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2015, 176, Historical Fiction
My Rating=5 Stars
Source: Received a copy for an honest review
Norma Hayes has always tried to make Christmas special for her family, but this year it is going to be difficult. Money is tight, and wartime rationing is taking its toll as well. Harder still, her oldest son, Glen, is on the front lines of the battle in Europe.
Glen Hayes wants nothing more than to be home for Christmas. He holds a sprig of lavender in his pocket. The scent reminds him of his mother. The memory of home may be the only thing that is keeping him alive and sane during the horrors of war.
Dennis Hayes is sixteen and longs to see his older brother again. He also longs to have a relationship with his father, but most important, Dennis is determined to buy something special for his mother this Christmas–the one gift he feels certain she deserves.
So many families have had their hopes dashed in World War II. Will the Hayes family make it through?
This story is about the Hayes family and takes place during World War II. The oldest brother, Glen, is with the army's 101st Airborne Division, fighting in Europe. For the rest of the Hayes family, money is tight and Christmas is approaching.
The story alternates between Glen and Dennis. Dennis is 16 years old and gets a job so he can buy nice gifts for his family this year, especially his mother. His relationship with his father is strained and he doesn't know why. He also struggles with fitting in with his wealthier friends, especially Judy Kay McCune. I was especially touched with the gift he bought his mother and his experience with the sales woman.
Glen's war experiences are hard to read at times. He's gone through so much and has been forever changed. War is tough and gruesome and he starts questioning the point of it and is resigned to the fact that he will most likely not make it home.
I was glad I started this when I had time to keep reading it so I was able to finish in one sitting. This is a touching Christmas story and I cried as it came to a satisfying conclusion. This is the type of story I love to read this time of year and will read it again and again in the years to come!
Praise for Home and Away
”It’s 1944 and teenager Dennis Hayes longs to join his older brother Glen, who is fighting in Europe..When his family receives word that Glen has been wounded, Dennis realizes that going to war is not so glamorous. Christmas isn’t the same without Glen, but the Hayes family members hope and pray that they’ll be reunited soon. Hughes’s faith-filled, old-fashioned story feels like it could have been written during the period in which it takes place.” –Library Journal
”Home and Away is far and away the best story I have read this year. Awesome and moving.” –bestselling author, Obert Skye
Author Dean Hughes
Dean Hughes is a bestselling and prolific writer who published his hundredth book in 2014. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Weber State College and master’s degree and PhD from the University of Washington. He has attended post-doctoral seminars at Stanford and Yale Universities and taught English at Central Missouri State University and Brigham Young University.
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