The Great Alone
A Novel
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4.5 • 769 Ratings
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
#1 New York Times Instant Bestseller
In Kristin Hannah’s The Great Alone, a desperate family seeks a new beginning in the near-isolated wilderness of Alaska only to find that their unpredictable environment is less threatening than the erratic behavior found in human nature.
Alaska, 1974. Ernt Allbright came home from the Vietnam War a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes the impulsive decision to move his wife and daughter north where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier.
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.
In a wild, remote corner of Alaska, the Allbrights find a fiercely independent community of strong men and even stronger women. The long, sunlit days and the generosity of the locals make up for the newcomers’ lack of preparation and dwindling resources.
But as winter approaches and darkness descends, Ernt’s fragile mental state deteriorates. Soon the perils outside pale in comparison to threats from within. In their small cabin, covered in snow, blanketed in eighteen hours of night, Leni and her mother learn the terrible truth: they are on their own.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Set in Alaska in the 1970s, The Great Alone is a riveting, suspenseful story about teenager Leni, whose troubled Vietnam-vet father decides to start over as a homesteader. When Apple Books interviewed best-selling author Kristin Hannah about her books, she told us that her top priority is creating characters who feel absolutely real—and that's what she's achieved here. As Leni and her mother’s existence becomes more and more perilous, we become increasingly invested in their well-being. With its vivid natural settings and wonderful depictions of a resilient, isolated community, Hannah’s novel is an immersive adventure.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hannah's vivid depiction of a struggling family begins as a young father and POW returns from Vietnam, suffering from PTSD. The Allbright family, barely making ends meet in 1974, moves from Seattle to the untamed wilderness of Kaneq, Alaska, to claim a parcel of land left to Ernt by a slain Army buddy. Together with his wife, Cora, who spurned her middle-class parents to marry him, and their 13-year-old daughter, Leni, who barely remembers the adoring dad who's become so restless, Ernt is totally unprepared for the rigors of the family's new home. Soon, his fragile mental health and his relentless abuse of Cora worsen during the long nights of the family's first winter up north, even as the quirky and steely homesteaders around the Allbrights rally to help them. They intervene by forcing Ernt to leave in the winter to work on the newly started oil pipeline, but the added income and absences from Kaneq fail to fix his intractable paranoia and anger. Meanwhile, Leni finds friendship and love in a neighbor boy, Matthew, who is also a troubled survivor of a shattered family. Hannah skillfully situates the emotional family saga in the events and culture of the late '70s gas shortages, Watergate, Ted Bundy, Patty Hearst, and so on. But it's her tautly drawn characters Large Marge, Genny, Mad Earl, Tica, Tom who contribute not only to Leni's improbable survival but to her salvation amid her family's tragedy.
Customer Reviews
forever my favourite book
this book has a choke on hold that will remain for the rest of my life. the plethora of emotions i felt during this book. the way this book taught me about strength and love and perseverance and honour and pure true love and never giving up. this book will forever live in my top 3 spots. i love KH. and this book is amazing. i wish i could read it or the first time again.
Fantastic!
This was a book I could hardly put down ! The beauty and starkness of the Alaskan wilderness was a wonder to read about. I love how long the book is … the story bleeps going and going .. it is beautifully written . It brought me to tears many times …
Amazing!
Yet another fantastic book by Kristin Hannah. This hit every emotion, from laughter to tears and back. You’re truly taken away with this story.