Review: The Great Alone

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

4.5 Stars

The Great Alone was a compelling read that I could hardly put down. The story of Leni Allbright's coming of age under rugged, almost unimaginably challenging conditions in a remote area of Alaska was often painful to read. Her father Ernt, a Vietnam War veteran who had been held as a prisoner of war, is a deeply broken and violent man. Everything Ernt touches seems to wither and that includes his family relationships. Leni is raised to tread lightly around Ernt and to avoid triggering his episodes of paranoia and violence. Her mother Cora is deeply enmeshed in the violent marital relationship. The book was often excruciating to read given my years of experience in the child welfare sector and looking at how hard it is to get women to leave situations of domestic violence. At one point it looks like Ernt's violence will have stolen everything there is to take from Leni and Cora. The last quarter of the novel was truly harrowing.

This book is a powerful story about overcoming abuse and stunning losses and gives us a heroine that is both brave and loyal. The secondary characters are richly drawn, in particular the ebullient Large Marge. My only quibble with the story was toward the end, with the criminal justice angle of things playing out as it did. I'm not sure I found it believable.

Kristin Hannah has given us another powerful story in which there are few easy answers but powerful women forging their path despite the challenges of their circumstances.

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