The Great Alone

highly compelling; author built and described characters with so much details that i felt i was part of the world they live in. love themes such strength of mother-daughter relationship and the power of strong community to beat adversary.

Received item quickly. Highly recommend this book. A great depiction of life in the wild of Alaska.

In 1974, a 13-year-old girl, Leni Albright, lived in Oregon with her father Ernst and mother Cora. Her father is a Vietnam veteran who suffers from PTSD and is mentally unstable. Under the will of a comrade-in-arms who was killed in action, Ernt is given a plot of land in Alaska. The family heads north, hoping to make a fresh start in the new land. ...... ---------------------- It is an epic novel about one girl's resilient growth in a remote, extremely cold region. I picked up this 500-page paperback after hearing that it was so popular in the US locally that it spent four weeks at #1 on the NY Times bestseller list in 2018. It is a sad tale of a father who, in the aftermath of war, grows rougher and rougher, pushing his mother and Leni herself into a corner. Ernt himself is a worthy victim of the war. It is a painful reminder of the reality that war continues to torment those involved for many years after it has ended. And as an adult reader, you can't help but feel that Cora's efforts to be there for her husband, who is going off the rails, could be a form of love between a man and a woman - though it may not be a healthy one. However, it is understandable that the young Leni sees this as unreasonable. As Leni's family grows older, they are pushed to the brink of extinction. I found myself reading the story of one family with a wrenching feeling in my heart. However, I felt that the story gradually unfolded in a way that did not suit my heart. From the middle of the book, the story focuses on the romance between Leni and Matthew, two young classmates, but it is full of teenage haste, and as I am already far from their age, I found it insufficient as a story for adults. It seemed to me that the story was a bit too much like a sweet romance novel for young adults. Also, the latter part of the story, where the main character is accused of a crime and wins her acquittal, is too short and hasty, and I feel that it is too opportunistic. There was no conflict, which should have been there, and I was disappointed. I am sorry to be so negative, so I will copy the words of Cora at the end that stayed in my mind. “Love doesn’t fade or die, baby girl. People tell you it does, but it doesn’t. If you love him now, you’ll love him in ten years and in forty. Differently, maybe, a faded version, but he’s part of you now. And you are part of him. "(p. 394)

Every once in a while, you find a book that doesn't just tell you a story—it pulls you in so deeply that you can almost feel the bite of the winter wind and the warmth of a flickering hearth. And your heart bursts open - what a book! Kristin Hannah has a way of making the Alaskan wilderness feel like a living, breathing character that challenges the soul. The Great Alone was that book for me. I was absolutely captivated from the very first page and found it impossible to put down. Kristin Hannah is, quite simply, a fabulous writer. She has this extraordinary gift for exploring the resilience of the human spirit and the complicated, beautiful bonds of family. Her prose is raw, honest, and so evocative that I felt I was living alongside Leni in the Alaskan wilderness, learning what it truly means to survive and to love. To me, reading is a conscious way to choose joy—even when a story is bittersweet—because it expands our empathy and connects us to the wilder parts of ourselves. If you are looking for your next great read, this is the book. It is a hauntingly beautiful reminder of the strength we find when we are pushed to our limits. A stunning masterpiece that I will be thinking about for a long time.

Fantastic reading!

Incredible story deeply moving and profoundly told. Thank you Kristin for this captivating book, which deeply touched my heart. And thank you to my incredible daughter Lacey for sharing it with me

What a book. Kristin Hannah creates these extraordinary stories and this book is just brilliant. The story follows young Leni, whose parents move into the wilderness trying to find some kind of happiness. Her father came back from Vietnam broken, and her mother is trapped, in love and in the memory of who her husband used to be. Leni senses early on that she needs to escape this situation, but has no idea how, and she doesn't want to leave her mother behind either. Then Leni meets Matthew, a forbidden love grows, and fate strikes. Alaska is the quiet star here, the backdrop for all that happens. How harsh life is, how nature and the seasons dictate everything, all is written so vividly and so beautifully at the same time. An intense reading experience, best enjoyed when you actually have the time to let yourself fall into it.

Okay book-not a fan of her story telling tbh