THE GREAT ALONE by Kristin Hannah

 

My thoughts

I read THE FOUR WINDS by this same author and loved it. Her writing is superb. Excellent. Pulls you in and won't let go. Gives you such deep emotions. This book is a tearjerker. I won't like I had to put it down and walk away a few times. My eyes were raw from the tears. Parts also made me so angry. I wanted to hit someone. But it's written so well and do deeply you will love it all. A love that is so deep it withstands odds that you won't see coming. Until it's too late. Until you have to give up. Yes this book made me shed lots of ugly tears but I still had to keep reading. To find out what was going to happen to this family. To this child who only wanted to live a life and fall in love. Who fell so hard for the state of Alaska that you'd think she was born there. I loved Leni. She was a strong kid and even stronger young woman. 

When the Allbrights move to Alaska it seemed like a good idea. The perfect solution to their problems. Or I should say to Ernt's problems. He was a POW of Vietnam. He came back home a different man. Not the loving caring husband that Cora knew before. He could not seem to keep a job and his temper would get the best of him. He decided that they should move to Alaska. His buddy from the war had left him a home and land. In Alaska. This family was not prepared for what was to come. 

Leni was thirteen years old and had moved so much that she didn't have any close friends. Moving did not seem that bad to her. She fell in love with this crazy land. Worked hard. Did what she was told. Her mother, Cora, adapted also. They made friends and learned to live off the land in a way. They of course learned from other people who helped them. Ernt worked hard but he also had dark times. Terrible times when he took his anger out on his wife. He would lose control and beat her. It was so hard reading about that part. But Cora loved him and would not leave. 

Leni made a friend in a young man named Matthew Walker. His dad owned a good bit of the area where they all lived and wanted to make the town better. This only angered Ernt. He left the other life to live off the grid. Not bring it with him. Needless to say he was alone with this. Other's wanted some changes. 

You will fall in love with this area. The descriptions are beautiful. I literally covered up with my lap quilt while reading this and it was in the nineties where I live. Very hot. But this story is told in such a realistic way that you can see the snow and ice. The skies and land. The beauty of it all. And the ugly. 

This book has a lot going on. I won't lie. It's very heartbreaking. But it's also filled with lots of hope. Hope for a brighter future. Leni loses a lot of people in her life but she keeps on going and making the most out of her life. She loves her land and she is a survivor. Even after all the tragedy and sadness she doesn't give up. She makes a life for herself. In Alaska. Where she does BELONG!

I highly recommend this book if you are up to reading a very emotional story. A story of love and loss. Of new beginnings. Of old lives being brought back. If you are up to the beauty of Alaska. I say grab this. A blanket. And a huge box of Kleenex. You'll need those.

Five huge stars. This was my BOTM add on. 

Synopsis

Alaska, 1974.
Unpredictable. Unforgiving. Untamed.
For a family in crisis, the ultimate test of survival.

Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier.

Thirteen-year-old Leni, a girl coming of age in a tumultuous time, caught in the riptide of her parents’ passionate, stormy relationship, dares to hope that a new land will lead to a better future for her family. She is desperate for a place to belong. Her mother, Cora, will do anything and go anywhere for the man she loves, even if it means following him into the unknown.

At first, Alaska seems to be the answer to their prayers. In a wild, remote corner of the state, they find a fiercely independent community of strong men and even stronger women. The long, sunlit days and the generosity of the locals make up for the Allbrights’ lack of preparation and dwindling resources.

But as winter approaches and darkness descends on Alaska, Ernt’s fragile mental state deteriorates and the family begins to fracture. Soon the perils outside pale in comparison to threats from within. In their small cabin, covered in snow, blanketed in eighteen hours of night, Leni and her mother learn the terrible truth: they are on their own. In the wild, there is no one to save them but themselves.

In this unforgettable portrait of human frailty and resilience, Kristin Hannah reveals the indomitable character of the modern American pioneer and the spirit of a vanishing Alaska―a place of incomparable beauty and danger. The Great Alone is a daring, beautiful, stay-up-all-night story about love and loss, the fight for survival, and the wildness that lives in both man and nature.