The Distance Home

March 15, 2018

In the wilds of 1960s South Dakota, where Saunders grew up, siblings Rene and Leon face relentless pressure to achieve. Their father appreciates his brainy daughter's gift of dance, something he scorns in his equally talented but wistfully shy son. Saunders received a postgraduate Albert Schweitzer Fellowship in the Humanities at SUNY Albany.

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2018
The slow, punitive grind of family dynamics, even when leavened by love, contorts a Midwestern family.Where does all the hurt and anger go, wonders René, the lively, confident middle child, about her sad, victimized brother, Leon. Saunders' debut makes no bones about the answer to that question, illustrating in detail the sedimentary process of psychological damage inflicted on children by their parents, in this case Al and Eve. Married young in Fort Pierre, South Dakota, the couple settles, at first, in Al's parents' basement, Eve working two jobs, Al--a cattle trader--often away on the road. Soon they have two children, Leon and René, later a third, Jayne, and money is tight. Set in the 1960s, the novel's world is remote and traditional, at least as represented by Al, whose pitiless response to his son's sensitivities--a stutter; a startling gift for ballet dancing--is knee-jerk harshness. Leon reacts by pulling out his hair and eyelashes and withdrawing from the family group, while Eve's attempts to defend him only result in arguments with her husband. Saunders avoids Leon's perspective, opting for René's instead. She too is warped by the constant tensions at home, becoming an overachiever whose will to excel leads to resentment and social rejection. Meanwhile, there's no respite for poor Leon, beaten by his father, assaulted by a stranger, and later sent to an abusive Catholic boarding school. Flashes forward confirm the inexorable outcome: Leon's future will be alcoholism, drugs, mental disease, and PTSD. René manages to escape, and Saunders suggests some healing balm in years to come, but not enough to displace the early, indelible harm.A grim, haunting parable of split child-rearing in which the dark blots out much of the light.

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 25, 2018
Saunders debuts with a penetrating and insightful deconstruction of a Midwestern family. The story starts with Eve and Al, high school sweethearts who marry, have children, and find themselves mired in jealousy and misunderstanding. Throughout, Eve’s indomitable spirit won’t be quashed, no matter the conflicts or the despair that hover over her family. Firstborn Leon, an athlete with a penchant for ballet, is as opposite from his father as can be imagined. Middle child René, a fierce, competitive sprite, takes up ballet like her brother and can do no wrong in her father’s eyes, much to Eve’s consternation, whose heart lies with her first born. As the family moves from Missouri to South Dakota, where Al grows his cattle business and spends more time away from home, the story contrasts René, driven to achieve—despite the resentment it causes in everyone who crosses her path—and Leon, a misguided soul bearing his father’s wrath. The sweet, easygoing youngest child, Jayne, doesn’t get the same attention as the other characters. Still, Saunders brilliantly parses Leon and René’s disparate paths; they are two wildly talented, sensitive souls—one shattered by life’s circumstances, the other learning to soar above them. This debut wonderfully depicts the entire lifespan of a singular family.