Heroes of the Frontier

May 30, 2016
The frontier in Eggers’s (The Circle) appealing and affecting new novel is Alaska, but also, arguably, the adventures of its heroine, Josie. The core of the novel is relatable to anyone who has thought about suddenly starting over in an unknown place—which is to say, just about everyone. Thirty-something Josie has abruptly abandoned her failing dental practice and conventional life in Ohio, in search of something she can’t exactly define but knows that she needs. The move is a little less outrageous than it first appears, because Josie’s older sister, Sam, lives there, in a town called Homer. On the other hand, Josie has two young children, the fussy Ana and the old-beyond-his-years Paul. Eggers doesn’t tell the reader much about Josie’s Ohio life right away, except that she’s broken up with the children’s father, Carl, and has not yet told the children. In this way, the reader remains a bit unmoored throughout, which simulates Josie’s state of mind: she’s making it up as she goes along. For example, not having made smart financial calculations, she finds herself spending like a drunken sailor and constantly recalibrating her plan to explain this new situation to the children. Eggers’s shaggy plot may not be to all tastes, but his writing is fresh and full of empathy, his observations on modern society apt and insightful. 150,000-copy announced first printing.

Josie flees north to Alaska, filled with angst about where her life is leading her and her two children. In escaping the ennui of daily life, she's trying to provide her children with something more than a programmed childhood of school, playdates, and babysitters. Narrator Rebecca Lowman captures Josie's frustration and lack of direction with enough nuance to make Josie's experience feel real. Lowman's clear voice and cadenced rhythm deliver well-place emphasis and emotion in moments when Eggers explores Josie's thoughts. Lowman also provides consistent and unique voices for all the characters, excelling at Josie and her children. The toddler's voice is characterized by appropriate mispronunciations and a tone that is equal parts innocence and mischief. L.E. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

October 3, 2016
Reader Lowman’s fervent reading highlights the comic pathos of Eggers’s latest novel, a character study of a 30-something Josie who has abandoned her failing dental practice and conventional life in Ohio, in search of something she can’t exactly define but knows that she needs. Without breaking the flow of the narrative, Lowman gives voice and character to Josie’s children, accident-prone five-year-old Ana and precocious eight-year-old Paul. Lowman easily distinguishes the friendly and hostile people the family encounters on their picaresque Alaskan adventures. She makes Josie’s irrational, often ditzy decisions ring true: run away from troubles, fly to Alaska (which is as far as she can go without a passport), rent an ancient RV, subject your children to fierce forest fires and periods of fear and hunger, as well as lots of happy encounters with nature and people. In short, give the kids the freedom to grow healthy, smart, and strong. A Knopf hardcover.