Home Front(136)
For meatballs:
2 pounds ground meat (combination of veal, pork, and beef)
4 pieces torn up white bread, or a half a cup of bread crumbs, or a half a cup of crushed saltines
2 eggs
1 onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
? cup fresh mint, finely chopped
? cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 teaspoon oregano
? teaspoon allspice
Salt and pepper
? cup olive oil
For sauce:
? onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons salt
2 cinnamon sticks
6 cloves
16-ounce can plain tomato sauce
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
Meatballs
Mix all ingredients together and form the meatballs.
Heat olive oil on medium heat in a skillet.
BRIEFLY fry the meatballs, about 20-30 seconds on each side.
Set meatballs aside.
Sauce
In the same pan you used to fry the meatballs, sauté the onion and garlic.
Add salt, cinnamon sticks, and cloves.
Add tomato sauce and tomato paste.
Bring all of the ingredients to a low boil for about 5 minutes or until it’s all blended.
Add the apple cider vinegar and water. Sauce will be thin. This is normal!
Return the meatballs to the pan. Cover. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes.
Uncover and cook for 15 more minutes. Serve with the pasta of your choice.
Recommended Reading
Here are a few of the books that helped me understand the lives of American soldiers—both at war and at home—and their families. I thank all of these authors for sharing their personal stories with readers.
The Other Side of War by Jessica Caputo
Courage After Fire by Keith Armstrong, L.C.S.W., Suzanne Best, Ph.D., and Paula Domenici, Ph. D.
Once a Warrior, Always a Warrior by Charles W. Hoge, M.D.
While They’re at War by Kristin Henderson
Band of Sisters by Kirsten Holmstedt
The Lonely Soldier by Helen Benedict
Nowhere to Turn by Daniel Hutchison
You Know When the Men Are Gone by Siobhan Fallon
Reading Group Questions
In the prologue of Home Front, we see Jolene’s early life and the incident that leads up to her parents’ deaths. How does this scene lay the groundwork for her personality and her choices in the remainder of the book?
When Michael says, “I don’t love you anymore,” he wonders fleetingly if he’d said the words so that Jolene would fall apart or cry or say that she was in love with him. What does this internal question reveal about Michael? About Jolene?
When Jolene learns of her deployment, she is conflicted. She thinks that she wants to go (to war), but that she doesn’t want to leave (her family). Can you understand the dichotomy she is experiencing? Discuss a mother’s deployment and what it means from all angles—honor, love, commitment, abandonment. Can you understand a soldier/mother’s duty? Do you think it’s harder for a mother to leave than a father? Is there a double standard?
Jolene and Michael’s twelve-year marriage is on the rocks when the novel begins. Did you blame both of them equally for the problems in their relationship? Did your assignment of blame change over the course of the novel?
Jolene worries that Betsy will see her deployment as abandonment. Do you agree with this? Think of yourself at Betsy and Seth’s age: how would your twelve-year-old-self have reacted to your mother going off to war?
When Michael sees Jolene for the first time in Germany, he is so overwhelmed by the magnitude of her injuries that he can’t be strong for her. He reveals both pity and revulsion. Discuss his reaction. How do you think you would handle a similar situation?
At home, Jolene can’t cope with her new life. She can’t reconcile the woman she used to be with the woman she has become. She wonders how it could be harder to return from war than to fight in it. What does she mean by this? A soldier gets a lot of training and preparation before going to war. Should there be more preparation for returning home?
Early in Jolene’s homecoming, Mila says: “We all knew how hard it would be to have you gone, but no one told us how hard it would be when you came back.” What do you think about this comment? Do we romanticize homecomings and thereby somehow set ourselves up for disappointment? What could her family have done to make Jolene’s return an easier transition?
At the beginning of her physical therapy, Jolene asks Conny how she is supposed to forget about her injury if it keeps hurting. What does this question reveal about Jolene’s personality and her attitude toward her injury? How does this attitude hinder her recovery? How does it help her?
Dr. Cornflower describes Jolene as a woman who has spent a lifetime in the Army getting what she wants from a system that doesn’t want to give it to her. What does he mean by this? Do you agree? How is a woman’s career in the military different from any other career? How is it similar?