Title: The Great Alone
Author: Kristin Hannah
Genre: Domestic Fiction
Ernt Allbright returns from Vietnam a troubled, broken man. After losing yet another job and discovering he's inherited a house in Alaska, he tells his wife, Cora, and his daughter, Leni, that they are moving. In Alaska, the Allbrights get a crash course in homesteading and with the help of a handful of other "colorful" Alaskan transplants, the Ernt family learns to survive and finds that the sunny Alaskan summer combined with manual labor helps Ernt’s PTSD. Leni and Cora are hopeful that things will be better in Alaska, but Leni quickly realizes that Ernt’s good mood won’t last long. The darkness of winter is coming.
The bulk of the book is the relationship between mother and daughter and the coming of age story of Leni. She starts school, meets a local boy, Matthew, and falls in love with both him and the untamed beauty of the Alaskan wilderness. Growing up dealing with her erratic father and her mother's ever present denial of her husband's increasing irrational and abusive behavior are the real tests of survival. These prove to be harsher and more threatening than the most brutal Alaskan winter. In the end, Cora and Leni are lead to a desperate act that impacts the rest of their lives.
- Karen
Check out The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah @ the library!
