The Great Alone

A General Fiction Novel by Kristin Hannah

Subgenres:

Historical Fiction,
Coming-of-Age,
Domestic Drama

Published 2017

Length 450 pages

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This book is for you if you're into...

Alaska survival stories with brutal winters and raw isolation
Families unraveling under the weight of trauma and violence
Coming-of-age tales set against wild, unforgiving landscapes

From Little Stack

The Great Alone follows Leni, a thirteen-year-old girl coming of age at a tumultuous time. And things are no better at home. Her father came back from Vietnam angry and violent and her parents’ marriage is toxic. They believe that Alaska will offer them a fresh start and a brighter future and Leni dares to hope that they are right. But nothing really changes and things just get darker and more dangerous out in the Alaskan wilds. But there is light on the horizon: Matthew, the boy Leni befriends at school who makes her believe that there could be a better life out there for her if she is only brave enough to grasp it.

This book has been banned and challenged for its mature themes, depiction of domestic violence, sexual assault and harsh realism. But, like every other book I’ve read by Kristin Hannah, for me this is an epic, moving, atmospheric and memorable masterpiece that was impossible to put down.

As Featured in Forbidden Reads with Histories as Dark as Their Pages by Emma Alvey

Publisher Description

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.

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