{"product_id":"the-distance-home-9780525508762","title":"The Distance Home","description":"\u003cp\u003e • Author(s): Paula Saunders\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher: Random House Publishing Group\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher Imprint: Random House Publishing Group\u003cbr\u003e • BISAC: Literary\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"[Paula] Saunders skillfully illuminates how time heals certain wounds while deepening others. . . . A mediation of the violence of American ambition.\"--\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY \u003ci\u003eREAL SIMPLE\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A deeply involving portrait of the American postwar family\" (Jennifer Egan) about sibling rivalry, dark secrets, and a young girl's struggle with freedom and artistic desire\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn the years after World War II, the bleak yet beautiful plains of South Dakota still embody all the contradictions--the ruggedness and the promise--of the old frontier. This is a place where you can eat strawberries from wild vines, where lightning reveals a boundless horizon, where descendants of white settlers and native Indians continue to collide, and where, for most, there are limited options. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Ren� shares a home, a family, and a passion for dance with her older brother, Leon. Yet for all they have in common, their lives are on remarkably different paths. In contrast to Ren�, a born spitfire, Leon is a gentle soul. The only boy in their ballet class, Leon silently endures often brutal teasing. Meanwhile, Ren� excels at everything she touches, basking in the delighted gaze of their father, whom Leon seems to disappoint no matter how hard he tries. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e As the years pass, Ren� and Leon's parents fight with increasing frequency--and ferocity. Their father--a cattle broker--spends more time on the road, his sporadic homecomings both yearned for and dreaded by the children. And as Ren� and Leon grow up, they grow apart. They grasp whatever they can to stay afloat--a word of praise, a grandmother's outstretched hand, the seductive attention of a stranger--as Ren� works to save herself, crossing the border into a larger, more hopeful world, while Leon embarks on a path of despair and self-destruction. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Tender, searing, and unforgettable, \u003ci\u003eThe Distance Home\u003c\/i\u003e is a profoundly American story spanning decades--a tale of haves and have-nots, of how our ideas of winning and losing, success and failure, lead us inevitably into various problems with empathy and caring for one another. It's a portrait of beauty and brutality in which the author's compassionate narration allows us to sympathize, in turn, with everyone involved. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A riveting family saga for the ages . . . one of the best books I've read in years.\"--Mary Karr \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Saunders' debut is an exquisite, searing portrait of family and of people coping with whatever life throws at them while trying to keep close to one another.\"--\u003ci\u003eBooklist \u003c\/i\u003e(starred review)\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"Atlantic Books","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46311394476183,"sku":"9780525508762","price":1331.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0666\/3471\/1191\/files\/9780525508762.webp?v=1768666772","url":"https:\/\/atlanticbooks.com\/products\/the-distance-home-9780525508762","provider":"Atlantic Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}