Kristin Hannah is one of the best historical fiction authors of 20+ popular novels, including the unforgettable #1 New York Times bestselling World War II novel, The Nightingale, which is being adapted into a movie. This design is steller! You most certainly know how to keep a reader amused. I was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Great job.

Leni saw Mama softening, reshaping her needs to match his, imagining this new personality: Alaskan. Maybe she thought it was like EST or yoga or Buddhism. The answer. Where or when or what didn’t matter to Mama. All she cared about was him. “Our own house,” she said. “But … money … you could apply for that military disability—” Her ability to describe the beauty of the harsh Alaskan country is perhaps the book's best feature. There are, however, aspects of the novel that don't live up to the quality of the author's writing in my opinion. I also found the plot somewhat uneven, at times being overly predictable and at others taking improbably twists that challenge credulity. The author starts to develop plotlines but later they're mysteriously dropped. Although I found The Great Alone to be a mixed bag, I imagine Hannah's fans will be able to overlook the book's flaws and enjoy both the beauty of her prose and the romance at the core of the story... continued Leni shook her head, feeling a familiar sadness creep in. She could never tell him how it felt to live with a dad who scared you so much sometimes and a mother who loved him too much and made him prove how much he loved her in dangerous ways.’ (p.71) Leni frowned. Were they communists now? She was pretty sure her dad hated the commies as much as he hated the Man and hippies.

I thought Hannah did a good job with the topic, though ultimately it is largely about abuse, which I think is inherently a dark and (to put it lightly) “unpleasant” topic. It’s just something to be aware of going into the book that the story spends a substantial amount of time on that issue. I especially liked how the author captured the feeling of these Alaskans living in a isolated bubble of their own, being afraid of the "Outside" and the possibility of change. You can draw parallels between this and anyone who has ever desired to put up a wall to keep the "Other" out. Ernt - as well as others in their tiny town - wants to protect the community from any kind of change; from anyone who might come in and affect their way of life. It is, of course, paranoid and delusional.

Apart from the middle that drags a little, my main caveat about this book is that it gets a little soap opera-y in a few parts. There’s a lot of Big Events that happen in the book that enhance the drama, but also start to feel like a crutch.The most poignant novel that I have read in forever. I lived through this war and was an oblivious 20 year old studying hard in college. How embarrassingly unaware I was! My life got in the way. Did you read The Great Alone? What did you think? If not, is it something you’d consider reading? The Great Alone Movie Adaptation Leni is hopeful when they first arrive in the small outpost of Kaneq. But as the days shorten and the sky darkens when winter appraches, Ernst’s temper and volatile impulses re-emerge. As Leni grows up, she and her mother must manage Ernst and the demons which haunt him. Book Review

The Nightingale is an epic love story and intimate family drama about two sisters in France, caught up in a world at war, living in a country under siege, who will have to do the unthinkable to survive. Cora will do anything for the man she loves, even if means following him into the unknown. Thirteen-year-old Leni, caught in the riptide of her parents’ passionate, stormy relationship, has little choice but to go along, daring to hope this new land promises her family a better future. Combined Print & E-Book Fiction- March 18, 2018". The New York Times. March 18, 2018 . Retrieved March 13, 2021. All in all, I absolutely loved this book and I now have to read everything this author has ever written.

There are some deep themes to discuss in The Great Alone, from domestic violence to the impact of war on men. It’s an absorbing read and a great choice for a book club! 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. There are many great things about this book...It will thrill her fans with its combination of Greek tragedy, Romeo and Juliet-like coming of age story and domestic potboiler. She recreates in magical detail the lives of Alaska's homesteaders...and is just as specific and authentic in her depiction of the spiritual wounds of post-Vietnam America. A tour de force." — Kirkus (starred review)