The Year We Left Home opens with the wedding of the Ericksons’ oldest daughter in 1973 and goes on to chronicle the lives of this Iowa family over the next three decades. Set between the Vietnam and Iraq wars, the book tells the story of a modern American family. It is beautifully written and filled with many moments of laughter, grief, triumph and tragedy. I really enjoyed it and found myself rooting for the Ericksons during the good times and commiserating with them during the bad and as I closed the book I was hoping that all would be well with this family that I had come to know. ~Torrie