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 it 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 story about love and loss, the fight for survival, and the wildness that lives in both man and nature.

Content Warning: domestic violence, hunting, alcoholism, PTSD, vehicle accident, injuries, death of a parent

I’ve had this book on my shelf since it was published in 2018 because it was a gift from my mother-in-law but I never picked it up to read because I knew it was going to be dark. At the time I wasn’t in the mood to read something dark but after reading her latest book The Women, about nurses in Vietnam, I thought it was the perfect segue into reading The Great Alone since it has a character who is back from the Vietnam war.

+ The writing is wonderful as always. I started the book in the morning and by noon I was 75% done with the book! I was surprised by that but I was really engrossed with how I was immersed in this story about a family who moves to the wilds of Alaska. I felt like I was there and I love how she equated to dangers of Alaska, especially the Alaskan winter to what Leni’s dad was going through with his PTSD and his downward spiral into it. 

+ Leni is a strong girl/young woman and I like how Alaska brought out that toughness in her. She wasn’t a girl who complained about her circumstances and she wasn’t one to fight back in fear her dad would hurt her mother. She grew up in a complicated and scary situation. Leni didn’t only have to survive the environmental factors of Alaska but also survive what was taking place behind closed doors within her own family. I felt for her, and was so afraid for her and her mother.

+ This is a dark story with a happy ending and like Leni’s mother tells her, there were some really good times along with the really bad times. I felt the loneliness of their lifestyle and felt the isolation that came with Leni’s mother being abused. I was scared for them. Leni’s relationship with her mother is what gets them through the scary and hard times in their lives. This story really takes you into a domestic violence relationship and how a woman is reluctant to leave because of fear and even hoping the person they love can change. It’s a brutal descent into the darkness with all the warning signs ringing around them for years and it’s kind of hard to watch it happen because all you want is for them to leave their situation and be safe. But in reality, like this book, it’s never that easy when different feelings are involved.

~ I loved that there was a romance for Leni. I loved that she had someone in the Great Alone, but I think the ending felt a bit rushed. There are some loose ends to tie up and it is tied up, but in a heartbreaking fashion. There is so much that goes on in the end but I am still glad it ends up okay for the most part for all of them.

My Final Thoughts:

I didn’t read this book right away when I got it because I was a tired mom with a barely one year old – so sleep deprived and someone told me it was a dark read. I’m glad I put it off and read it after reading The Women since both books take place around the same time period – the mid 1970’s, and talks about the Vietnam war. I love how she captures living in isolation in Alaska and the wild beauty of Alaska in general. All I could think was uh-huh, I would NOT survive! This was a great book.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The Four Winds | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The Women by. Kristin Hannah | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’ve actually read a lot of Kristin Hannah books but never wrote a full review for them since I read them before creating this blog. I did leave star reviews on Goodreads for them though so this is what I rated them:

Firefly Lane ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

True Colors ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Winter Garden ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Night Road ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Home Front ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Nightingale ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️