The Great Alone: Kristin Hannah: A Story of Love, Heartbreak and Survival, From the Bestselling Author of The Nightingale

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There are some deep themes to discuss in The Great Alone, from domestic violence to the impact of war on men. It’s an absorbing read and a great choice for a book club! Wait,” Leni said. Even for Dad, this was big. “Alaska? You want to move again? We just moved here.” In 1974, when thirteen-year-old Leni Allbright's volatile, unpredictable father, Ernt, a former POW, loses another job, he makes an impulsive, desperate decision: he will move the family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the land in a spectacular wilderness. Did you enjoy the ending? Did you find it to be realistic? How do you think Leni’s life turned out in the end?

I loved this book. An entertaining and emotional read with an engrossing plot and well-developed characters. I could almost feel the bitter cold from the long isolating winters. But I could also see the beauty of Alaska with its gorgeous mountains and blue skies.Hannah vividly evokes the natural beauty and danger of Alaska and paints a compelling portrait of a family in crisis and a community on the brink of change." — Booklist They soon head out and get to their new "town" of Kaneq, of less than 30 people. Large Marge (Marge Birdsall) runs the general store and warns them that things will be tough out here, but that they all help each other out. The cabin they've inherited is tiny, with no electricity or running water or even a bathroom (there's an outhouse).

The Great Alone is a beautifully descriptive story of a dysfunctional family attempting to survive in the Alaskan wilderness. Written by Kristin Hannah and published in 2017, it’s a gorgeous story with some dark moments. It's the last five chapters that take the cake for the most drama in the shortest timespan. I’m not saying I take issue with what went down exactly, what I am taking issue with is the fact that Kristin Hannah bounced from one dramatic event to the next, without so much as a breath or time to process. The emphasis seemed to be on getting her characters where they needed to be in the end, rather than allowing the reader to fully appreciate Leni's journey. What do you think about Ernt’s character and how he treats his wife and daughter? Do you think he could have sought support in the 1970s even if he wanted to?

Reader Reviews

But sometimes, especially on days like today, Leni was afraid. It felt to her as if her family stood poised on the edge of a great precipice that could collapse at any second, crumble away like the houses that crashed down Seattle’s unstable, waterlogged hillsides.

Marge shows up, bringing along Natalie Watkins and Geneva Walker, to help make the place live-able. The need a greenhouse and a food storage area (cache) at least. They get to work, and Marge tells them they need to learn how to shoot as well. Did you read The Great Alone? What did you think? If not, is it something you’d consider reading? The Great Alone Movie Adaptation

1974

Leni’s parents have a volatile relationship, which only grows worse as the winter approaches. Leni is scared of her father, and she understands that her parents are trapped in a twisted marriage. Sure, Dad lost his temper sometimes and he yelled and they never had enough money and they moved all the time to distance themselves from creditors, but that was their way, and they loved each other.

Never haa the setting of a book been so intoxicating to me than the Vietnam-era Alaska that Kristin Hannah described. On numerous occasions, I found myself googling “Alaska 1970s” to get an even clearer picture of the beautiful state which was itself the main character in this book. (That’s what I call a real book hangover!) After Ernt loses another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he is going to move his family to a small town in Alaska, and settle on some land left to him by a fellow soldier. The thought of moving somewhere so remote, so dangerous, so unknown, is tremendously frightening, but Leni's mother, Cora, has never abandoned her husband no matter what he has done, so she's willing to follow him into the wilderness, in the hopes this may be the fresh start he needs. Kristin Hannah already stole my heart and took all the tears a human body could produce with her masterpiece “Nightingale” (For one year, I suffered from dry eye syndrome! I cried for months and made little children traumatized with my red-rimmed image. Even Step King inspired to write a book named “Red-rimmed” after his “Red-rum sequel”. The story focused on a redhead woman stealing people’s cry and swallow them at night. Yikes! You can imagine he dropped out the project!) With all of that said, I still found this to be a worthy read. I love the thought of living a simpler life—although probably not realistic for this city girl—and spending a bit of time in Alaska proved to be eye-opening and even sort of refreshing. But then her dad comes home with his “Big Idea” smile. A friend who died in the war left him some property in Alaska. Her father is ecstatic. It’s a place where they can live a decent life…away from all of the madness. A simple life on land that they can live off…grow their own vegetables, hunt, and be free.

Beyond the Book

But NOT THE WILD, KILLER ANIMALS HUNT FOR BLOOD OUTSIDE or WORST,CHALLENGING, FREEZING WEATHER CONDITIONS scared mother and daughter for their lives. The monster was hiding outside. He was living at their house and building a cage to protect them from outer world but truly building a cell to trap them into their own prisons.