I've read a few books by Kristin Hannah, and it appears that her popularity has surged after The Nightingale was released. I was very intrigued by the premise of a family heading up to Alaska to escape the political turmoil following the Vietnam war...especially when homesteading comes into play. I have really mixed feelings on this book.

Strengths: The setting is absolutely vivid and Alaska frequently feels like an additional character throughout. I enjoyed the first half of the book- the pacing worked, the character building intriguing. Large Marge is a wonderful secondary character. The details of homesteading and life in Alaska during the winter kept me turning pages.

Weaknesses: The whole second half of the book completely changes and we are swept into a Lifetime movie plot. It's messy, it's rushed, and it's cheesy.

I'm bummed that the book took this turn, but I am eager to continue reading books about people who have tried to set up a life off the grid in Alaska. One of my favorite recent reads, The Snow Child, tackles this really well. I don't regret reading The Great Alone but I struggle with the hype and praise it has been given.

I just finished this book and wanted to write a review while I'm still fresh. I love this book! This, by the way, would be perfect for all you book clubbers out there. I even teared up- me, who is cold hearted and cynical when it comes to books.
In the 70's, when Vietnam vets come home without the therapeutic support required after seeing horrific events, people are setting out to the last frontier- Alaska. And the Albrights did just that in their VW bus and hot pink pants for mama Cora, books for 13 year old Leni, and hopefully a peace-filled existence for Ernt. But we learn that our problems will be with us despite our setting in The Great Alone.
Imagine Northern Exposure, with the quirky people, those who look out for each other. But this book is more about real life. There were many different social issues, but Kristin Hannah was able to blend them into a realistic tapestry with imagery to back up the feel of being cold, the endless chores of fishing, or even the never dark nights in the summer, and the barely lit days in the winter. Family, forgiveness, and what love really means are the takeaways that are defined intrinsically in Alaska.

What a wonderful story. I am a sucker for a story filled with strong women characters. The theme of survival,not just in life, but literal survival in the extremes of Alaska. Thank you Ms. Hannah for a wonderful story, rich characters and a tale that will stay with me.

I started off lost in the dark and cold, heart and soul desolate coulee surrounded by frozen sheets of ice with two of my Traveling Sisters reading The Great Alone. Not wanting to get out as Norma and two more of our TS joined in reading and discussing this one with me. This lead to a very interesting and insightful discussion as we shared our thoughts on this story. As the discussion progressed I started to see things differently and had more of an understanding of the depth of this story. I really love when that happens and one of the reasons I love getting lost in a coulee with my TS.

The Great Alone is an insightful, inspiring and emotional family saga, part coming of age story with a little romance to it that brought out many emotions for us. Our heart raced with anxiety at times and the temperature soared in the coulee as we worried for our young, strong, brave and determined main character, Leni.

Kristin Hannah does such a wonderful job creating a character here with her vivid description of Alaska and the community with these rich, quirky and interesting characters. We could feel their generosity, support, and kindness. Hannah brings insight, magic, and life to Alaska and we could feel the danger of living in such an unforgiving place.

At times we wanted Kristin Hannah to have gone in a different direction here with Ernt’s character and didn’t like the way his PTSD was portrayed, however after our discussion we came to realize that's not the story she was telling. We felt the story she was telling was of a teenage girl Leni trapped in her parent's toxic relationship and their obsession with each other. “The twisted love that bound her parents together.”

We all loved the ending but at times thought it was a bit too overdramatic and maybe forced some emotions but we reminded ourselves it is a family saga. We all still ended up in the dark cold coulee feeling warm and rewarded with this story full of emotional depth. We highly recommend.

Thank you, NetGalley, St Martin’s Press and Kristin Hannah for a copy to read and review.

For my reviews featuring Kristin Hannah please check out our Travelling Sister Blog at

https://twosisterslostinacoulee.com/2...

I really enjoyed this book about family and survival in the great alone, Alaska and the isolation of a family suffering with domestic violence. The story centres around Leni moving to Alaska with her POV father, back form Vietnam and her vivacious mother. They are completely unprepared for living in such a harsh climate off the grid, but their new community rallies behind them and helps them settle in. Soon the reality of Leni's father's mental illness rears it's ugly side and he begins being violent towards her mother, paranoid against outsiders and proceeds to terrorize and isolate his family. The story takes on an almost thriller like tension and pace as the two woman try to navigate his moods and outbursts. This helps to create a page turner, but I wish there was more time away from him and more spent on Leni's growth and development becoming an Alaskan woman. In fact my favorite moments in the book were the times with just Leni and her mother, and the moments spent in the community and with her family in Seattle. The final scene with her mother in Alaska in the boats was the most powerful and beautiful. I found Leni's romance and the drama surrounding it a bit too romance novel for me and took away from Leni's own growth story. It wasn't bad, but I felt like this book could have just been one of self discovery and been even more powerful, a la Wild. The beautiful descriptions of the Alaskan and Pacific Northwest settings were incredible and a real strength in the story. You could visualize everything so clearly. All in all I wanted more of the townfolk, Leni and her mother Cora and less of her father Ernt and Matthew. Yet, it was still an amazing story and I could not put it down.

This is actually my first Kristin Hannah book after The Nightingale. I loved that one so much I didn't think any of her others would be able to compare, but when I saw this on netgalley I couldn't help but request it. I do not think the synopsis does this one justice, it sounds dreadfully boring but it is anything but. The pacing is a bit odd, really slow at first and super quick at the end. I loved the characters and their relationships. This book is heartbreaking and I felt all the emotions. I teared up several times, nothing like the all out sobfest of The Nightingale though. I definitely need to check out more from this author!

Received copy from Netgalley.

The Great Alone is a fantastic novel Hannahs takes the reader into the cold loneliness of Alaska during the 70's. A abusive husband, a family secret, and a budding Romeo and Juliet love story sets us up for tragedy. I devoured this book.

There is a scene in The Great Alone in which Ernt Allbright--father, husband, homesteader, Vietnam POW--is teaching his daughter, Leni how to hunt. The family had recently relocated to Alaska and Ernt holds strong feelings about Leni and his wife, Cora, being able to protect themselves. I squirmed uncomfortably as author Kristin Hannah describes how Leni successfully sights and kills a rabbit. Then, even more uncomfortably, as I read how Ernt pulls the heart from the rabbit and instructs Leni to eat it. In a way, this book did that very same thing to me: pulled my heart out and took a bite. It's a story I will never forget--and I don't want to forget it. The Great Alone is a work of fiction that I will, for some time to come, measure all other works of fiction against. 

My first introduction to Kristin Hannah came several years ago when I read Firefly Lane. Then I read The Nightingale. In the intervening years, I had not read any other stories, but I eagerly awaited the release of The Great Alone. Kristin Hannah's writing has a way of putting me so securely in the scene that it takes a moment to realize where I am when I pull my eyes from the page.  I sat in the back of the VW bus with Leni as she and her parents drove north to Alaska; I slept in the cobweb filled loft alongside her, praying that her father's anger would abate and that her mother who not be beaten again; I befriended Matthew and, later, fell in love with him just as Leni did. 

It's hard not to judge the characters and their actions. It's hard to understand why an abused spouse stays with the person hurting her so deeply. Hard to empathize with a mother who seems to manipulate her child into staying in an unsafe situation. Even now I struggle to remind myself that, in the mid and late 1970's, much was different for women; that it's not always easy to accept help when it's offered. It's hard for a heart not to break when it seems like all is lost and happiness, true happiness, will never be found again. But, for as often as I felt angry and lonely and hopeless and afraid, Kristin Hannah always brought me back to a place of hope. As with Firefly Lane and The Nightingale, tears fell as I finished the final pages and closed the book, wishing with all my might that I did not have to return this particular item to my library. 

Simply put, The Great Alone is a five-star read. Brutal and emotional, hauntingly descriptive, certainly memorable. The best book I've read this year.

It’s 1974 and Ernt Allbright is a former POW who suffers PTSD from the Vietnam War. He is no longer the fun-loving, caring husband and father that Cora and her daughter Leni remember. Leni’s memories are few but her mother assures her that the man he is now is not the man she married. But Cora and Ernt have a symbiotic relationship. They thrive off each other is a strange way that is not healthy. Ernt is capable of great affection for his wife one minute and the next, he’s an abuser who lashes out. He’s always looking for a place that will give him freedom and so he moves his family to Alaska. Now the family will live in a rundown shack in a remote area with a small population of longtime residents. The locals are happy to give the newcomers a hand in settling in and helping to prepare for the long, hard, dark winter.

The story is told through 13-year-old Leni’s eyes and she tries so hard to be quiet and obedient. She hates to see her mother hurt and doesn’t understand why Cora puts up with it. Living is Alaska is magnificently portrayed. The harsh conditions, the toughness and the day-to-day hard work, are a daily reality for those who brave the extreme life in the wild. But Hannah portrays Alaska with such fondness and respect. The land is like a character in the way it’s portrayed. It affects everyone who lives there in a profound way. Leni adapts to the rough life and grows to love the tiny town and the people who live there. In addition to the inspired setting, the secondary characters enliven the story and add interesting elements with their quirks and strong sense of community.

Though not as stunning and unforgettable as The Nightingale, this book is powerful. The ending may not totally resonate but the characters and the setting are so strong that readers will be glad they read it.

Kristen Hannah has done it again with a gripping story of life in Alaska. Unputdownable.

Thirteen-year old Leni Allbright is in a tough spot. Her parents, Ernt and Cora, are desperately in love...and incredibly unstable. Since her dad came home from Vietnam, his moods are erratic. He drinks a lot and can't hold a job. He's abusive to Leni's mom, but she always forgives him afterward, no matter how bad it gets. Because Ernt is a bit of a "dreamer," the family moves around a lot, always chasing the next scheme that Ernt thinks will make them happy.  

But things change when Ernt gets a letter saying he's inherited a piece of land and a house in Alaska, left to him by one of his soldier friends, now passed, from the war. He decides that a(nother) fresh start in the Alaskan wilderness is just what the family needs, and they all begin the long journey to the remote cabin. When they arrive, though, they realize they are not at all prepared for the brutal and unforgiving conditions of the wild. They learn to survive over time, in no small part to the generosity of their neighbors, but nothing prepares them for how the long winter nights affect Ernt's mental health. Things get dicey fast, and Leni and Cora soon realize that the greatest threat to their safety isn't the wild animals or brutal cold outside, but rather the volatile and abusive man living inside their home.

 *   *   *   *   *

If you've read The Nightingale, you know that author Kristin Hannah loves to create sweeping sagas that show the growth of one main character as she faces obstacle after obstacle. Hannah always manages to balance the detailed inner lives of her characters with enough action to keep the story barreling along. Her books are never boring, and The Great Alone is no exception.

I loved seeing Leni grow up in these pages. As a character, she is so believable, relatable, and endearing. From the very beginning on through to the end, I felt for her, and I felt protective of her. More than that, though, I admired her strength and ability to endure. I developed so much respect for her, and she actually made me feel, I don't know...hopeful.

I also thought Hannah did an impressive job of showing the complicated inner workings of Ernt and Cora's abusive relationship. Hannah is honest about the dysfunction, but she also shows how the couple's intense love for each other keeps them together. It's hard to witness the toxicity of that relationship---especially when it hurts Leni over and over and over again---but it was believable and powerful, and I couldn't look away.

I do have a couple complaints---and, ironically, these are some of the same gripes I had with The Nightingale. First, the book went on too long. There were a couple "full circle" moments at the end that felt like unnecessary fluff. I didn't need or want the story to be so neatly wrapped up like that. Second, Hannah makes her characters go through A LOT of suffering---to the point that it becomes borderline ridiculous. (MINOR SPOILER ALERT) Matthew's storyline falls into this category for me.

Still. The Great Alone is an exceptional read. It's engaging from start to finish, with an unbeatable setting and a diverse cast of characters dealing with relevant and complex issues. Five stars all day long.

This is a wonderful story of family and survival. When Leni's family moves to Alaska to cope with her Dad's PTSD it is easy to visualize the small community where they settled. With Kristin Hannah's great descriptions and TV's reality Alaskan series one can relate very easily. When Leni and her mother need to survive on their own not only their past makes them tough but Mother Nature and the land get them growing and surviving. The story moves into Leni's adulthood and has enough heart tugging moments to make you cry and smile. Kristin Hannah takes a hard look at domestic violence and how it can effect generations.

Ernt Allbright, once a romantic and kind man returned home from Vietnam as a different and very troubled man. Cora, his wife, grew up in an affluent area, but left that all behind to be with Ernt despite her parents' warning. Cora had Leni, her daughter, at a very young age and since then has lived a very nomadic life constantly uprooting Leni at every turn. One of Ernt's friends and fellow Vietnam veterans leaves him a house in Alaska. So, the family moves, yet again, to the wilderness of Alaska with the hopes of starting over and escaping some of Ernt's dark shadows that seem to always follow him. At first things seem better for Ernt as he is able to initially control his unpredictable and violet personality, but as winter approaches in Alaska they realize that they are sorely unprepared. Thanks to the townspeople they are able prepare themselves a bit more and Leni makes her first real friend. However, as the nights get longer and the weather colder, so does Ernt's personality. Is it Alaska's unpredictability that they should be weary of or the man that they don't know anymore that lives in their house? Kristin Hannah's The Great Alone kept me up flipping the pages till very late. I was completely engrossed in the Allbright's tale of survival, post-traumatic stress disorder, abuse, friendship, and even romance.

I absolutely adored Leni in The Great Alone. My heart truly went out to her as she is sometimes more of an adult than her two ridiculous parents. Although I appreciated her close relationship with her mother, Cora frustrated me as she was always putting Leni in a dangerous situation by staying with Ernt. As time goes on in Alaska, Leni sort of branches out and spreads her wings a bit. She even forms a close relationship with someone who will change her life forever. I was a total sucker for that plot line and wanted Leni to leave Alaska and her crazy parents behind.

Cora is someone I pitied in The Great Alone. I mean we have seen it all before. The abused woman who makes countless excuses for the abuser, but as things progressed, I really felt for her. Essentially she was trapped and I was rooting for her to break free. But where will they go in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness? This part of the story was truly a nail biter. On the other hand, Ernt was a character I despised. I mean at first I felt badly for him as he is obviously struggling with returning from Vietnam and dealing with post-traumatic stress, but he is just a jerk. I couldn't wait for him to get what he deserves.

The buildup and the suspense that Hannah created in The Great Alone was outstanding. I was truly on the edge of my seat and was wondering about the characters long after I stopped reading. She kept me guessing and she kept me worried! Another outstanding aspect of the novel was the setting. A remote town in Alaska is an incredible setting for a story and Hannah hits it out of the ballpark with this one. It was as if Alaska was its own character. I found her descriptions of the weather and the dark nights juxtaposed by Alaska's secluded beauty absolutely spellbinding. Readers can tell that Hannah has spent some time in Alaska as she truly brought the setting to life so vividly.

Although I didn't love The Great Alone as much as The Nightingale, I still really, really enjoyed it and found it to be so memorable. It is going down as one of my favorite books of the year!

A beautiful family saga that takes place in Alaska post Vietnam war.. Kristin Hannah knows how to write about families and places in such a remarkable way that the story and the location become part of you when you come to the end of your mutual journey.

I don't write many 5 star reviews - this book was deserving though! The characters were so well developed and the story flowed so well, it was never forced or rushed and felt very well thought out. The detail Kristin Hannah goes into for all aspects of the book, from homesteading, to the harshness of the Alaska weather was fascinating to me - I actually learned some outdoor skills reading this book! I know that I would also never survive an Alaska winter! I'm in love with this book, I'd read it all over again many, many times

I love Kristin Hannah’s writing but I had a hard time getting into the topic of this book. I don’t typically pick up books that are about abuse. It’s not something I like to read for pleasure. So this book was hard to want to continue reading. Of course Hannah’s writing is amazing and her characters are so well written. She has a way of developing her setting so the reader can picture it clearly in their head. She rocked that in this book as well! Her characters come to life and become real... like someone you vaguely remember meeting a while back! Good story just not my favorite of hers.
I received a digital copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

My wife really enjoyed this book and gave it 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5. She found it to be quite different from the 2 other books that she has read by this author. It is still about relationships, but different from Winter Garden and True Colors. Since it takes place in Alaska and the author lived there for awhile, there may be some autobiographical background. My wife said the more she read, the more invested she was in the story and the characters. There was one character that she wanted to smack upside the head. On another character, she said "Some people need killing."
I will add my thoughts when I read it.
3-5-18 My thoughts 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.
This book is about love and loss. It is about domestic violence and teenage love that endures. It is about a woman who stays with an abusive man because she feels trapped and hopes that he will return to the man that he was before being taken prisoner in Vietnam.
Ernt Allbright is a broken man who can't hold a job. Before Vietnam, he was a cheerful loving husband to Cora. Now he is moody and unpredictable. He receives a letter from Earl Harlan, the father of his best friend Bo,in Vietnam. Earl has decided to give Bo's 40 acres of land in Kaneq, Alaska to Ernt. Ernt takes Cora and their 13 year old daughter Leni to Alaska for a new beginning. But the long, dark Alaskan winter causes him to spiral downwards. The book is narrated by Leni, who grows up over the course of the book.
If the domestic violence bothers you, please don't give up. You will like the ending.
Some quotes:
Moving to Alaska: "So they would try again in a new place, hoping geography would be the answer. They would go to Alaska in search of this new dream."
Leni's first sight of Alaska: "It was otherworldly somehow, magical in its vast expanse, an incomparable landscape of soaring glacier filled white mountains that ran the lenght of the horizon, knife tip points pressed high into a cloudless cornflower-blue sky."
Title: "The great alone, Leni said. That was what Robert Service called Alaska."
Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and the author for sending me this ARC ebook.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me this ebook.

Thank you to the publisher for this ARC via Netgalley.

I loved this story of a family in post-Vietnam War America, who move to Alaska in search of a place to belong. Hannah's descriptions of the family struggling to adapt to their harsh and beautiful new home draws you in. The characters are drawn with precision, showing their good and their flaws. There are many unexpected plot twists, keeping the pages turning. I stayed up late many nights, unable to stop reading. As I approached the last pages, I didn't want it to end.

1974. It was a dangerous world: bombings, Viet Nam, hijacked planes, college girls disappearing. Though 5 years older than Leni, the main character, my 1970s world was reasonably safe. Hers was not... “Leni heard the despair in her mother’s voice and it frightened her. She knew how fragile it all was: her family, her parents. One thing every child of a POW knew was how easily people could be broken.” And it was about to get worse with a move to Alaska.

The Great Alone is a powerful story, told on a grand Alaskan scale. Story elements of man vs. nature, society self, and each other course along with the wild rivers and multi-dimensional characters.

“Two kinds of folks come up to Alaska. People running to something and people running away from something.” “’A woman has to be tough as steel up here. You can’t count on anyone to save you and your children. You have to be willing to save yourselves. And you have to learn fast. In Alaska you can make one mistake. The second one will kill you.’” Mama (Cora) replies, ‘I don’t think we’re well prepared. Maybe we’ve already made a mistake by coming here.’…’I’ll help you…We all will.’”

Summer was mostly work, getting ready for 6 months of darkness. Darkness is a terrifying character. “When Leni turned homeward, she saw an endless black expanse. Nothing distinguishable, no stars overhead, no moon to light a path.” It grew the darkness inside Leni’s dad. “’It’s going to get worse,’ Leni said. ‘Every day is darker and colder. ‘Yeah,’ Mama said, looking as scared as Leni suddenly felt. ‘I know.’”

I loved the ‘historic’ details: a POW bracelet, hair parted in the middle, Earth shoes, plaid polyester bell-bottoms and blue cream eyeshadow brought back nice, but odd memories.

“Such a thin veil separated the past from the present; they existed simultaneously in the human heart. Anything could transport you – the smell of the sea at low tide, the screech of a gull, the turquoise of a glacier-fed river. A voice in the wind could be both true and imagined.”

Friendship, community, first love, pain that goes with first love, lasting love. Wolves, survival, danger, loneliness, forgiveness. Celebration, tenderness, suspense, surprises. Wonderful writing and Story spoil me for other, less crafted books.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for granting access to an arc of this book for an honest review.

Absolutely loved this book. The description says it's a book you'll read well into the night, and it's true. I stayed up well past my bedtime to finish this story up. I couldn't get enough, and had to know what happened to Leni next. Her dysfunctional family living in Alaska makes for a very thrilling and heart stopping read. Highly recommend to all!