Background image: drawing by the man who inspired Homefront character Donny Donaldson.
Read the Messenger Post article here .
Homefront reads like a long-form haiku written by Charles Bukowski in collaboration with Ann Beattie; almost every paragraph is a stand-alone gem of insight and observation. After reading Homefront, you will see a much more complex story behind the stock news footage of the families who worry, wait, and grieve. -- Rick Shefchik, journalist, columnist, and author of Amen Corner
Homefront, loosely set in Clarksville, TN (the town neighboring Ft. Campbell, KY), explores unlikely friendships that form in times of desperate need, the awkward politics of this war that stilt otherwise simple conversations, a sensationalist media, in-laws, and the uncomfortable truths within relationships that are brought to the surface when love is put through the deployment test.
(For Homefront purchasing info., please scroll down.)
"If there's a war on (and, these days, there's usually a war on), I want to be reading about it. I appreciate first person accounts, either fictionalized or not, and Kristen Tsetsi's Homefront, an emotional novel about a young couple's separation when Jake is shipped to Iraq, is a worthy new entry in this category." - Levi Asher, Literary Kicks
"That my thoughts stray from the [military] pilots to the loved ones waiting [at home] is a tribute to Kristen J. Tsetsi's novel Homefront, which is an intensely intimate and affecting story...I was 100 pages into Homefront before I looked up from the book." -- Steven McDermott, Editor, Storyglossia Magazine
"This is a thoughtful and elegant book; the writing immersive, evocative, and polished." -- PODler review
"[Tsetsi's] 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." -- Sonia Reppe, BookPleasures.com
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No anecdotes.
No self-help.
No chicken soup.
No how-to's.
Just the raw, honest, intimate story.
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"For me, a soldier,... it is rare to find a book that captures just what it’s like to be tortured by circumstance and a forlorn existence. Homefront is one of those rarities. So many times I found myself clutching at my chest at the terrible pain I was feeling...because my wife, back on the homefront, couldn’t understand what I was expressing to her. The truth is she was expressing things to me that, until getting to know [Homefront's] Mia, I just didn’t understand. Homefront is powerful." - Andrew, US Army, Infantry/Ordinance, no steady location
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"As the spouse of a soldier who spent a year in Iraq, I must say that Kristen caught the feelings perfectly and I'm amazed that you can translate feelings of that magnitude into words. I hope that more "civilians" read this book." - Amazon.com Review
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TO PURCHASE HOMEFRONT, CLICK HERE , OR TO GET A SNEAK PEEK, VISIT KRISTENTSETSI.COM
"[Your book] was given to me as a "welcome to the navy family" present from a navy wife who'd been through it for the last 16 years. She said [Homefront] tells it how it is better than she could. Thank you for putting it out there!" - J.
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Amazon.com review: "Whether it's anger, fear or guilt, the main character Mia leads you through all of these emotions with such rawness & honesty that if you are going through this yourself, you can't help but put yourself inside the pages of the storyline."
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HOMEFRONT IS AVAILABLE AT SEVERAL ONLINE BOOKSTORES. MORE LINKS PROVIDED BELOW (just above the slideshow).
"Often forgotten amid yellow-ribbon bumper stickers and Welcome Home ceremonies, Kristen Tsetsi's Homefront renders love and the very capacity to love as casualties of war, all in prose glittering with humility, humor, and incisive detail." --Benjamin Buchholz, author of Private Soldiers
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MORE READER REACTIONS:
"There are hundreds of thousands of people who could identify with Mia (and Jake, and the rest), especially right now. Good for you for addressing those who are left at home, waiting in limbo, relegated to the background in this drama of our times." --Mark B. Goldman, Garner, NC
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"Finally, someone has written about 'us' in a way that is honest and unsentimental. I have read the book three times since it was released. [G]iven the present state of things, it is a comfort to be understood, and to know there is an opportunity for others to understand what they may never experience. I have never read anything like this; and, to be honest, I never thought I would. I'm so glad I was wrong."
-- Beth K., Fort Rucker, AL
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"There are tons of things out there describing what goes on behind enemy lines, but I've yet to come across something like this."--Cindy B., Soldier's Mom
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"It's customary here, in my house, to have TV news on from around 4PM 'till when I go to bed, (unless I find a good movie to watch). But I started reading your book this morning and just now, finding time to sit and read for a while before dinner, I can't have the news on." --Larry T. Charlestown, NH
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"I have not seen any book that truly explores what a person goes through when their significant other is deployed. You hear that it’s hard, but what did they go through? As someone who never had to deal with a deployment, I could only imagine it was hard. Reading Homefront gave me more empathy for those who stay behind, and I was able to feel it in a way I never had before.†– T.D. Champlain, MN
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HOMEFRONT is available at Barnesandnoble.com , Amazon.com , Borders.com , Powells.com , Booksamillion.com , and other online bookstores.
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