Book review: Heroes of the Frontier by Dave Eggers

Heroes of the Frontier by Dave Eggers (first published in 2016 by Penguin Random House)

Josie is a dentist who is no longer a dentist. After losing her practice and losing her partner, she decides that she and her two children need a break from life; from the crushing expectations of others, the constant motion, the negativity and the disappointment.

 Her solution is to pack them into an old rented camper van and drive to Alaska, to visit a sister she has not seen in five years.

What started off as a vacation from life soon becomes a way of life – Josie begins to transform her small family into a unit that is free and brave.

All the while, she attempts to come to terms with the decisions and events in her life that led her to this point – wondering if she did the wrong things, made the wrong choices and how to right these. 

In addition to her mental obstacles are hordes of physical stumbling blocks – from the icy cold and rampant wildfires of Alaska, to her dwindling money stash and slowly developing sense of breaking and entering, Josie is facing life a new; reborn into a braver, more alive form with both her children at her side. 

Heroes of the Frontier charts neither an extraordinary story nor follows an extraordinary character, but that is exactly what makes it so special. 

Josie, warts and all, voices all the insecurities and pressures of modern society – from her hatred of angry women and their yoga pants rushing their large cars past her children, to her bitter resentment of the failings of her partner and children’s father, Josie’s stream of consciousness narrative voices the absurd and obsessive thoughts I have experienced myself, and no doubt mimics the frustration and anger of many other readers. 

Dave Eggers has created an unlikely heroine, who braves extraordinarily ordinary circumstances in a way that is brave, free and relatable. Josie and her children become the heroes of their own tale; the pioneers of their own land. 

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