THE WAR AT HOME is a vivid portrait of life as a military spouse that is as honest as it is hopeful. It unearths the humor in a grainy Skype call, the romance in a honeymoon spent in a moving van, and the raw hope in an endlessly demanding relationship always worth fighting for. Her story of falling in love with a Navy pilot, confronting a past fraught with physical distance, and discovering firsthand the tension between self-reliance and emotional intimacy is perfect for readers of You Know When the Men Are Gone, Redeployment, and Standing By, and opens a window on the struggles military families face every day.  Two years out of college, Rachel Starnes is broke, restless, and sure of nothing in her personal life—nothing, that is, except that she will not repeat her parents’ marriage, which was constantly threatened by her father’s long absences. Like all great stories, however, her certainty is swiftly shattered by the equally discontent Ross, an aspiring Navy fighter pilot. What follows is a struggle to maintain love and connection in the midst of doubt, fear, and loneliness, even when the birth of her first son brings her depression to an agonizing peak. Her story takes readers inside the varied and insular support groups for military wives, a world where she finds both powerful solace and wrenching estrangement. Starnes refuses to give up, however, battling her demons through pithy and often humorously blunt writing that refuses to gloss over the painful facets of wife- and motherhood. Ultimately, THE WAR AT HOME reveals the naked truths of separation, endurance, and love.