Author: Kristen J. Tsetsi                                          

ISBN: 978-0-6151-3990-6

Kristen J. Tsetsi’s debut novel, Homefront, takes us into the life of twenty-six year old Mia, who faces a battle against anxiety, loneliness and despair when her boyfriend is deployed to Iraq.

By alternating plot with a slices-of-life format, Tsetsi gives dimension to her book in a subtle and masterful way, contrasting her clear, precise, concrete prose—which makes up the majority of the book—with a quasi-stream-of consciousness style interspersed throughout.  Her solid, seamless and detailed writing has the power to bring us into each scene. The result is an engaging, realistic portrait of a lover’s life at the homefront.

Mia (is this name a too obvious choice for a book dealing with war’s consequences?) is the long-term girlfriend of Jake who is left at home while Jake fights in Iraq, not knowing when or if he will return.  She is angry, bitter, and especially hostile to Jake’s mother, but because of her circumstances we can sympathize with her.  Her worry for him is valid; the guilt she feels every time her thoughts stray from him (fearing he will die during a moment when she is not thinking about him) is revealing of the psychological suffering she is enduring:  “How long had it been?  Minutes?  An hour?  Forever.  That could have been the moment he died and his absence from my thoughts were a sign, a goodbye.”  She continuously acts out: binge-drinking, breaking things, slapping an innocent soldier, and setting things on fire.  We wonder why she isolates herself so much.  Is she so trapped in her circumstances as she thinks she is?  

Part of her angst seems to stem from her doubts about the survival of her and Jake’s relationship.  Tsetsi keeps the reader wondering too, because we’re just as confused about where she stands with him as she is.  I wondered if Mia makes a mistake by not taking a lover when she has the chance.  Instead she seems to prefer the company of Donny, an alcoholic Vietnam vet who pencils Mia’s portrait.  (In these scenes with Donny, the dialogue is very true but a bit exhaustive).  Mia’s motivations are not always clear, but what is clear is her obsessive love and feeling of helplessness—feelings most of us can relate to, which is why this book pulls us along.  In the end, Mia shows her compassion, and we, the readers, hopefully have more compassion too.

The above review was contributed by: Sonia Reppe.