It wasn't until the ending that I decided this was a five star book. This novel tells the story of a man and woman, married young in the 1950's, who raise a family in rural South Dakota. Al makes a living by being a cattle trader requiring days away from home. Eve, attempts to make the best home possible with little to work with. Three children are born: Leon, Rene, and Jayne. Leon and Al never seem to get along and Rene is obviously his favorite. At the same time, Rene and Eve are at odds from the time she was little.

After moving several times, they find themselves in a town large enough to have a dance studio where Rene begins taking ballet. Leon is soon also taking lessons after he shows talent. Being a male ballet dancer in rural South Dakota is not a popular thing to do, but he also manages to be a good baseball pitcher.

The novel begins and ends with the death of Eve leaving only Rene and Jayne. Leon's life takes a downward spiral which neither Al or Eve can stop in spite of drastic measures as beatings, boarding school, and threats. Leon eventually dies after a life of drug and alcohol abuse. Rene, however, continues to develop into a skilled ballerina. Eve becomes so involved that she too takes dance lessons. When the "famed" dance teacher, Helen Gilbert, retires and moves to Phoenix, Eve runs the dance studio. Helen, realizing Rene's potential convinces the family to allow her to live in Phoenix and take advanced lessons.

Eventually Rene does become a successful ballet dancer in New York City. Throughout her long road, the family argues, condemns, supports, and makes their own way into a semblance of middle class. Life has not been easy and each member of the family carry his or her own load of guilt, pride, and memory. There is violence, tenderness, misunderstandings, and uncertainty mixed together with the ebb and flow of love.

Although at times, I wasn't sure about the credibility of the story (especially Leon's ballet), it came to a very believable and truthful ending. Parenting, love, expectations, and jealousy all affect the siblings in different ways; however, they remain family. ( )

I picked up this book at my library on Tuesday and stayed up until midnight that same night and read this book straight through. This is Paula Saunders' debut novel and it's wonderful. It takes place in South Dakota after World War II and is the story of a family who with the best of intentions starts to fall apart as the children start to grow up. Told mostly from the point of view of the daughter, Rene, she and her brother Leon share a love for dancing. While he has to endure brutal teasing as the only boy in their ballet class, she excels at everything she tries and is adored by her father. As the years pass, the parents start fighting more and their home becomes more toxic for their children, by then a third child has been born, and they each start down their own path. It's hard to put into words how strong this book is, it's also not all negative. It's a glimpse into a family that starts out so well, then shows how little it can take to change their lives not always for the better. However, through out it all, there is love and caring that transcends everything. Definitely recommended. ( )

The Distance Home by Paula Saunders is a very highly recommended family drama which is beautifully written while brilliantly depicting a highly dysfunctional post World War II family living in West River South Dakota.

René narrates the story of her contentious childhood in South Dakota, beginning on the plains next to the Missouri River in Fort Pierre, and later in the foothills of the Black Hills in Rapid City. Set in the 1950'and 60's, her parents, Al and Eve, married young and lived in Al's parents' basement, where Leon and René were born. Al is a cattle trader, which means he spends more time away from his family than at home, so Eve must make a life for her children. She also fights to overcome the blatant favoritism Al and his mother show to René, by favoring and fighting for sensitive Leon, who is mocked and treated harshly by Al and his mother - first for his stutter and later for dancing. Eve signed Leon up for a tap dancing class, and later ballet, when he showed a natural aptitude for dance, which Al cannot accept. When René shows the same natural ability for dance, she is applauded and praised. The battle lines are clearly set, with Eve defending Leon and Jayne and Al favoring René.

When the family moves to Rapid City, the gulf between parents and children widens and worsens. The parents are constantly battling each other when Al comes home. His disdain for Leon is as obvious as his favoritism for René. Sides are clearly drawn: Eve defends Leon; Al prefers René. Al even ignores Leon's many accomplishments playing baseball and never attends a game. The epic battles and the abusive punishments doled out to Leon result in both Leon and René being diagnosed with PTSD as adults. Leon turns to self-destructive behavior, while René tries to excel at everything.

The novel follows their abusive childhoods through René's narrative. Occasionally inserted in the story is information from future discussions shared between Leon and Rene as adults. They provide a glimpse into the fallout from their childhood and the destruction that resulted. Families are complicated organisms and Saunders clearly captures this in The Distance Home. It has been said that the novel draws on Saunders's own family history, which makes perfect sense because the turmoil, emotions, and the prevailing attitudes of that period in American history is captured so completely.

The writing is exquisite in this well-written debut novel and the narrative is compelling. I was totally immersed in this family drama and the struggle both Leon and René faced with their combative parents making it almost a conflict between them. (This is a testament to the wisdom of never, ever, picking or having a favorite child.) The conflicts are realistically portrayed with brutality, but also result in compassion for the characters. The Distance Home is totally set during the time period indicated and in South Dakota as it was at that time. (Small soapbox: To judge this or any novel based on current societal and political measurements is unfair. What is the worth of providing a historically accurate setting if reviewers judge it based on modern sentiments rather than being pleased over the progress we have made and continue to make.)

The character who is most fully developed is René, especially since she is the narrator and is telling the story. Leon's character is also fairly well-developed through her eyes. Jayne's character is not fully formed, but there can often be a disassociation between older and younger siblings. Between the parents, Eve is the most fully realized character, but then she was also the main parent who was with the children daily while Al was usually traveling. Saunders did an excellent job depicting the conflicting emotions René felt toward her mother, and the final resolution of them was touching.

This is truly one of the better novels I've read this year and it is a notable debut novel. It is immediately going on my list of contenders for the top ten novels of the year. Hopefully Saunders will be writing another novel soon.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Penguin Random House.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2018/07/the-distance-home.html ( )

Paula Saunders' debut novel The Distance Home shows a hell of a lot of promise: beautiful prose, fleshed out characters. But the story felt rehashed somehow and I found it hard to connect with it. That being said, there were enough enjoyable moments in this family drama to recommend. ( )