The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Title: The Great Alone

Author: Kristin Hannah

Release Date: February 6, 2018

Length: 435 pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

Goodreads II Amazon

****My Review****

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Lately, Kristin Hannah is becoming one of my favorite authors. Her storytelling skills are so refined, inspiring, and creative enough to keep me invested from cover to cover. And her books are a real treat that you won’t get tired of even after a few readings.

This time the author takes us on a journey back to 1974 and gives us a complete insight into the disastrous consequences of the Vietnam War. Difficulties, psychological damage, scattered souls, and post-war demons can be just as deadly as the front line.

Ruthless times have destroyed a huge number of families. One of them is the family of Ernt Allbright. A man who comes home from the Vietnam War completely changed. Instead of the loving husband and father, his family is faced with an unstable and destroyed man.

Traumatic experiences bring out the worst in this man. Anger, powerlessness, and aggression are just some of the things his family suffers from daily. Suddenly, he loses his job, his only income, and forces his family to move to Alaska.

A new place to live, a new beginning, and hope for a better tomorrow. But is it always like that? But for a family going through a crisis, any hope is welcome.

At first, moving to Alaska seems like a great choice. In the wild, far reaches of America, instead of wilderness they find a fine and tame community of people. The long, sunny days and the kindness of the local population come as a balm to the wound of this suffering family.

But the inner demons do not rest. With the coming of winter, they wake up even stronger and more terrifying. A suffering mother and young daughter find themselves trapped between two dangers. How can they be saved?

I had a positive and pleasant feeling when I started reading The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. Somehow the title itself suggested an interesting story to me. Although it’s been on my to-read list for a long time, I somehow now felt I was in the mood for some wintery, historical fiction. Cold weather is perfect for winter-themed stories, right?

Without any doubt, I was very easily transported to Alaska and felt its coldness and ruthlessness, but I also admired its untouched beauty.

Now let me return to The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. So when I think about it and when I look back on the events in this book, I realize that I was constantly followed by some heavy, dark feelings while reading it. Honestly topics like alcoholism, post-traumatic disorder, and physical and mental abuse can never be enjoyable. At least, not for me.

Through the character of Ernt, we can see the destinies of war veterans. People who survived, yet didn’t leave the war untouched. Almost every single one has witnessed such terrible things in the war that they are no longer the same person after they return to their families.

They resort to vices, and they often use physical force on their loved ones. They later justify all that with alcohol and express remorse, so that in the end the same story is repeated. Like a vicious circle. It seems there is no way out.

Through the character of his wife, Cora, we can get an insight into the lives of all the women who suffer violence from their husbands. Women who are always careful what and how they say so as not to provoke their husbands. Finally after all the bruises and blood, they manage to forgive again and again because they believe that something will change. That is very typical for many violence victims.

And their daughter, Leni, is a picture of all the children who found themselves in such a dysfunctional family from an unhappy marriage. And as if witnessing her parents’ relationship is not enough, she also deals with the pressure to be accepted by the environment, with the desire to feel that she belongs somewhere.

Without any doubt, Cora was a very, very weak character. So naive and so blinded by her love for Ernt, not wanting to realize that the Ernt she knew and with whom she conceived a child no longer exists.
I wanted to see a little more strength and fortitude on her part. There were parts where I wanted to literally get into the book, grab her and say: Hell, woman, what are you doing?!

I did not dare to understand why she suffered from beating and verbal abuse without trying to defend herself. But one-day Ernt targeted their daughter, Leni, and the love for her child awakened the Cora I was looking for throughout the book. The desire to protect her daughter by standing against her husband awakened.

Leni was the one who was brave for both, and unfortunately, she never had the chance to be a child with such a weak mother. Leni is probably the character I liked the most in the book, although she also had some reckless and naive moves.

But there is no way to deny the skill of the author in creating such complex characters that simply manage to reach the reader. Neither is the perfectly tailored story that masterfully portrays the horrors of war. The life of broken families, unfulfilled dreams, and interrupted childhood are just some of the elements that the author has skillfully hidden in this story.

If you are looking for a book that will take you on a journey into the past and invoke a gamut of feelings within you, then pick The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah up. Remarkable read, indeed, and so worthy of reading.