published June 2, 2015

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roseanne Okerfeldt's life has been remarkable only in the ways she's screwed it up. Except for her stellar tenure as retail associate at Pier One, Rosanne doesn't have much to show for herself. With high school mostly a wash, she emerges from a brief, unremarkable stint at community college pregnant, so marries her boyfriend and moves into his pastor parents' basement not far from her hometown in a midwest, a place only as exciting as the chain stores inhabiting it. With a life trajectory this bleak, Roseanne seems to have no choice except to yank herself out of it, which she does one early morning, taking her first born five-year-old daughter with her on a whim. Roseanne's goal is to drive to her wheelchair-bound older brother, who's been working with a enigmatic scientist, both immersed in studying self-sufficient communities in remote locations. From their base in Newfoundland, the brother and scientist hatch a bold plan for living, one which will come to include Roseanne, who will eventually find herself again in a situation she did not choose and cannot leave. Sheer pleasure to find and read this novel--ultimately, a wistful tribute to suburban life--especially as I found it by accident while browsing at the very urban Housing Works. Also, I'm always impressed when a male author constructs a nuanced and complex first-person female narrator. Plus, I'm super jealous of this title.

[Jennifer Goins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I JUST GOT DONE READING THE BOOK CALLED WE CAME ALL THIS WAY BY MIKE HEPPNER. I GOT THIS BOOK FROM GOODREADS FRIST READ I'M VERY HAPPY I GOT THIS BOOK.IT WAS SO WELL WRITTEN WITH A GREAT A BIT OF HUMMOR. MY HEART ACHED FOR THE MAIN CHARACTER ROSEANNE. I HAVE TO GIVE THIS A 5 STAR RATING THANK YOU TO GOODREADS FRIST READ AND TO MIKE HEPPNER FOR THE BOOK.

[Kimberly Vanderbloom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this novel as a goodreads giveaway. I am very happy I did. It was a great contemporary novel. My heart ached for the main character Roseanne. I know at times I have felt some of the same emotions she did. It was well written with quite a bit of humor. Overall I really liked it.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not bring myself to finish. The characters and plot were just not enough for me to devote any more time to it.

[Joslyne C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. After I got a few pages in I was literally carrying it with me everywhere in hopes of having a few more minutes to read. It was one of the very few books I've read where a man has written a convincing female point of view. AND I so loved that Roseanne (the main character) had all these complicated, real, and messy feeling about motherhood. I wanted to high-five her so many times. I wanted to smack her a couple times too . . . but that's what made me love reading her.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four points for unique and quirky story. Great dialogue. Laugh-out-loud funny at times. Last 1/4 waned. Ending not satisfying-meh.

[Teressa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not really like this book.I felt that it had potential,but did not go there.The first part of the book is about a young woman pretty confused and messed up in her life,then almost out of nowhere goes to an island that the book gives the idea that it is a well run place,but it is not.
The book is also full of obscene and bad language that just not seem to be needed in the story.Also the ending,just fall short too.

[Amymcd · Rating 3 out of 5]

High scores for originality. Low scores for reality of main character--just found her hard to really believe. Entirely readable and reasonably enjoyable.