REVIEW: The Great Alone

The Great Alone
Author: Kristin Hannah

Alaska. The Great Alone. In 1974, a Vietnam vet suffering from PTSD takes his wife and teenage daughter to a small community in the wilderness of Alaska. A buddy who died in Vietnam left him his land and cabin. Ernt and his family are unprepared for what living in Alaska requires, but the tight-knit community rallies around them to help teach them to survive. For awhile, life in the wilderness calms Ernt's nightmares, volatile temper and paranoia. But, soon things start to unravel. Ernt is like a ticking time bomb.....his wife and daughter both know at some point he will explode. His daughter, Leni, loves him but at the same time, his behavior terrifies her.

This is such a moving story. The Great Alone doesn't just speak to the isolation in Alaska. Ernt is alone because he is a veteran left to deal with extreme PTSD with no support structure. His wife is alone because she just can't bring herself to escape from their abusive, toxic relationship. And Leni is a child caught in the middle of it all.

As a former victim of spousal abuse, this book was difficult for me to read. I kept wanting to jump into the book and plead with the mother to at least send her daughter away to safety, and to STOP making excuses for her husband's behavior. Every time she was weak, selfish and ridiculous, I wanted to shake and smack her. There is never an excuse good enough to keep a child in an abusive atmosphere. NEVER. In the end, the situation had a life changing effect on Leni. How could things have been different if Ernt had sought help instead of running from place to place and letting his demons gain control? How would things have been different if Cora had put her daughter's safety first and sent her to live in town, or Anchorage.....anywhere but in constant fear of her father and in view of their disintegrating marital relationship. And Leni.....how would things have been different for her if she wasn't constantly in fear of, and victimized by, her father's temper, violence and erratic behavior.....and her mother's refusal to do anything about it. In the end, I guess the truth is that love, when it is an addiction or too powerful, can be dangerous. Human emotions like jealousy, anger, resentfulness can be overpowering in a rough wilderness like Alaska. In the end, the parents' inability to control their emotions and situation was just as dangerous, unpredictable and volatile as wild Alaska.

Wonderful, haunting story. It's a difficult subject for me to read about....but I was hooked from the first chapter. Portions were gut wrenching and emotional. The story is very well-written and engaging. Kristin Hannah has written several other books. I will definitely be reading more by her.

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from St. Martins Press via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**