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Homefront
When Mia Sharpe's boyfriend, Jake, deploys to the war in Iraq, much of her sanity goes with him. Faced with the daily anxiety of what she views as his inevitable death, Mia's struggle to stay positive is challenged by a sensationalist media, a quasi-mother in-law, the brutal honesty of a disgruntled soldier's wife, and the magnetic post-war depression of a Vietnam veteran. Homefront explores the uncomfortable truths of a deployment: jealousy, selfishness, joy, anger, and abject fear. Through the interactions between the book's vivid characters, Homefront reveals the unexpected beauty to be found hiding in the torture of waiting as each character responds to the war in his or her own unique, and painfully intimate, way.
312 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2007
3 people are currently reading
529 people want to read
About the author
Kristen J. Tsetsi
6 books41 followersAuthor of PRETTY MUCH TRUE, THE YEAR OF DAN PALACE, and THE AGE OF THE CHILD.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
March 11, 2008
Kristen J. Tsetsi has done something few other authors have been able to; she's captivated me with a non-genre title. Homefront kept me turning pages, not because of suspense or exciting action, but because of the depth with which she explores the psyche of her narrator. Mia is at once a tragic figure, separated from her true love by a war half a world away. Where most authors would choose to write of the difficulties and tragedies that befall soldiers, Kristen has focused instead on those left behind, who must wait and wonder daily if the news reports of combat deaths refer to their loved ones. Is their stress, their depression, their mental anguish any less than that the soldiers face on the front lines? Kristen has firmly convinced me that it can be just as debilitating. Throughout the book, we see Mia range from bored to depressed to angry, sometimes within moments of each other - an excellent reflection of the rapidity of emotional change.
I wrote this in an email to her the day I started reading (and kept reading, and kept reading): I started reading Homefront this afternoon. It is not the type of book I would normally read, or even pick up, but I approached it with an open mind, as I do all books, and I have to tell you...
...you have sucked me right in. Seriously, I read over a 100 pages this afternoon, leaving my laundry unfolded, my dishes undone, my own writing unattended to, and my children standing before me whining about dinner and snacks and whose turn was it on the Gameboy.
I finished the book two days later, reading on the clock when I should have been working instead. It was that good.
I wrote this in an email to her the day I started reading (and kept reading, and kept reading): I started reading Homefront this afternoon. It is not the type of book I would normally read, or even pick up, but I approached it with an open mind, as I do all books, and I have to tell you...
...you have sucked me right in. Seriously, I read over a 100 pages this afternoon, leaving my laundry unfolded, my dishes undone, my own writing unattended to, and my children standing before me whining about dinner and snacks and whose turn was it on the Gameboy.
I finished the book two days later, reading on the clock when I should have been working instead. It was that good.
June 28, 2007
Immersive is one of the primary criterion by which I judge novels, and I was a 100 pages into Homefront before I looked up from the book. The beginning is grabber with the conflicted relationship, the impending sense of doom, and the isolation of the narrator. What I loved most about this novel is the way Tsetsi took risks with her portrayal of Mia, because throughout the novel Mia's behavior--at least from the outside looking in--seems shockingly inappropriate. She doesn't write to Jake. She doesn't send him the care packages he asks for. She doesn't answer the phone when he calls. Meanwhile, she hangs out with a crazed Vietnam vet. And then when she does write to Jake she tells him she hates his mother. This is not the saccharine portrait we are used to seeing in the media of supportive wives and girlfriends stiff upper-lipping their way through deployment. It has the feel, however, of the real war on the homefront.
January 6, 2012
I have discovered, over the last 20 or so odd years, that the majority of authors tend to steer away from the gritty side of reality. Now, I’m not talking about psychological thrillers and autobiographies of young Hollywood starlets with coke addictions, what I’m talking about is the full rang of emotions people feel during loss.
When Kristen sent me “Homefront” I thought…”wow… this seems kind of interesting…” but I was in no way prepared for what I read.
For at least 9 years now our country has been dealing with some pretty radical changes. 1. We had our hearts crushed as we watched 2 of NYC’s most prominent features burn to the ground. 2. Our worlds were turned upside down with the decline of what was once a steady economy, and 3. We waved to our sons, husbands, brothers, uncles, and friends as they packed their gear and headed off to war.
It’s hard to image what it feels like to watch a loved one go off to war, unless you have been in those shoes. It’s hard to image the tricks your mind plays on you or the damage the absence can do to your physical body. It’s hard to image what it feels like to wake up everyday hoping that there isn’t a knock on your door.
Mia is 1 half of a whole…Jake is the other half, and now Jake is gone.
The events that unfold after he leaves is just a small glimpse into the life of a soldiers other half. Without the stability of marriage or an engaging job Mia is left with nothing to do but cope with the facts of life, but when coping consist of bottomless bottles of booze and a broken home, it becomes the most difficult adjustment in the world. What happens to the mind when it can’t get past loss? What happens to the mind when it can’t see past the haze of being alone? What happens to a persons will to live, when they think their “heart” is dead?
“Kristen Tsetsi” did what most authors wouldn’t dare do… she wrote the ugly side of waiting. She wrote it without flowery words or manipulated perception…what she wrote was, simply put, the truth. I have cried while reading before (you already know this) but never once has it been because of raw unbridled emotion. “Homefront” made me realize that things aren’t always so peachy on the other side, that people are damaged…or can get damaged very easily. I said that the writing wasn’t flowery, but that doesn’t take away from the brilliantness of it, writing this novel, in any other way, would have been inconceivable. To change it would be a crime.
I understand the necessity for people to read “happy,” I understand that 90% of the time, when someone decides to read a book they want to escape from the realities of everyday life, and I know that this book is by no means consoling, happy, or light hearted…but I still think it deserves your time.
Grab this book. Read this book. Then put it down and never pick it up again.
Not because it’s not great, but because sometimes the lesson only needs to be taught once.
Happy reading my fellow Kindle-ites and remember: This is your moment to walk a mile in their shoes, don’t miss that opportunity!
When Kristen sent me “Homefront” I thought…”wow… this seems kind of interesting…” but I was in no way prepared for what I read.
For at least 9 years now our country has been dealing with some pretty radical changes. 1. We had our hearts crushed as we watched 2 of NYC’s most prominent features burn to the ground. 2. Our worlds were turned upside down with the decline of what was once a steady economy, and 3. We waved to our sons, husbands, brothers, uncles, and friends as they packed their gear and headed off to war.
It’s hard to image what it feels like to watch a loved one go off to war, unless you have been in those shoes. It’s hard to image the tricks your mind plays on you or the damage the absence can do to your physical body. It’s hard to image what it feels like to wake up everyday hoping that there isn’t a knock on your door.
Mia is 1 half of a whole…Jake is the other half, and now Jake is gone.
The events that unfold after he leaves is just a small glimpse into the life of a soldiers other half. Without the stability of marriage or an engaging job Mia is left with nothing to do but cope with the facts of life, but when coping consist of bottomless bottles of booze and a broken home, it becomes the most difficult adjustment in the world. What happens to the mind when it can’t get past loss? What happens to the mind when it can’t see past the haze of being alone? What happens to a persons will to live, when they think their “heart” is dead?
“Kristen Tsetsi” did what most authors wouldn’t dare do… she wrote the ugly side of waiting. She wrote it without flowery words or manipulated perception…what she wrote was, simply put, the truth. I have cried while reading before (you already know this) but never once has it been because of raw unbridled emotion. “Homefront” made me realize that things aren’t always so peachy on the other side, that people are damaged…or can get damaged very easily. I said that the writing wasn’t flowery, but that doesn’t take away from the brilliantness of it, writing this novel, in any other way, would have been inconceivable. To change it would be a crime.
I understand the necessity for people to read “happy,” I understand that 90% of the time, when someone decides to read a book they want to escape from the realities of everyday life, and I know that this book is by no means consoling, happy, or light hearted…but I still think it deserves your time.
Grab this book. Read this book. Then put it down and never pick it up again.
Not because it’s not great, but because sometimes the lesson only needs to be taught once.
Happy reading my fellow Kindle-ites and remember: This is your moment to walk a mile in their shoes, don’t miss that opportunity!
June 5, 2013
A hypnotic, powerful account of a young woman's struggle to keep a grip on her mental on emotional stability during her boyfriend's deployment to Iraq.
Instead of an unreliable narrator, Mia is a narrator whose unembroidered honesty is at times almost too much to bear. The reader watches, fascinated, horrified, as all the certainties of her life erode by increments, warping her life and all her relationships. How far will it go? Will she be able to pull out of her tailspin?
Author Kristen Tsetsi (herself married to a serviceman) handles the viewpoint and the supporting characters--all of them as real as anyone you know--with skill, courage, and a sharp eye for telling details. More than anything else, I was impressed with how much the author trusts her readers to "get it"; there is no filtering here, no telling, no manipulation, just strong, direct prose with barely any false notes. And although the book is strongly literary in tone, the plot and character arcs are solid and mostly satisfying; I was never bored, as i usually am by non-genre, literary work.
This is a good book, and one worth reading. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys literary fiction and unflinching, realistic, psychological portraits.
Instead of an unreliable narrator, Mia is a narrator whose unembroidered honesty is at times almost too much to bear. The reader watches, fascinated, horrified, as all the certainties of her life erode by increments, warping her life and all her relationships. How far will it go? Will she be able to pull out of her tailspin?
Author Kristen Tsetsi (herself married to a serviceman) handles the viewpoint and the supporting characters--all of them as real as anyone you know--with skill, courage, and a sharp eye for telling details. More than anything else, I was impressed with how much the author trusts her readers to "get it"; there is no filtering here, no telling, no manipulation, just strong, direct prose with barely any false notes. And although the book is strongly literary in tone, the plot and character arcs are solid and mostly satisfying; I was never bored, as i usually am by non-genre, literary work.
This is a good book, and one worth reading. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys literary fiction and unflinching, realistic, psychological portraits.
April 2, 2025
This shed a spotlight on what those who are left at home deal with - their fears, their anger, their ambivalence - and their behaviors, which are often self-destructive. Mia's fiancé goes to Iraq and she is left at home, she drinks too much, she quits her job, she becomes a hermit at times, she doesn't write, she writes when she is drunk and says hurtful things. She meets Dr Donny Donaldson, a Vietnam War vet, she is friends with Denise, someone whose actions she abhors and she wrestles with her feelings through it all. Well written.
February 1, 2012
12/7/11 just got this book -free from goodreads....may have to wait till after the holiday to read it though. But it does sound interesting...making cookies might have to wait.
Boy! I didn't at first know w h e n I'd get to sit and read... I am SOOO glad I read this book!! Wow!!! it makes you feel like you are right there feeling , seeing , hearing, all that happens as it happens. I cried, laughed and got mad at Michael (the husband) along with Jo. I felt her fears and understood her reasoning and thinking as she went thru this time of her life. I cried so much for the loss, the pain Jo felt-used at least one box of kleenex up. Most of the times you think 'yes, that is exactly what I would say or how I would react if I were Jo' You also get an education in what our soldiers face and are probalby feeling when they fact war and the aftermath...for years to come.
Be warned there is some 'bad' words used through out the book, so I would recommend this only for the adult reader.
Yet looking past that, Kristen surely has an influence on how you feel as you 'fly' along with Jo, face her life before and after her accident as you see it all through Jo's eyes or another family member/friend. It is an honest look at war, a troubled marriage, and the price of war on a family and many others. It's really worth reading...you'll cry and laugh and get mad and find the hope and heroism that we all need to hear about.
Not a mushy romance, yet it's a love story of Jo and Michael and gee I don't want to ruin it for you. This book is diffent. A book that will stay with you long after you read it.
Just read it! you'll see it's worth the read!!
Boy! I didn't at first know w h e n I'd get to sit and read... I am SOOO glad I read this book!! Wow!!! it makes you feel like you are right there feeling , seeing , hearing, all that happens as it happens. I cried, laughed and got mad at Michael (the husband) along with Jo. I felt her fears and understood her reasoning and thinking as she went thru this time of her life. I cried so much for the loss, the pain Jo felt-used at least one box of kleenex up. Most of the times you think 'yes, that is exactly what I would say or how I would react if I were Jo' You also get an education in what our soldiers face and are probalby feeling when they fact war and the aftermath...for years to come.
Be warned there is some 'bad' words used through out the book, so I would recommend this only for the adult reader.
Yet looking past that, Kristen surely has an influence on how you feel as you 'fly' along with Jo, face her life before and after her accident as you see it all through Jo's eyes or another family member/friend. It is an honest look at war, a troubled marriage, and the price of war on a family and many others. It's really worth reading...you'll cry and laugh and get mad and find the hope and heroism that we all need to hear about.
Not a mushy romance, yet it's a love story of Jo and Michael and gee I don't want to ruin it for you. This book is diffent. A book that will stay with you long after you read it.
Just read it! you'll see it's worth the read!!
November 6, 2013
Kristen J. Tsetsi is a hell of a writer. Her book is edgy and full of suppressed emotion. Every character in it has an issue and all have some connection to the military (soldier, veteran, family, girlfriend). Feelings are hidden and suppressed and sublimated throughout the book which made me anxious while reading it. How could Mia treat Jake the way she did? Obviously, she is afraid of losing him and so she pretends, even to herself, that she doesn't care. She pulls away and self-medicates (cigarettes, booze, befriending an alcoholic vet) so that she does not have to deal with her fear. I could relate to Mia in that my high school sweetheart joined the marines and was shipped off to Vietnam but I deal with my fear in a different manner. We probably all deal with the fear of losing loved ones in ways that are less than productive.
I enjoyed the book, if "enjoy" is the right word. I was uncomfortable with the behavior and thoughts of main character, Mia. The very last paragraph was such a relief after all the tension. That's the sign of a great writer....that I felt on edge all the time, just like Mia did.
I enjoyed the book, if "enjoy" is the right word. I was uncomfortable with the behavior and thoughts of main character, Mia. The very last paragraph was such a relief after all the tension. That's the sign of a great writer....that I felt on edge all the time, just like Mia did.
August 3, 2009
I found out about this book on Twitter. The author actually sent me a PDF of it (which I secretly printed and read -- I'm not into reading books on the computer!) It's VERY intense. I read it in 2 days (those were working days, not the weekend!) and I couldn't put it down. It's the story of Mia, a 26-year-old who is left behind when her boyfriend Jake is deployed to Iraq. Mia and Jake are not really engaged because they thought they shouldn't get married just because he was going off to war...but they are obviously torn about this -- at least Mia certainly is. The book is told from her perspective and through much of the book I don't like her much. Why does she drink so much? Why does she get so angry? But I ended up liking her better by the end, and also I learn not to judge some of the characters quite so much, especially the character Donny and Mia too. Mia seems bent on self-destructive behavior, but it seems to be her way of coping with things.
March 6, 2013
I love to find a book that breaks free of the limitations of genre and cliched plot. Pretty Much True is that kind of book.
The story line, that of Mia, a young woman whose boyfriend has been deployed in Iraq, isn't inherently unusual. The main character gives this book its uniqueness. She is no heroine, and she's neither a flag waver or an antiwar activist. She simply stumbles or sleepwalks through each day, sometimes longing for her boyfriend and sometimes hating him.
I know from my own experience that having a boyfriend or husband away on a military tour of duty creates a particular kind of loneliness, in which loneliness is sharpened by a sense of both danger and imminent doom. The author, without any kind of ostentation (or perhaps even intention) manages to turn the daily sorrows and suffering of Mia into a symbol of a sharply divided nation in which confusion and deception is the norm.
I will be looking for more from this author.
The story line, that of Mia, a young woman whose boyfriend has been deployed in Iraq, isn't inherently unusual. The main character gives this book its uniqueness. She is no heroine, and she's neither a flag waver or an antiwar activist. She simply stumbles or sleepwalks through each day, sometimes longing for her boyfriend and sometimes hating him.
I know from my own experience that having a boyfriend or husband away on a military tour of duty creates a particular kind of loneliness, in which loneliness is sharpened by a sense of both danger and imminent doom. The author, without any kind of ostentation (or perhaps even intention) manages to turn the daily sorrows and suffering of Mia into a symbol of a sharply divided nation in which confusion and deception is the norm.
I will be looking for more from this author.
October 30, 2012
UNFORGETTABLE!!!
I got so caught up in this story I forgot myself. Kristen J. Tsetsi's writing is hypnotic.
Her characters sing off the page. They pulled me out of the present and dropped me into the driver's seat of Mia's cab as she taxis others around town while her boyfriend is at war.
Unlike military wives and mothers, Mia is not privy to the inside news and must rely on others for any scrap of news.
Unforgettable.
"Pretty Much True" will stay with me for a long time...I am breathless still.
Kathleen M. Rodgers ~ author of the Amazon best-selling novel, "The Final Salute"
Ranked #1 Top Rated War Fiction
I got so caught up in this story I forgot myself. Kristen J. Tsetsi's writing is hypnotic.
Her characters sing off the page. They pulled me out of the present and dropped me into the driver's seat of Mia's cab as she taxis others around town while her boyfriend is at war.
Unlike military wives and mothers, Mia is not privy to the inside news and must rely on others for any scrap of news.
Unforgettable.
"Pretty Much True" will stay with me for a long time...I am breathless still.
Kathleen M. Rodgers ~ author of the Amazon best-selling novel, "The Final Salute"
Ranked #1 Top Rated War Fiction
December 29, 2009
I wrote an annotation on this book, and, yet, it is hard to write a quick blurb about my feelings regarding it. I will say this: clear, beautiful, evocative language and a first person point of view intriguingly reporterish. My hang up was that–and you have to read this in order to get it–I felt like the author/narrator hated children and, therefore, as a mother I found the portrayal of a pregnancy in the book rather upsetting. But my own prejudice was put aside, and I really loved this book. ***I corresponded with the author and for the record, she does NOT hate children!
September 25, 2012
I reviewed this on my site, so I'm going to cheat and post an excerpt:
"I’ll be honest: this isn’t the sort of book I go for, but I’ve been trying to step out of my comfort zone when it comes to fiction, and in this case, I’m glad I did. Pretty Much True… challenges the typical definition of a war novel and brings to light an often understated side effect of countries in conflict: the families who are left at home to wait in bitter silence while their loved ones fight on the front lines."
In other words, I liked it, and give it four stars.
"I’ll be honest: this isn’t the sort of book I go for, but I’ve been trying to step out of my comfort zone when it comes to fiction, and in this case, I’m glad I did. Pretty Much True… challenges the typical definition of a war novel and brings to light an often understated side effect of countries in conflict: the families who are left at home to wait in bitter silence while their loved ones fight on the front lines."
In other words, I liked it, and give it four stars.
January 28, 2010
Mia does not handle being the one left behind when her loved one is deployed. She becomes an alcoholic, hangs out with a Vietnam vet who's also an alcoholic and also the wife of a friend who has fidelity issues. I liked Tsetsi's writing styles--she actually mixes straight-forward prose with bits of stream of consciousness. It's a painful book to read but one I'm glad I read; it's good to be reminded that the soldiers aren't the only ones that suffer in a war.
September 7, 2012
This story is a core view of the chaos, fear, love and time spent off the ground when someone loved is deployed to a combat zone. The title is, no doubt, a good title as the story doesn't seem possible if the author hadn't experienced most of it. I appreciate her writing from her soul and find her writing a joy to read, in spite of the angst.
September 14, 2008
A realistic portrait of a lover's life at the homefront. Towards the end of the book I was hoping the character would have an affair to distract from her misery... click here for review:
http://www.bookpleasures.com/Lore2/id...
http://www.bookpleasures.com/Lore2/id...
October 20, 2009
This book drew me into the main character's world. I could feel everything Mia felt, even though I've never been in a situation like hers.
Want to read
October 15, 2011Buena novela
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