Distance Home

A family saga set in the American West, about sibling rivalry, dark secrets, and a young girl's struggle with freedom and artistic desire.

This moving debut novel is a profoundly American story. Set in a circa-1960s rural South Dakota--a hardscrabble place of cattle buyers, homegrown ballet studios, casual drug abuse, and unmitigated pressure to conform, all amid the great natural beauty of the region--the book portrays a loving but struggling young family in turmoil, and two siblings, Rene and Leon, who opt for different but equally extreme means of escaping the burdens of home. By turns funny and tragic, lyrical and terse, Paula Saunders' debut examines the classic American questions: What is to become of the vulnerable in a culture of striving and power? And what is the effect of this striving and power on both those who dominate and those who are overrun? It is an affecting novel, in which the author's compassionate narration allows us to sympathize, in turn, with everyone involved.

O saga de familie situata in vestul american, despre rivalitatea fratilor, secretele intunecate si lupta unei tinere fete cu libertatea si dorinta artistica. Acest emotionant roman de debut este o poveste profund americana. Amplasat intr-un Dakota de Sud rural din anii 1960 - un loc dificil de cumparatori de bovine, studiouri de balet de casa, abuz de droguri casual si presiune nesimtita pentru a se conforma, toate in mijlocul marii frumuseti naturale a regiunii - cartea prezinta o iubire, dar luptatoare o familie tanara in framantari si doi frati, Rene si Leon, care opteaza pentru mijloace diferite, dar la fel de extreme de a scapa de poverile de acasa.