Tale looks at war's personal toll

HOME FRONT. By Kristin Hannah. St. Martin's Press. 390 pages. $28.

"And how does a soldier come home from war, really? As a nation, these are questions we need to ask ourselves."

In his opening statements, attorney Michael Zarkades eloquently establishes the premise of his post-traumatic stress disorder defense in the case of an Iraq veteran charged with killing his wife.

Yet Kristin Hannah's heart-wrenching "Home Front" isn't a legal thriller. It is a starkly emotional look at the toll war extracts from an ordinary family.

Zarkades' wife, Jolene, is a Reserve Army helicopter pilot, the mother of two girls, 12-year-old Betsy and 4-year-old Lulu, as well as the lifelong best friend of fellow pilot Tami Flynn and adoring daughter-in-law of Mira.

Hannah's ability to immediately connect us with Jolene's distinctive relationships with each of them pulls us into her seemingly normal existence in a picturesque Washington seaside community.

The only blemish on that existence is a growing distance from her husband, a workaholic lawyer, still grieving for his father.

Michael Zarkades had never supported or understood Jolene's pride and commitment to her military family. When she and Flynn's unit is deployed to Iraq in 2005, that resentment multiplies. When she comes home mentally and physically scarred by the battlefield, picking up the pieces will be an agonizing process for everybody.

In telling the story of Michael and Jolene, Betsy and Lulu, and Tami's family, Hannah is giving us a glimpse into the sacrifices made by soldiers and their families today. Be prepared for soul-searching. Be prepared to be sympathetic, frustrated, angry and proud. Be prepared with a box of tissues.