Far From Here

Written by Nicole Baart

Narrated by Jennifer Ikeda and Laurie Birmingham

Christy Award finalist Nicole Baart has dedicated her life to performing humanitarian works and penning gripping inspirational fiction. Far from Here offers a poignant look at love, forgiveness, and the consequences of even the tiniest dishonesties. Danica Greene loves living in Iowa with her pilot husband Etsell. But tragedy strikes when Etsell and his plane vanish while he's working in Alaska. Buoyed by her faith, Danica heads off to the Last Frontier to find answers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 6, 2012
• ISBN: 9781464038556

Nicole Baart

Nicole Baart is the author of eleven novels, including Everything We Didn’t Say and The Long Way Back. The cofounder of a nonprofit and mother of five, she lives in Iowa with her family. Learn more at NicoleBaart.com.

Reviews for Far From Here

[vintagebeckie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I am going to Alaska in a few months, so I’m listening to audiobooks that are set in Alaska. Kind of trying to immerse myself in the culture and setting before I get there. I’m also trying to read varying genres to get a wide variety of viewpoints and experiences. So, I found Far From Here by Nicole Baart, a women’s fiction novel which is partially set in Alaska. Let me first say this is not an Alaska novel. A few scenes are set in that state, but the majority of the novel takes place in the main character’s small Iowa town. Alaska is a big symbol, though, for Danica Greene the young woman who is at the center of Far From Here. It is the place where her hopes and dreams of the future vanish. This novel is labeled as Christian fiction (its publisher is a Christian imprint), but it is far different from the traditional offerings found in CF. This novel is edgy, to say the least. The characters’ lives are really messy. They drink, swear, and sleep around (albeit off the page). And while the center of the novel is the disappearance of Danica’s husband, the novel is really about the lies, half-truths, and deceptions we tell others and ourselves. I really liked this book. It was not an easy read — for most of the book despair and depression dominate. But the hope found in the end was well worth all the angst along the way. This book made me think; it would be a great book club selection. Far From Here is told in the first person recollections of Danica and in an objective third person voice. This style allowed the reader to get in the head of the main character, while at the same time understand all that was actually going on. The audiobook employed two readers to great effect.As I stated, I liked this book. Would I recommend it? Yes, but with a caveat for those who just don’t want to read a book with adult language and situations.Recommended (with a warning for language and adult situations.)Audience: adults.(I purchase the audiobook from Audible. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

[ebv-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Loved this story and the characters. The ending was a perfect blend of mystery and closure.

[blueshelled · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When Goodreads.com sent me a free copy of Far From Here: A Novel, written by Nicole Baart, I was really looking forward to reading it. The premise of the novel is one that is written from the perspective of someone who has been left behind when someone they care about turns into a missing case. Was the person lost or did the person leave and will he return? Will he be found? What caused him to go in the first place and what happened when he did?As someone who thrives on a good conspiracy theory, I know, I know, I should know better, but I do thrive on them, I couldn’t wait to see what Nicole Baart’s take on what it might be like to be in that uncomfortable position of loving someone and then having them disappear would look like. I tend to live vicariously through my books and would never, ever want to experience this firsthand, but I have frequently wondered about the people that just drop off the face of the earth. Did they choose it? Did something happen to them? Are they still there?With these questions in mind, I opened up the beautifully illustrated cover of Far From Here and settled down for a good read. Danica and Etsell have been married for the majority of their adult lives. Etsell is a passionate pilot and Danica is his flight-phobic support system. On the surface, their marriage is perfect, even after ten years, and though Danica cannot share Etsell’s dream of flight, they begin to discuss having a family.Etsell takes a flight job for a friend and will be in Alaska for two weeks flying, which is his dream job. Etsell has always wanted to work there on a permanent basis but Danica is set in her feelings of staying where they have planted roots and avoiding flying at all costs. It is with this dissonance between them that Etsell leaves for his two week business trip.Danica focuses on his return until her doorbell rings and she gets the news that Etsell has gone missing. The remainder of the book, without giving anything away, is spent determining what has happened to him, if he meant to leave her, and exactly what was happening in their relationship when he left. Ultimately, Danica looks within herself and looks at how you can live with someone for ten years and never really know or understand them or yourself.Does Danica ever find out what happened to Etsell? Does he return? Did he mean to leave her? Far From Here is a book that kept me entertained and moving through it at a rapid pace. The writing was well done and the characters were dynamic. With every page turn I felt like I needed to know more. I wanted a neatly packaged ending, but we don’t always get them in real life. Many books neglect the secondary characters and this book was an exception. The secondary characters in the novel are those that are used to show us who Danica truly is and they were not just thrown in there to add “filler” to the book. This was a nicely done book and I’d honestly like to see a sequel to it, if for no other reason than to tidy up the ending and to find out what Danica chooses to do from here.

[starrk_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is not the style of writing that I am used to. It is slow and eloquent. It is as if I am about to step into a body of freezing water but first I have to stop and admire the beauty that encompasses me. It is beautiful in an aching kind of way. At a quarter of the way through it feels as if I have spent half a lifetime with Dani and El. This is a beautifully written story about a heartbreak so deep and haunting you don’t know whether to prepare yourself for a sad ending that was predicted from page one or to hold onto the irrational hope for a happy ending. I have made it through the entire and for a moment I was left speechless. It is all about how to go on when you don’t know how to go on. Dani and El was entwind with each other’s life that it seems that there wasn’t life before they found each other. How do you make it through a loss so bitter and so bone-crushing deep? This is a story about heartache and loss, but mostly it’s a story about surviving. I wasn’t sure if I was holding out for the sad news that he’s never coming back or for the good news that there was life after. I found myself holding my breath, holding out hope for Dani. Far From Here has everything in it: heart stopping action (though maybe it was just me being caught in the story. And it is a totally different type of action than most people would imagine), a love that transcends, betrayal, hope and a new beginning. It was beautiful. It was sad. It was uplifting. It was funny. It was so much more than I thought it would. The characters are well developed, I was able to imagine them in my head as I read along. More than that, they came to life. I know this is a work of fiction but I feel as if I know the characters and they have opened a window revealing their stumbling, dysfunctional, awkward and funny attempts at connecting to each other. The emotions were raw, real and almost tangible. To be honest, if I was in a bookstore and came across this book I would have picked it up and read the back cover. I would have opened it and read the first page. Then I would have set it back on its shelf and kept moving. Maybe I would have thought about it again if I read about it on a blog or something, if not this book would be totally forgotten. But that would have been a tremendous loss for me. I read everything, but this book would have sounded too fluffy to me, at least in the beginning. But I am glad that I have it, I am glad for the opportunity to step out of my norm to find out fluffy isn’t the best description, rhythmic and soothing are a better fit. What a beautiful, beautiful book.This book was given to me free of charge in exchange for my honest review.

[gincam · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Danica Greene, the heroine of author Nicole Baart's compelling novel "Far From Here", was just sixteen when she met the man of her dreams. Three years later, she married him and together they built a life together, working around her fear of flying and his life as a pilot and flight instructor. When Danica's husband, Etsell, accepts an offer to help a friend and spend several weeks in Alaska, she is not pleased that she was not consulted in his decision. Shortly after takeoff on a test run, his plane vanishes, and Danica's life becomes a nightmarish emotional limbo. The news that Etsell was accompanied on the trip by another woman is unbearable and unfathomable. Was everything that Danica thought to be true about their lives simply her refusal to see things without blinders? Danica's struggle to cope with her crippling pain and personal doubt is intensified by interference of her highly dysfunctional family, the watchful eyes of her very small community, and her own reaction to the empathy offered by her neighbor, Ben. A bombshell revelation about Etsell's relationship with the other woman further complicates her fight to regain control of her existence. You can't read this story without placing yourself in Danica's shoes, feeling her pain and confusion, and rebelling against the cruelty of a fate unknown. This is the story of a remarkable woman whose inner strength and mental fortitude are tested in ways that she could never have imagined. You will follow her through to the end of her eventful emotional journey and weep at her sorrows and share in her smiles. A recommended read. Review Copy Gratis Amazon Vine

[sworsnup_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Real human characters you can relate to, beautiful moving story of life and hope.

[twlite_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Far From Hereby: Nicole BaartI won this book from Goodreads/First ReadsThis novel is about a couple, Dani and Etsell, who marry young and seem to have the perfect romance. He's a pilot and Dani has a fear of flying. Etsell gets an opertunity to make a trip flying to Alaska and ends up missing. After a week the search is called off and Dani is left to figure out the pieces of what she thought was her life.Dani makes a trip to Alaska herself after the search is called off to try to find answers for herself. This is where she learns that her husband may have had secrets she never knew about and her life may not have been as "perfect" as she may have believed. Dani has to try to come to terms with everything she learns and this book is about her jouney to do that.The author has added so much into this book. You get a real sense of her heartache and turmoil. The quirkiness of family. Some of the troubles from marrying so young, anger and disbelief of finding out your loved ones may not be what you have believed them to be. Baart really touches on the little details of a situation like this that could have easily been left out but really help you feel the pain of loss and confussion that you would be confronted with at a time like this.There are other questions that she has to figure out also. How soon to start a new relationship and even how some decisions effect others even after we're gone. This is a great read and one that I'd recommend highly. Great Book!