"God, she loved this place; she loved Alaska's wild ferocity, its majestic beauty. Even more than the land, she loved the people to whom it spoke. She hadn't realized until just this moment how deep her love for Alaska ran."

For me, "The Great Alone" has been perhaps the most unintentionally timely book of the year. Set in 1974, at the most basic level the book is the story of 13-year-old Leni Allbright, who moves to Alaska with her parents. Her father, Ernt, is a former POW from the Vietnam war and is clearly suffering from PTSD (in the time before medical professionals would know how to diagnose or treat this condition). Ernst's condition manifests itself in terrible ways for both his family and himself.

The themes of the book feel like they could have been taken from today's headlines: a rage against modernity, conspiracy theories, suspicion of "the government," and an obsession with guns: "Alaska was full of fringe-ists. People who believe in weirdo things and prayed to exclusionary Gods and filled their basements with equal measures of guns and Bibles." I couldn't help but read the book and think of all the divisions that exist in our country today.

Hannah pulls all these themes together and creates a moving (and highly-readable) story that the reader won't soon forget.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah is the story of the Allbright family: father Ernt, mother Cora, and daughter Leni. Ernt has come back from Vietnam a changed man: alcoholic, abusive, unable to settle to any job or any place. Now he's decided that the Alaskan wilderness is the place for the family, so they head north to eke out a living near Homer, Alaska. It's rough, and without the help of the local community, the family would not have survived the first winter there. It gets rougher: Ernt uses his fists on Cora non-stop, yet she won't leave, take herself and Leni to safety.

The book is well-written and made me long for long northern summer nights and the aurora, for that clean fresh air and sea-scented breeze that is the smell of the sub-Arctic. I love the Canadian north and this book reminded me of all that is good there. However, the book became too predictable too soon. The originality and the vitality of the text ends at the conclusion of the 1974 section of the novel, and from then on it's pretty commonplace, with an ending you can see a mile away. Still, it was good reading, and absorbing, but ultimately not as good as the only other book I've read by Hannah: The Nightingale. ( )

The ham radio bits lacked the licensing and technical aspects, but as fiction, it worked that way, so I'm OK with that (and probably only note it because I just recently got 2nd level licensing myself), so my opinion is that this book was as educational, spellbinding, and moving as Kristin's novels always are. ( )

I think I have an author crush (not in a creepy way, just in the way I devour her books). Kristin Hannah is simply a master storyteller, and it would be a dream come true if my books were as well-received as hers.

I must admit, I had absolutely no idea what The Great Alone was about. The only thing I've ever really heard about it was how great it was, but never anything specific or simple, like what the storyline was about. (And I thought the cover looked boring, so I kinda avoid it - just being honest.)

I'm torn in half with thoughts over this book. The first camp sits with the book itself, and the second is the fact that I have never quite understood why my son, who chose to move to Alaska when he was twenty, still resides there twelve years later. I've been to Alaska - man, that place is harsh. Gorgeous like no other but harsh.

The book is an incredible story about the Allbrights, Ernt, a Vietnam vet/POW who struggles with serious deep-rooted demons, Cora, who is unnaturally loved by Ernt to the point of obsession and to which she reciprocates, and their daughter, Leni, who at the age of 13 is thrown into the wilderness without running water, indoor facilities, electricity, and so on. Somehow, this family forges a way of life and not just survives but thrives, in their ways, in The Great Alone.

There is great tragedy in the Allbright family, but Ms. Hannah spins the tale to where no matter how awful the event, as the reader, you can't, won't, and don't want to put the book down; you actually turn the pages faster.

If you are like me and thrown off by the dull cover, rip it off and open up this incredible piece of work. You will thank me. And now, I must write my son a letter of understanding. I get it now, as with Leni Allbright, my son, Kowboy, belongs in The Great Alone. ( )

This is a very good book. I could not bring myself to finish it at this time because It is a too realistic portrayal of a family living with an abusive father. Was afraid of where it was going and didn't want to go there. ( )