Monday, September 18, 2023

Monday Moments - The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah


 The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah is almost as sprawling as the setting in Alaska. 

cover blurb  It's 1974 and the Allbrights are a family in crisis. They are alone, living off the grid, in a harsh and unforgiving wilderness. 

Ernt is volatile ever since his return from Vietnam. He can't hold a mechanic's job, distrusts America, and is impulsive.  Cora loves her husband madly, deeply and will follow him anywhere. Leni, age thirteen, is caught in the middle. 

Now - Alaska. That's going to be the answer for their lives. Ernt is convinced they can make a new life in this wild free land on property given to him by a Vietnam buddy who didn't make it back. The three months of summer seem promising. But alas, darkness and winter comes and stays and stays. The peril from wild animals - some outside, some in your own home. 

Kristen Hannah explores human frailty and resistance. Her story will chill you as you watch Leni grow into her destiny as a kid in 1974 to a young woman with a baby in 1986. Alaska is wild and wonderful  in this well written family saga. 

2 comments:

  1. Great review. I've read a couple of novels set in Alaska and I'm not sure it's a place I'd like to live for long! It definitely becomes a character in its own right.

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    1. I’ve toured Alaska. The vast beauty is amazing. But it stays dark and cold for way too many months. Some unique folks live there, that’s for sure.

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