Audiobook Mini-Review: Far From Here

How long do you hold on to hope? 

Danica Greene has always hated flying, so it was almost laughable that the boy of her dreams was a pilot. She married him anyway and together, she and Etsell settled into a life where love really did seem to conquer all. Danica is firmly rooted on the ground in Blackhawk, the small town in northern Iowa where they grew up, and the wide slashes of sky that stretch endlessly across the prairie seem more than enough for Etsell.  But when the opportunity to spend three weeks in Alaska helping a pilot friend presents itself, Etsell accepts and their idyllic world is turned upside down. It’s his dream, he reveals, and Danica knows that she can’t stand in the way. Ell is on his last flight before heading home when his plane mysteriously vanishes shortly after takeoff, leaving Danica in a free fall. Etsell is gone, but what exactly does gone mean? Is she a widow? An abandoned wife? Or will Etsell find his way home to her? Danica is forced to search for the truth in her marriage and treks to Alaska to grapple with the unanswerable questions about her husband’s mysterious disappearance. But when she learns that Ell wasn’t flying alone and that a woman is missing, too, the bits and pieces of the careful life that she had constructed for them in Iowa take to the wind. A story of love and loss, and ultimately starting over, Far From Hereexplores the dynamics of intimacy and the potentially devastating consequences of the little white lies we tell the ones we love.

Nicole Baart is the mother of five children from four different countries. The cofounder of a non-profit organization, One Body One Hope, she lives in a small town in Iowa. Her books have been featured in Southern Living, Country Woman, Book Page, Glam, Brit & Co., and on Yahoo Lifestyle, and her latest release, Little Broken Things, was a People Magazine Editor’s Pick. Find out more at NicoleBaart.com.

My Impressions:

I am going to Alaska in a few months, so I’m listening to audiobooks that are set in Alaska. Kind of trying to immerse myself in the culture and setting before I get there. I’m also trying to read varying genres to get a wide variety of viewpoints and experiences. So, I found Far From Here by Nicole Baart, a women’s fiction novel which is partially set in Alaska. Let me first say this is not an Alaska novel. A few scenes are set in that state, but the majority of the novel takes place in the main character’s small Iowa town. Alaska is a big symbol, though, for Danica Greene the young woman who is at the center of Far From Here. It is the place where her hopes and dreams of the future vanish. This novel is labeled as Christian fiction (its publisher is a Christian imprint), but it is far different from the traditional offerings found in CF. This novel is edgy, to say the least. The characters’ lives are really messy. They drink, swear, and sleep around (albeit off the page). And while the center of the novel is the disappearance of Danica’s husband, the novel is really about the lies, half-truths, and deceptions we tell others and ourselves. I really liked this book. It was not an easy read — for most of the book despair and depression dominate. But the hope found in the end was well worth all the angst along the way. This book made me think; it would be a great book club selection. Far From Here is told in the first person recollections of Danica and in an objective third person voice. This style allowed the reader to get in the head of the main character, while at the same time understand all that was actually going on. The audiobook employed two readers to great effect.

As I stated, I liked this book. Would I recommend it? Yes, but with a caveat for those who just don’t want to read a book with adult language and situations.

Recommended (with a warning for language and adult situations.)

Audience: adults.

To purchase, click HERE.

(I purchase the audiobook from Audible. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

Tags: contemporary fiction, Nicole Baart, women's fiction