The Great Alone
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- $24.99
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- $24.99
Publisher Description
*The #1 New York Times bestseller*
The next audiobook sensation from Kristin Hannah, bestselling author of The Nightingale.
This program is read by acclaimed narrator Julia Whelan, whose enchanting voice brought Gone Girl and Fates and Furies to life. Kristin Hannah reads the acknowledgements.
Alaska, 1974.
Unpredictable. Unforgiving. Untamed.
For a family in crisis, the ultimate test of survival.
Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier.
Thirteen-year-old Leni, a girl coming of age in a tumultuous time, caught in the riptide of her parents’ passionate, stormy relationship, dares to hope that a new land will lead to a better future for her family. She is desperate for a place to belong. Her mother, Cora, will do anything and go anywhere for the man she loves, even if means following him into the unknown.
At first, Alaska seems to be the answer to their prayers. In a wild, remote corner of the state, they 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 Allbrights’ lack of preparation and dwindling resources.
But as winter approaches and darkness descends on Alaska, Ernt’s fragile mental state deteriorates and the family begins to fracture. 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. In the wild, there is no one to save them but themselves.
In this unforgettable portrait of human frailty and resilience, Kristin Hannah reveals the indomitable character of the modern American pioneer and the spirit of a vanishing Alaska—a place of incomparable beauty and danger. The Great Alone is a daring, beautiful, stay-up-all-night audiobook about love and loss, the fight for survival, and the wildness that lives in both man and nature.
Praise for The Great Alone:
"Listeners, beware: You won't want to stop listening to narrator Julia Whelan's performance of this complex story of survival and family...With pitch-perfect timing and a touch of drama, Whelan exquisitely builds the tension, creating an enveloping atmosphere of foreboding that's difficult to turn away from...a don't miss audiobook experience." — AudioFile Magazine
"Reliably alluring...The Great Alone is packed with rapturous descriptions of Alaskan scenery… Hannah remembers and summons an undeveloped wilderness, describing a gloriously pristine region in the days before cruise ships discovered it." — The New York Times Daily Review
"Kristin Hannah's new novel makes Alaska sound equally gorgeous and treacherous — a glistening realm that lures folks into the wild and then kills them there." — The Washington Post
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Set in the ’70s, Kristin Hannah’s grim but inspiring story unfolds in the unforgiving Alaskan wilderness. Julia Whelan perfectly captures the voice of Hannah’s teenage heroine, Leni Allbright, who bears witness to her Vietnam vet father’s increasing capacity for violence. Hannah’s plainspoken, lived-in prose brings to life rural Alaska’s hardened beauty and lurking dangers, as well as the unyielding spirit of the close-knit community of homesteaders living off the grid. Whelan’s calm narration heightens the simmering tension and drives home Leni’s relationship with local boy Matthew, who might be her escape.
Customer Reviews
Very slow start but gets better
It took me probably 10 chapters to really get into this book. Once I did, it was a good storyline that you wanted to keep listening to. A great job by the reader and all the different voices to really bring the story together.
Worth your time
This was a beautifully written tale of survivorship. I struggled with many of the choices the characters made. But, loved the book all the same.
Not compelling
DNFed this book after 8 chapters. I wanted it to be much more about living in Alaska. I lost interest in the slow-moving plot. And I wondered why some of the people in Alaska had pseudo-Southern accents.