The Great Alone

I'm usually a big fan of Kristin Hannah's work, I'm actually surprised this is the first Kristin Hannah book that I've read since I started reviewing novels on this blog, but for some reason, I had very mixed feelings about The Great Alone. I mean, I loved it... but I didn't. It was gripping. It painted a stunning picture of the wildness of Alaska. It was often difficult to read.

The Great Alone is a coming of age story. But it's so much more. It's a story about America's last frontier. It's a story about the after effects of serving in Vietnam. It's a story about survival. It's a story about love. Love between a husband and wife, love between a mother and daughter, love between two friends.

Ernt and Cora, passionately in love, are in need of a fresh start with their teenage daughter, Leni. Ernt is bequeathed an Alaskan homestead by the soldier he couldn't save in Vietnam. They struggle to survive, and would not have survived had it not been for the community they moved to.

Ernt has many demons that are worsened by the long, dark days of Alaskan winters. Cora can't help him nor can she help herself. Leni finally feels like she's found a place where she belongs, but she's got so many secrets to contend with.

The story was compelling. The characters were believable. Sometimes, the author got too wordy. The descriptions got too long, the storyline got dragged out. There was quite a bit of what felt like repetitiveness. The violence and abuse was graphic, which wasn't really a problem, but it was often more dragged out than was really necessary to move the story forward.

I recommend this novel but with the caveat that it might be "too much" for some.