THE GREAT ALONE is the latest work of Kristin Hannah, some
of you may know her from her last bestseller THE
NIGHTINGALE. THE GREAT ALONE is the first book I've read of
hers, and I was mighty impressed by the range of emotions
and depth portrayed in the story.
THE GREAT ALONE aka the last frontier aka the state of
Alaska, as you read you will realize how much the title
itself says about a whole community, people, and their
lives. It is the story of Lenora Allbright, her parents, her
neighbors, her love, her child, her strength. The story is
set in the vast, wildly beautiful and extremely remote
Alaska. Lenora is just a teen when she moves to Alaska with
her father who's a Nam Pow returnee and her privileged born
mother. In Alaska, they meet people who change their lives
in the long run, like their neighbor Large Marge, the
Walkers, the Harland, etc. They soon set home and grow close
to the small community. Alaska tests their interpersonal
relationships to the maximum and then some. Lenora grows up
with mostly normal, teenager experiences with added physical
labor and emotional tolls on her mind.
With parents who have a volatile, toxic relationship,
neighbors who are very caring and supporting to deep, close,
loving friendships; Lenora's life is pretty full. Her
teenage years go by, and she grows up to experience life and
experiences which a city teenager will rarely see in their
lifetimes.
As things come to a boil and high between her parents, her
new love and fight for a future away from hostility, Lenora
is grown into a strong, beautiful young woman. She wants a
different future, but she doesn't know the price she will
end up paying for it.
The story shows her growth, struggles, defeats, and triumphs
as she goes through heaven and hell right there with the
beautiful wilderness of Alaska as her silent companion.
Besides the story, you get a glimpse at life in the Alaskan
small town and how it is not just the beautiful wilderness.
I was fascinated at how human emotions and behavior was
affected by the surroundings. How Alaska inspired and
promised a land, a place where people came to forget the
worst of the modern world. There was definitely a display of
extremes right from the landscape, kind of people who
settled or even wandered the wilds of Alaska. And it was
enjoyable to see how the author incorporated all that into
the lives of her characters.
The nature of Alaska's wild landscape is woven into the
emotional fabric of the characters. I absolutely felt awed
by the beauty, the vast differences in the men of the story
just like the summer and winter of Alaska.
The emotions are portrayed beautifully, the depth and
strength of human nature captured brilliantly. The reading
experience had its highs and lows just like the seasons in
Alaska. There were moments of joy, terror, awe, and relief,
a definite plus to enjoy a story as vibrant and resilient as
THE GREAT ALONE.
And for a family in crisis, the ultimate test of the
human spirit.
From the author of the worldwide phenomenon, The
Nightingale, comes a story of a family in crisis and a young
girl struggling to survive at the edge of the world, in
America’s last true frontier.
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.
At first, the eighteen hour sunlit Alaskan summer days and
the generosity of the locals make up for the family’s lack
of preparation and dwindling resources, but winter in Alaska
will reveal their every weakness. As the vast Alaskan
landscape grows smaller and smaller in the darkness, Ernt’s
fragile mental state deteriorates, and the dangers outside
of their remote homestead pale in comparison to the danger
within. On their small piece of land, miles from anyone,
Leni and her mother, Cora, learn what all Alaskan
homesteaders learn: they are on their own. There is no one
to save them this far from civilization.
At once an epic story of human survival and an intimate
portrait of a family tested beyond endurance, The Great
Alone, offers a glimpse into a vanishing way of life in
America. With her trademark combination of elegant prose and
deeply drawn characters, Kristin Hannah once again delivers
a can’t-put-down novel that celebrates the resilience of the
human spirit and the remarkable, enduring strength of women.
A novel as big and spectacular as Alaska itself.
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