Burnt Olives

November 2005—Lance Corporal Evan Rhodes is home, and he shouldn't be.

Twenty-three and medically discharged from his tour in Ramadi, Iraq as a scout sniper with the United States Marine Corps, Evan has to rebuild his life in his dying small town in Illinois.

While the country waves American flags and debates the war, Evan is forced to confront the ghosts that haunt him.

Nothing waits for him except old friends, dead-end jobs, half-empty bars, and the life he left behind. But he's not the only one trying to make sense of what's left. Evan and the community he tries to maintain attempt to shape something more stable than just survival.

Can Evan piece himself back together in a place that no longer feels like home?

©2025 Natasha Girshin (P)2025 Natasha Girshin

A dark but optimistic dive into veteran mental health

This novella provides a dark but ultimately optimistic view into the mental health of veterans returning from abroad. When Evan returns from Iraq, he finds himself adrift and struggling to reconnect with a civilian world that largely seems to have moved on without him. Parents dead, recent memories of the trauma overseas that sent him home, Evan struggles to push through his traumatic experiences to find his support network at home and re-ground himself so he can begin to truly live.

Though the trauma in this case is explicitly caused by Evan's experiences in war, his experiences and emotions are not so dissimilar that someone who has experienced trauma of another source will find themselves unable to relate.

The audio book portrayal is delivered with great emotion and clarity, even as the story occasionally jumps perspectives to other figures in Evan's life (be they doctors, friends, or fellow patients), to Evan's very 2005 personal blog, or his email/messages.

A well presented and narrated story, and a great reminder for veterans and others suffering alike, that even in the dark moments when it seems like all is lost, there are people who care. Sometimes, you don't even need to reach out, just let others in a little bit.

A human and relevant story

Burnt Olives is a deeply relevant, human story. Danny Nowlan is a fantastic narrator. He brought so much life to these characters, and as a veteran himself brought emotional connection and relatability. If you are anti-war and care about mental health, history, and veterans, this book is for you.