The Great Alone: 5 Stars

Kristin Hannah, author of one of my favorite novels, The Nightingale has written another exceptional novel, The Great Alone. An emotionally compelling story of a young girl subject to the decisions of an unstable family and her will to survive. Read on for a brief summary along with my personal thoughts and recommendation for this novel.

Summary

Lenora(Leni) is no stranger to change. Her father, a World War II vet has upheaved their small family time and time again making the promise that "things will be better" in the new place. Leni's mother is a beautiful free spirit who fell in love with the handsome older man with brilliant ideas and plans for the future.

With an unstable father and a follow blindly mother, Leni is a subject of her circumstance. However, Leni's life will change more than she knows when her father decides to make their biggest move yet. Watch out Alaska, here come the Allbrights.

Leni's family arrives in Alaska in a location locals call "the bush." Leni and her mom quickly realize they are in over their heads when they are informed of the harsh winters, hungry bears, and lack of proper supplies available. However, they find a way to tough it out and survive for Leni's father.

After a few months in Alaska, the Allbright family seems to return to normal. Normal meaning abuse from Leni's father towards her mother and no sense of peace.

Throughout the years we read as Leni and her mother survive the cruel treatment of her father and the brutal elements of Alaska thanks to their local community who become family and the bond of protection between Leni and her mother.

We read of the resilience of a young girl growing into a woman. The fierce love between a mother and daughter. The struggle to survive. The blurred lines between love and controlling obsession. The warmth of a local community. The budding romance of forbidden love. All this and more in Kristin Hannah's novel, The Great Alone.

My thoughts

Kristin Hannah is becoming one of my favorite authors. She writes in a way that makes the reader understand exactly what each character is going through even if we cannot relate to their situation.

My heart broke for Leni's mother who couldn't leave her abusive husband. Who was blinded by what she thought was love and her past memories when things were "weren't like this." The mother who took all the hits, all the pain, and in the end, all the blame in order to protect the most precious person in her life, her daughter.

Leni, who as said earlier, was a subject to her circumstance. She watched her mother suffer abuse after abuse from her father but was never willing to walk away. Regardless of the fear raging within her, Leni's desire for freedom was stronger. She learned how to survive the harsh elements of Alaska, and to finally no longer fear her father.

Lastly, Leni's father. Like many WWII vets, he suffered from PTSD and was never the same when he returned from the war. However, what we come to realize is maybe it wasn't just the war, maybe he was a little off, to begin with. He never sought out help, it was forced on him. His community forced him to change until there was nothing left they could do. Unlike Leni, he was not a subject to his circumstance. He could make a change. He chose to go in the other direction. He chose to continue hurting instead of healing.

There were a lot of lessons among these pages but the one that stuck out to me personally is we always have a choice when it comes to our behavior. We can choose to change our outlook and attitude or we can choose to hostilely blame others for why things aren't turning out the way we want.

Very highly recommend reading The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Thank you,

Leah Lawrence