Home and Away - A Story of Family in a Time of War is co-authored by David and Nancy French. After thirty-seven-year-old Philadelphia attorney David made partner at his law firm, he decided to enlist in the army. When he told his wife, Nancy, she gripped a bar stool with white knuckles. An article in the newspaper about a wounded soldier fighting in Iraq with a wife and two children at home prompted David's act of patriotism.
David passed a humiliating physical, moved his family to Tennessee near the support of his mother, survived a background check and in April, 2006 became a JAG officer. He survived basic training (not without a bout with poison ivy) and learned how to wield an M16. When Nancy came to pick him up, he told her he was bound for Iraq. They both cried. The night before he left, he and Nancy tucked the kids into bed with the usual routine of a recitation of, "In Him we move, and live, and have our being."
The memoir juxtaposes Nancy and David's voices in alternating chapters. They tell us their emotional, physical and psychological journey through this unfamiliar terrain.
No more the recipient of a string of emails detailing his family's goings-on, David longed for the occasional webcam communication enabling him to see as well as talk to his wife and kids. A part of a military operation as big as Fallujah, however, cut him off from all communication with family. His life was filled with violence, the death of friends, poverty-stricken Iraqi towns and amazing numbers of unsupervised children. He bolstered himself with Psalm 91, "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust." Even JAG's see combat.
Nancy wanted David to return "not just to an intact family, but to a better family." She bought a dog. A southern woman, her ferocity paid off when she bettered their financial situation with a "spend less, make more" philosophy. Friends plied her with gift cards so she could maintain a semblance of normalcy by taking Austin and Camille out to dinner. Online forums helped her repair their Saab and cope with her husband's absence. She found friends and spiritual support at Zion Presbyterian Church.
Even though military family jargon is "we're all in this together," David and Nancy French lived completely separate lives during his time in Iraq. IChat, gift packages and webcams can't replace the togetherness of marriage. Their love did survive the war. They both realized, however, that we live in a fallible world and the only real healing that takes place is that from God.
Hatchette Book Group graciously provided the review copy for this reader's unbiased appraisal.
Holly Weiss is the author of a historical fiction novel, Crestmont, writer and reviewer of newly-released books. http://www.hollyweiss.com/.
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