Book Reviewed by Sofia Burgess

Jake Halpern is a journalist whose first book examines the significance of home in a time when the average American is increasingly mobile. The book Braving Home looks at a handful of people stoically defending and remaining in homes that would appear forsaken.

From damaging flood waters, hurricane winds, impenetrable snows to lava encroachment and wildfires, each place Halpern visits reveals a toughness and iron-clad will in the people who live there. The stories in his book are true, and the people real.

Home becomes an identity, not a place, and the homes of these people offer insight into their character. The idea of defending a home from fires, floods, lava flows and winds seemed to me a bit drastic. I always felt that a home is a shelter protecting us from the many dangerous environmental factors. To them, home is a place with roots that run deeper than the earthly elements that seek to destroy it.

Of the five people described, two live in extreme conditions in remote locations. One lives in Alaska, where an average of 250 inches of snow falls annually, and another in Hawaii where volcanic eruptions create dangerous lava flows and earthquakes. These are modern-day hermits who have no family and few friends.

The other three people face wildfires, hurricanes and floods. These dangers are seasonal. Family and friends are there to help and to check on their well-being. All five share a stubborn persistence and courage in successfully weathering each threat that compromises their homes.

Having recently settled in Ohio from a somewhat nomadic childhood, I was interested and intrigued to read about such people, about the dignity that comes with having a home that is permanent and rooted deeply in one’s heart.

These five people are not unlike the pioneers of old - bravely confronting nature and standing firm when most people simply flee. Where mobility offers comfort, tenacity comes with pride.

Highland County District Library
Highland County, OH