The Great Alone

by Kristin Hannah
438 pgs

The Great Alone is the first book published by Kristin Hannah since The Nightingale by far her most successful book to date. It's the story of the Allbright family, who relocate to the Alaskan wilderness in 1974, after an old war buddy from Vietnam leaves Ernt, the father, his family's cabin. Ernt, his wife Cora, and their 13-year-old daughter Leni, looking for a fresh start, decide to pack up their Volkswagen bus an drive from Seattle to the small, dilapidated cabin outside of Homer Alaska.

Ernt, once a doting and loving husband and father, hasn't been the same since he returned from the war in Vietnam. he struggles to hold down a job, he drinks too much, and when he does, he can become violent. Cora and Leni hope the "simple life" in Alaska, away from the pressures and struggles of living in a big city, will be just what Ernt needs to return to the type of man he once was.

But Alaska is a harsh and unforgiving place, with its own struggles and challenges, which have to be overcome on a constant basis in order to survive. Those, combined with the long, dark winter months, prove to be just what Ernt doesn't need, and Cora and Leni soon find themselves isolated from the rest of the world, and in fear for their lives.

The Great Alone turned out to be a tale of two books for me. On the one hand, the first half of the book is tremendously promising. I found myself repeatedly thinking about the Torrance family, isolated at the Overlook Hotel in The Shining as Cora and Leni's situation gradually deteriorates. But as the book progressed, I found myself less and less sympathetic to Cora, and more and more irritated with some of the decisions--or lack of decisions--made by her.

Overall, The Great Alone is a pretty good book, good enough that I'll likely read more by Kristin Hannah down the road. It's just unfortunate that the second half of the book didn't deliver on the promises made by the first half. If it had, I'd consider it the best book I had read in quite a while.

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆