“Sergeant Allbright –
You are a hard man to find. I am Earl Harlan.
My son, Bo, wrote many letters home about his friendship with you. I thank you for that.
In his last letter, he told me that if anything happened to him in that piece of shit place [Vietnam], he wanted you to have his land up here in Alaska.
It isn’t much. Forty acres with a cabin that needs fixing. But a hardworking man can lives off the land up here, away from the crazies and the hippies and the mess in the lower Forty-Eight. . . . . . . .”

Ernt Allbright, unlike his friend, Bo, did return to his family after years in a Vietnamese POW camp; scarred in so many ways. He returned to countrymen projecting their hatred of the war on the emotionally and physically damaged Vietnam War veterans. Vets returned to families that became fearful of their soldier experiencing frightening “depression, guilt, flashbacks, nightmares, mood swings, angry outbursts, anxiety, and paranoia..”

Ernt and Cora Allbright along with their daughter, Leni (Lenora) represent a family struggling to make a postwar life together; and failing miserably. The happy go-lucky Ernt failed to return from Vietnam. In his stead, a surly, distempered shell of his former self arrived. Unable to tame his demons, Ernt has developed a chronic history of unemployment and alcohol abuse. But these failings are not the worst of his new personality traits. When something triggers his inner demons, Cora, adept at hiding the abuse from Leni, becomes his punching bag. Much like other abusive marriages, a sweet honeymoon and serial apologies diminishes the beatings. The cycle repeats itself over and over; exacerbated by the dark of night.

For Ernt, Earl Harlan’s letter and offer of a remote refuge seems like the perfect answer to all his troubles; a promise of brighter future. A place where he can make a life without interference of any kind. A place he is sure that he can be free of those things that make him fly off the handle.
“Think of it,” Dad said, lifted out of his seat by enthusiasm. “A house that’s ours. That we own. . . We have dreamed of it for years, Cora. Live a simpler life away from all the bullshit down here. We could be free.”

With little regard for the ambivalent feelings of his wife and child, Ernt packs the family into their beat-up VW bus, hoists a flag -Alaska Or Bust – and heads to what he sees as nirvana. A family about as prepared for the harsh subsistence life as a cub scout leading an Everest excursion.

Arriving in Alaska and dumbstruck by the vastness and the beauty, the family stops at Large Marge Birdsall’s Trading Post/General Store looking for directions to their new home. Ernt announces proudly that they are going to be living full time on the island at Bo Harlan’s old place! It doesn’t take long for Large Marge, a former big city attorney, to spot blatant ineptitude and an ample slice of arrogance as well as two women not excited about living in Alaska.

Marge is also aware that Bo Harlan’s run-down one room shack is “on a piece of land that couldn’t be accessed by water at low tide, on [the Kenai] peninsula with only a handful of people and hundreds of wild animals, in a climate harsh enough to kill you.”

The isolation and the catastrophic condition of the land and buildings move the locals to provide advice and help; they know the Allbrights have a slim to none chance of surviving the fast approaching winter. In time and with guidance from new friends, Cora and Leni take to the subsidence lifestyle like a duck to water. Ernt, on the other hand resents the interference and his anger feeds his paranoia and violent nature. As Ernt reaches a new boiling point he discovers that Bo Harlan’s father and brothers are survivalists preparing for a nuclear rapture. Earl and Ernt form a dark friendship that threatens the lives of everyone on the island.

Back at the homestead, Cora finds that living in a one room shack won’t allow her to hide Ernt’s beatings. The truth of her parent’s marriage is exposed and promises only to get worse as the perpetual dark of winter drives Ernt to new heights of meanness. And it does..

“Leni looked at her mother’s beaten, bruised face, the rag turning red with her blood.
You’re saying it’s your fault?
You’re too young to understand. He didn’t mean to do that. He just – loves me to much sometimes.
He MEANT it.”

The island folks have a “come to Jesus” moment with Ernt that sets off a slow-motion fire storm. The years pass. Leni falls in love with a rich neighbor’s son and fumbles through adolescence in a one-room school house. Cora finds life at the extremes suits her. Ernt, away at the oil fields sends home money and returns for brief periods each year; always ready to disrupt island life. Cora and Leni face the truth that someday they are going to have to make life altering decisions. . . But not yet says, Cora. I love him.

The months he is away, life on the island seems like the nirvana he envisioned to Cora and Leni and the locals. These years are the happiest of times in the book. Right up until the day Ernt gets fired from the oil fields and arrives home to discover his rich unmarried neighbor and Large Marge sitting at his kitchen table playing cards with the girls.  As he implodes, all the is good inside Ernt is sucked into a black hole and all the evil releases his Kraken.

I’ll leave what happens to your imagination. I want to make sure that all readers take time to enjoy the beauty, expansiveness and surreal extreme of Alaska. Lay back on the ground and watch the sky in multicolor. Hannah, having lived in Alaska, knows how to describe it to perfection.

I was a little disappointed that most of the characters were not fully developed; the exception being Leni. I fell in love with Large Marge and her oversized personality and big heart.

So many themes, alcoholism, untreated PTSD, domestic abuse, abortion, subsistence living, Alaska, sense of community and more. Any book club should enjoy picking the book apart!

Thanks to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for an advanced reading copy for review.
Recommended.

4 Stars.

Alaska, 1974: This is the story of the trials and tribulations of the Allbright family. Life has not been easy for Ernt, Cora or their daughter Leni.  Ernt is a POW, home from Vietnam. He is now prone to fits of anger and extreme violence.  Ernt considers alcohol to be his savior – yet for his wife and daughter, it is the devil.

After coming home from the war, Ernt feels as though he doesn’t fit in anywhere and that everyone is against him.  In an incredible turn of events, a home is bequeathed to Ernt in Kaneq, Alaska and he feels that it is has last chance.  Wanting to make him happy and keep him calm, Cora and Leni agree.  The move is one for which they are wholly unprepared.  Winters are fierce, harsh and absolutely terrifying.  There are only 6 hours of sunlight a day, and the conditions are dire.  

The atmosphere and the wilderness however, give something to Leni Allbright that she has never had before, peace and solitude.  If only it was enough.  Cora is a woman who fell very hard for a man who treats her the way that no woman should ever be treated.  Her family is trapped in a vicious cycle, one whose demons it seems impossible to out run, even after having reached the ends of the earth.   

“The Great Alone” is a novel so full of beautiful, vivid descriptions that I could close eyes and see the land, the mountains, the water: the immense beauty that is Alaska - even though I have never been there before.   The characters are captivating and rich.  They made me so very anxious at times, I couldn’t help but clench my fists and hold on for dear life, yet they also made me love.  “The Great Alone” is my first Kristin Hannah novel – it will not be my last.  

This was Traveling Sister Read.  The discussion for this book was very lively and full of emotion.  I was glad to have my sisters close while read it!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Kristin Hannah for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. 

Published on NetGalley, Goodreads, Amazon and Twitter on 2.17.18.

New Release: 2-6-2018

The Great Alone by Kristen Hannah was provided as an ARC to me by St. Martin's Press via NetGalley in return for an honest review. 

Hannah's story is set just after the Vietnam War. Leni's parents are complicated. Her mom became pregnant with Leni when she was 16 and her dad Ernst was 25. When Leni was very young Ernst was drafted into the Vietnam War. He came back 6 years later, obviously damaged, and we see a brief glimpse of their home life before a letter arrives, informing Ernst that his army buddy Bo left him his plot of land in Alaska (aka "The Great Alone") and Ernst decides this is the new beginning to end all new beginnings and moves the family north from Washington to Homer, AK. 

This book was 100% terrifying. The tension never gets below a 5 out of 10 from her dad's PTSD to the ultra-survivalist lifestyle they stumble into in Alaska. Even the never ending days of summer and unrelenting nights of winter contribute to the terror. It was kind of the author to allow them to move at just the right time so they have the entire "summer" to learn how to live through an Alaskan winter. Otherwise things would have become dire very quickly.

What adds to the suspense is that most of you who will read it live in a world where we couldn't imagine using an outhouse or having to hunt to put away meat for winter or garden to can enough preserves to make it until spring. When was the last time you saw a goat let alone milk one and know how to churn that into other things? Have you ever had to lug water from a river to boil before using it? How long could you go without power? If you pick up this book, really imagine what it would be like to have 5 months to become completely literate in living off the land and sea or be murdered by the famine or insanity that the Alaskan winter brings. Reading this book in the 70s would evoke a much different reaction than reading it today. Our current reality adds to the horror of Leni's situation.

I do not want to give away how this book ends, but if you are looking for a very fast-paced thriller that's like My Side of the Mountain on powerful steroids, go get this book right away. Hang on tight though, it's quite a ride.

In 1974, Ernt Allbright returned home after several years as a POW in Vietnam. His ordeal had transformed him; he was no longer a warm and loving husband and father. Instead, he was violent, unpredictable, and abusive; subjecting his wife Cora to beatings and terrifying his daughter Leni. Ernt was convinced the world was about to end, and when he received a letter offering him a homestead in Kenaq, Alaska, the family packed up what they had, climbed in a VW bus, and headed off to Alaska.

They were unprepared for the isolation of the homestead, and for the primitive cabin, complete with an outhouse, and yet Leni fell in love with the wild beauty of the scenery and the friendliness of the people. Though she and Cora endured the verbal and physical abuse centering from Ernt’s increasing instability, Leni learned to survive, and even thrive, in the Alaskan wilderness. 

Kristin Hannah does a wonderful job of conveying the beauty and the danger the Allbright family faced; both from the scenery and setting, and from Ernt’s inner demons. There was an underlying theme of fear was constantly emphasized, ranging from the fear of the wild animals, the wilderness, their lack of preparation, and in Cora’s relationship with Ernt. I liked Leni’s adaptability and her strength and courage in facing the unknown and untested, after being uprooted yet again by her unstable father. Leni and I are the same age, and I enjoyed the trip back in time with a young woman in a completely different environment than I was used to.

I loved this book. Such heartbreak about a family twisted by domestic violence. I cried many times for the women in this book. Yet, I raised my fist for solidarity at the many women in the book. I thought that is was beautifully written and had a well thought out plot! Loved it!

Kristin Hannah has done it again. A beautifully written and completely immersive story, with strong characters and a stunning setting, The Great Alone transports readers to the far reaches of Alaska. Remarkable for Hannah's ability to bring to life a particular time and place,The Great Alone is also refreshing in highlighting Hannah's ability to help her characters grow. Each character, and especially they protagonist Leni,  has a voice that changes and develops as time and events shape their lives. This novel is ideal for a long flight, as you will want to read it all in one sitting.

This is my second book from Kristin Hannah and you can't imagine my excitement about it!I was so intrigued and excited to start it!I love the writing and the story was beautiful! The characters rocked this story, I fall in love with them!The story is slow in some parts but overall many things happening to keep your interest!Secrets, love, death, loss and joy is some of the things you'll meet in this story!I have so many feelings with The Great Alone, it's a story I would definitely re read!The setting was perfect that I felt like I was a part of the story! 

If you love Kristin Hannah's writing then you are going to love this one!Captivating,emotional and beautiful story!

I'm a huge fan of Kristin Hannah. She's a wonderful author and she always writes books that I can't put down.

This book takes place in Alaska during the year 1974. Life is unforgiving, unpredictable and especially untamed. 

Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. His daughter Leni is a thirteen year old who is caught up in the rip tide of her parent's relationship. She's desperate to find her own place in the world and her mother Cora is blind to love. She will do anything and will move anywhere that Ernt wants to move to.

They move to Alaska and Cora and Ernt think this is the perfect solution to their problems after Ernt loses yet another job.

Ernt starts to exhibit more mental problems and leaves Cora and Leni to fend for themselves.

Great book!! I love Kristin Hannah books and I recommend giving this one a go. The first half of the book was very exciting and then I couldn't put it down.

The Allbright family moves to Alaska in 1974 after inheriting some land. They have no idea what to expect and arrive woefully unprepared for the harsh winters. Through neighborly help and lessons, they adapt and make it through to become true Alaskans. But, there is something wrong with the father, a Vietnam veteran.

The Great Alone of the title refers to the long Alaska winters and how alone you can feel in the many hours of darkness at the top of the world. It comes from a poem by Robert Service. The story is told through the eyes of Leni, the couple’s 13-year-old daughter. Her parents, Ernt and Cora, were struggling to make ends meet in Seattle. Then, Ernt found out that a war buddy, Bo Harlan, had left him some land in Alaska. Since they would own their own place for the first time, they decided to move. They packed up and drove their old VW bus all the way to Alaska. Ernt has experienced PTSD symptoms since the war and he has horrible nightmares and does not deal with bad weather very well. As their first winter looms, the reader begins to wonder whether Ernt will be able to hold it together in the cold, dark, and harsh lengthy winter. 

The novel was very enjoyable, but some parts can be upsetting. The setting is just fantastic. It doesn’t get much better than wild Alaska. The author’s descriptions of the land are detailed and make you feel like you are there. Her love of this place shines through in all the descriptive passages. Not only the land, but the people are unique as well. In Alaska, you can be who you want to be. If a man wants to marry a goose, as one character does, no one will question it. People are unique and they leave each other alone to be themselves in Alaska. Everyone helps each other to survive. It’s not a place that just anyone can survive though. Many never make it through their first winter. Thus, the big question is whether Ernt will either step up or fail miserably at this new life. How will he handle the stress of this new situation? There is the main conflict of the story. 

This is part adventure and part love story and part human interest. Leni finds a friend in the only boy her age at the small school, but her father has issues with the boy’s father. The characterizations in the novel are detailed and give us plenty of insight into what motivates each character. Leni loves her parents, but wants to also have a best friend. Her mother, Cora, wants to keep the peace in her relationship and seems to really love her husband, despite his flaws. Ernt is a hard character to read. His motivations are not easy to understand and he is very conflicted. His inner demons begin to come out more and more as the story goes along. 

The narrative moves along well, with no slow or boring parts. Dialog is also indicative of each character. For example, Bo’s father talks in a different dialect or accent than the others. The reader gains insight into what it takes to survive in an environment such as this. It was probably quite different in 1974 than it is today, but it’s still a very tough environment and it’s not for everyone. How these characters each handle the stresses makes for plenty of conflicts that need to be resolved. The novel is also an exploration of PTSD and its horrific effects on family life, especially in an era before it was recognized as such and treatments were available as there are nowadays. Family violence is also explored here. It’s a detailed look at what can trigger someone to go over the edge. 

This novel is complex and deals with several issues. It is set in a wonderful place and the author did a great job with all aspects of the story. I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about survival in Alaska, or just enjoys a good story. I guarantee this one will make you cry, shout for joy, and sometimes laugh. It is an excellent novel.

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the eARC of this book! I had the wonderful opportunity to visit Alaska a couple of years ago, and immediately fell in love.  I loved how Hannah was able to bring me right back throughout this book.  I love books that really pull you into the setting, and this book really masterfully transports the reader to Alaska in the 1970s. The story of the Allbright family, the father suffering from PTSD, the mother who will do anything for him, and Leni, their daughter - coming of age in the wilds of Alaska, was hard one to read because they go through so much.  It's a powerful story about the human spirit, and what we will do for those we love.

~~Reviewed by Shelly~~

Wow! What a thriller! Leni grows up in a totally dysfunctional family. She sees her dad beat her mom but she won’t leave. Dysfunction galore abounds. The family has relocated to a small town in Alaska. Toss in months of darkness and you know evil is going to rise. Leni finds unlikely friends in the cute boy from school, and friends throughout town. They protect Leni and have her and her mom’s back as a “mystery” unfolds. This is a thought-provoking story. How could this have been prevented? Why did no one do anything? Will Leni and her love survive? Will her mom survive? Will they stay in Alaska? You have to read it to get the answers. I do believe you will be surprised.

I wanted to see what all of the buzz was about, and now I know. Kristin Hannah has a fresh, authentic  voice that transports her readers to a completely different time and place. The Great Alone, set in Alaska in 1974, made a believer of me. Thanks go to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC, which I received in exchange for this honest review. 

Leni Allbright is our protagonist, and she and her mother are inseparable during the early years of her childhood. But when her father, a man she doesn’t know, is released from the POW camp and then sent home, he is volatile, not the man Cora remembers. He has trouble keeping a job; he wakes up screaming in the middle of the night. He’s paranoid and sometimes delusional, too.  

He likes firearms.

Then word comes that a friend, a soldier he served with, has died and left him a plot of land in Alaska. They’ll be away from the stimulation of the city, which seems to trigger Ernt’s anxiety and panic attacks. Cora tells Leni it’s perfect, because once Ernt is happy, everybody can be happy. And so, clueless hippies that they are, they head north in a VW van with little more than the shirts on their backs and of course, Ernt’s weapon collection. 

Imagine their surprise upon discovering their new home is at the end of a long unpaved driveway and isn’t really in habitable condition. However, Mad Earl, the father of the deceased soldier that left the place to Ernt, introduces him around, and their new Alaskan friends teach them the ropes. Cora and Leni are accustomed to a passive role, but Ginny “the generator” and Large Marge assure them that if they don’t learn to pull their own weight, they will die before the end of the first winter. Soon Cora and Leni know how to fell trees, use tools, and kill their own meat. 

Ernt wants his wife and daughter to be survivors; he wants them to be ready when “the shit hits the fan.”  He wakes them from a sound sleep at odd intervals and forces them, bleary eyed and bewildered, to assemble and load weapons in the dark. He assures them that it’s possible the enemy may attack in the small hours; it’s an old ruse. But over time it becomes clear that the most dangerous person they will ever encounter is Ernt. 

Hannah is a feminist badass and an evocative, memorable writer. One of the finest things about this story is the recognition that domestic abuse often arrives hand-in-glove with some other challenge that muddies the water. Ernt is abusive, but he can’t help himself; something happened to his mind when he was a POW. Then of course, there’s addiction and straight-up mental illness. Who could just leave a guy that has been through so much and that loves them so hard? 

Ernt says he is sorry, and it won’t happen again. Like so many abusers, he says it every damn time. But even when it has become crystal clear to Leni that she and her mother must put their own safety first, Cora won’t leave, and Leni won’t leave her mother. 

By the halfway point, it becomes clear that someone is going to die; the three of them cannot continue together indefinitely through the dark Alaskan winters, and yet there they are, and he’s getting worse, not better. But then Large Marge injects new life into their domestic situation with an ingenious plan. It doesn’t last forever, but it buys them some time.

My only disappointment is with the ending. In many ways it is cleverly turned, but it’s a letdown to see such a magnificent young woman warrior take such a well-worn, traditional path. It’s a small quibble though, and it shouldn’t keep you from grabbing the nearest copy of this excellent novel at whatever price you have to pay to get it. It’s for sale now, and I recommend it to you.

Hannah Kristin doesn't meed my help to sell a book.  Despite some suspension of disbelief, I enjoyed the story, and the rustic setting.

This is by far one of the most beautiful novels I have ever read.  I sat down to start before one of my book groups had a Q&A with the author and ended up finishing the novel because I had to know that Cora was OK, that Leni survived.  That Ernt was cured or got what he needed.  I loved the setting of Alaska.  I was completely transported.  Loved this novel.

Leni Albright is a thirteen year old living in the midst of her parents’ volatile and toxic relationship. I felt such sympathy for what Leni had to endure in this environment. Her father Ernt came home from the Vietnam war with a damaged mind, a violent temper and a growing doomsday mentality. Her mother Cora is spending her post-war reunion with Ernt as a prisoner in her own home, alternating between loving moments and as Earl’s punching bag when his temper flares. Ernt’s violence is most pronounced in darkness, so the family’s hope for a ‘new start’ moving to a small outpost in Alaska where daylight is short was not going to happen. After a brief respite, Leni and Cora once again become the objects of  Ernt’s psychotic mood disorder and abuse.

This story is one of resilience and survival amidst tragic circumstances not only within the family, but also the broader circle of neighbors in the small Alaskan town . There is a strong cast of supporting characters such as sensible and caring Large Marge and the Walkers who are a godsend to Leni and Cora. I couldn’t stop reading and ran through a gamut of feelings - hope, disappointment, anger. I was so angered by something that happened to one of the characters that squashed the happy ending I was longing for. This particular life-changing event and subsequent related storyline seemed completely unnecessary and I felt cheated so this is where it lost a star for me. But kudos to Hannah for getting me so invested in this character that it brought on such strong emotion.

This was a book that once I picked it up I didn't put it down.  Even though I had an idea where the story was going I was sucked into the story and the characters.  There was this feeling of impending doom that you know is coming and the anticipation with it.  The setting and characters were captured perfectly for the time and place. I felt a connection to characters and identified with some of what they felt.  I was able to put it down feeling all the loose ends were tied up and it felt complete. I will be recommending this to several readers I know.

This book just crawled under my skin and made a home there. It offered so much to me and touched so many cords in my body. The description of living in remote Alaska was so evocative and realistic that I realized I would have been out of there so fast that it would make your head spin. I was invested in the story.

  The book starts in 1974 and I was 21 then so the times were quite familiar to me. Leni is 13 and struggling to fit in somewhere, anywhere. Her parents moved a lot because of her dad's temper and drinking. He was a POW in Vietnam and had many unresolved issues. America did such a terrible job of taking care of the vets that we should still hold our heads in shame. There was little if any medical care and what there was difficult to access. Benefits were almost impossible to get and the public would call the vets names and be generally abusive to them It was sad. I know of what I speak as my husband was 100% service connected disabled and it only took us 12 years to get full benefits.

  Her father's friend from the service leaves him a homestead in Northern Alaska after he dies. Her father seizes on the opportunity and the family is on the road again. They think this may be the salvation for them but there was never a family less prepared. Life in rural Alaska is hard. There are only four short months to prepare for the hard winter. In winter there are only 5-6 hours of daylight and this is enough to drive many people crazy. I know it would me. The 18-20 hours of daylight in the summer are filled with hard work of trying to survive the winter. There is no electricity, running water, or indoor bathrooms. If you go to the outhouse you have to take a gun in case you run into a bear.

  Her father is full of demons and liquor. He regularly beats her mom and then cried for forgiveness. There is something wrong with her mom  not only because she accepts the beatings but seems to get something out of it. There is wild lovemaking after the fights and Cora, Leni's mom, ties her daughter into the cycle. She reminds Leni over and over again that if she had know her dad before Vietnam she would forgive him. Leni stays home a lot hoping to be a deterrent to the beatings. She becomes a buffer and a peace maker between her parents. She has no life of her own except for books.

  This book deals with a lot of issues and really involved me in the story. I could barely put it down. This is what I learned. I am not a survivalist. I don't want to live off the grid. I want comforts. I do not want to be beat. I want America to take care of its veterans. I want adults to take care of their children instead of the other way around.

  If you are looking for a book that really immerses you in the story, this is a great one.

Holy Hannah, you guys. I don't even know how to start this review. My feelings about this book are all over the place but I think maybe the important thing to take away from this review is: this book made me feel.

That said, it didn't always make me feel the way I wanted to feel. It wasn't a happy book. I felt angry and depressed for a good portion of it - but I felt those things sort of...viscerally. Like I couldn't shake this book off when I put it down. The emotions in this book became my emotions and for better or for worse, that's a pretty amazing feat.

It's also worth noting that as angry and frustrated as I got with this story, I never wanted to walk away from it. It's incredibly compelling. I had to know what happened next and then I had to know how it ended. Ms. Hannah is a talented writer and a wonderful storyteller. This particular story wreckedmy heart, over and over again. But in the end it felt completely worth every emotional punch Ms. Hannah delivered. It was brutal. It was beautiful. It was hopeless. It was redemptive. It's not a simple story and did not inspire simple reactions from me. 

Despite not being able to walk away from the story, it did drag a bit for me in the middle. It got a little repetitive at times and - this may have been intentional to build that feeling of frustration and unease - but after a while I did find myself skimming to move the story ahead and find out what happened next. 

Over all - this was kind of a wild ride. I adored the ending. After the beating my emotions took, the ending felt like a sweet reward and I turned the final pages with dripping eyes and a giant smile. However, my emotional experience during this book makes it nearly impossible to assign a star rating. My feelings are literally all over the place. It's five stars for storytelling and the fact that I couldn't put it down. It's 1 star for the fact that I legit hated this story sometimes. Like blood pressure boiling, red in the face, hated (but I understand those feelings just prove that I was invested, and that - as I said in the beginning - this book made me feel and that, in it's own right, is a remarkable thing). It's 5 stars for the completely rewarding if somewhat bittersweet ending. 

My feelings are as complicated as the characters and storylines in this book - which I guess, after I unravel my own hang-ups and biases, means that you should absolutely read this one.

The Great Alone
By Kristin Hannah
Feb 6, 2018, 5 Star

Absolutely fabulous!

I think the biggest compliment I can pay an author is to tell them I felt like I was part of the story, I was there, maybe an unknown character in the background just looking on. I did not want this book to end. The story is told through the eyes of the 13-year-old daughter, Leni, who has a close bond with her mother, as she grows and watches her father deal or not deal with his survival as a POW of Vietnam, struggling through PTSD, alcohol dependency, and domestic violence. He is absolutely positive that the move to Alaska will be the best thing for them. They are totally unprepared to deal with the isolation, the cold, the lack of food but the comradery, the closeness of the people in this small town shows the strength everyone has and their efforts to help this family on its feet. Leni learns from this as she grows and turns her into a strong independent woman. This is a wonderful story and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.

I received an advanced reader copy thanks for NetGalley for honest review. 
This story follows the Allbright family, focusing mostly on Leni, the only daughter of Vietnam vet and POW; Ernt and hippie mom Cora. Cora and Ernt fell desperately in love and ran away together against Cora's parents wishes. They found themselves pregnant and soon after Ernt was sent to war where he was captured as a POW. Like most soliders, Ernt comes home deeply disturbed and has violent outbursts and easily angered, even to the point of hitting Cora. After losing yet another job and increasingly feeling stressed and at rope's end, Ernt receives a letter from a family member of fellow POW who died in the war. He offers the Allbright family his land in Alaska. Ernt immediately jumps on the chance to get away from it all and have a fresh start away from people and city struggles. So without any experience living off the land, Ernt, Cora and Leni sell everything and move up to Alaska. 
Leni, who this book's point of view is based on, finds herself in yet another new place and new school. This story follows Leni and her changing view of her parents relationship as she grows from awkward teen to young adult. Against all expectations, Alaska becomes home to Leni, 
I loved this story, the pacing was great and the writing was so vivid I  felt like I was with the Allbright family in Alaska, The book sheds light on domestic violence, survival, young love, community and family. It was a wonderful book and appreciate being able to have read it.