The Distance Home
By Paula Saunders
288 pages
This is the story of a family growing up on the plains of South Dakota after World War Two. Eve and Al fall in love after high school and soon have three children. Their oldest two, Leon and Rene, share a love of ballet but have very different temperaments. We watch the years pass and watch life take it’s toll on the whole family.
What did it make me think about?
This novel highlights the difficulties of growing up different in small town America.
Should I read it?
I truly wanted to love this book… but I just didn’t. I just wasn’t completely engaged with the characters and the plot did not keep me that interested. It wasn’t a bad book and the writing is pretty- it just didn’t tug at my heart.
Quote-
“And as Rene sat in her bed that night, looking across the hall at Leon’s closed bedroom door, she couldn’t help but wonder where all the hurt and anger went after something like that. Did it just disappear as a person are older, dissolving in a mist of resignation and forgetfulness? Or did it crystallize, so that you carried it with you building layer upon layer as the years went by, each incident adding to a more solid core of pain, until you cane to face the world more tock than flesh?”
