Giveaway: "Home Front" An Eye-Opening Book

I was sent the book “Home Front” by Kristin Hannah a few weeks ago. I started reading the book last week and I haven’t been able to put it down since I flipped open the first page. I finally finished it last night and I am still thinking about it today.

The main character, Jolene is in the National Guard and her marriage is on the rocks when she finds out she is being deployed to Iraq. She has a teenage daughter and a preschool age daughter and she feels extremely guilty for serving her country. Her guilt is fueled by the fact that her husband rarely spends any time with the family.

While Jolene is deployed, her husband, an attorney, gets a shocking look inside combat PTSD. A client he represents kills his wife after returning from war.

The author did an amazing job of portraying the emotions that go along with preparing for a deployment and the guilt a warrior feels leaving his or her family behind.

I was captured by the book when Jolene described her experiences overseas, flying helicopters with her best friend. She experienced mortar attacks, enemy fire, hero flights, transporting the wounded and seeing horrific injuries. While reading the book I felt my emotions bubbling up in my chest. I kept trying to stuff them down but it was a very accurate portrayal of what our warriors experience in combat and it uncovered some emotions I haven’t felt in a while.

It wasn’t until Jolene and her best friend were severely injured and she lost part of her crew while taking enemy fire that the tears started to flow. It was much like our story. It hit close to home.

It was heartbreaking to read how hard it was for Jolene to learn how to walk again, relive her combat experiences through her dreams, reintegrate with her family and grieve her loss. Through this fictional book I understood a little bit more what it was like for my husband to recover from his devastating injuries.

The last few pages were very emotional for me. As it came to a close I started to cry then I felt I should just let the tears flow. I can’t remember the last time that I cried but, it felt good.

My husband was asleep on the couch and I woke him up and cried in his arms. I felt I understood more about him by reading the book. Thank you Kristin Hannah for writing about the struggles our wounded warriors face. It was truly an eye-opening book. Thank you for putting into words what my husband might have felt coming back, wounded, so that I could better understand.

I will be giving three copies away to my readers. Comment below on why you would like to read this book and leave your email address so I can contact the winners. If you aren't a lucky winner you can buy the book.

Coming Jan. 31, 2012

Pre-order the hardcover edition of Home Front at these online retailers:

• amazon.com
• barnesandnoble.com
• Indiebound.org
• booksamillion.com

Pre-order the e-book edition:

• Kindle
• Nook
• iTunes

Or you can check out Kristin's website.

We Can't Socialize Anymore

We used to have parties with soldiers all the time and we went out more before he got blown up. But not anymore.

I have been feeling some sadness since Saturday night. We were invited to a get together with our friends, and all of their friends, at their house. I was really looking forward to it and Bryan said he would come along. The problem is that our friends had a lot of friends there and it was just too overwhelming for Bryan. I am so thankful that he tried going but part of me feels so sad that he just can’t handle it.

We started out in the kitchen and someone we had never met was talking to us, asking what we do, etc. Bryan could barely focus on what he was saying and he left the guy hanging a few times on his questions. Finally, we just ended the conversation and moved on. I started talking to my friend and her friends and felt so guilty leaving Bryan in the kitchen alone and overwhelmed. I excused myself and I asked if he was feeling overwhelmed. Of course he said "yes" so we moved to a less crowded area.

Then he completely zoned out. His eyes glazed over, he tuned everything out and sat there, lifeless. He focused on the football game on TV that was playing with no sound. He cares nothing about football. I chatted a bit with the lady next to me but it just got awkward. Finally, I asked him if he wanted to go and he said he did. We stayed just over an hour total. As we were driving home I felt sad for him, and me. I want to be a normal couple that can go to a party and socialize with complete strangers.

I love that we are both handling our situation better but really, I just wanted to cry. I felt such emptiness afterwards. I am thankful that our friends understand and don’t get offended if we need to leave. But, it is hard not to compare my old life to my new life. I want it back sometimes. It isn’t fair that we have to stay home, or go to restaurants at slow times, or do the same things every weekend. I don’t want to go without him either but sometimes it is just easier.

These are what what low days look like.