The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
“She would be the new girl again. Because that was what love was.”
Okay. I don’t know why she had to pull my heart out of my chest, shatter it into a MILLION pieces, and then tape it back together like that. That was WAY out of pocket. But? Would I let her do it again?
Absolutely.
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah is an eloquently written multifaceted book. It is a beautifully heartbreaking story that explores different types of love–the good and the bad.
Leni’s family is left grasping at straws in 1974 as her father struggles with PTSD from the Vietnam war. In an attempt to satiate him and help make him happy, they pack up into an old VW bus and move to Alaska. Despite being vastly unprepared, they become homesteaders there, living off of the land and fending for themselves. The story unfolds as the family struggles to deal with her father and his demons.
Leni’s father, Ernt, feels like a black abyss on the page. Even during his good moments, he feels like a shadow. I had no clue when he was going to fly off the handle and do something crazy or impose his own erratic will onto others. The things Ernt puts Leni through is heartbreaking, but her reactions are even more heartbreaking because she thinks they are normal.
Her mother, Coraline, is a woman in love with the past. Reading about her relationship with Ernt is sobering. She says things like, “If you love him enough, he’ll get better” and “No one will ever love me like he does.” Her desperate acts of love take place page after page. Leni, a very impressionable child who holds so much adoration for this woman, is watching her mother’s actions, assuming they’re demonstrative of a loving, healthy, relationship.
I was left devastated and healed and broken all at the same time. Kristin Hannah utilizes Leni’s relationships with those around her to facilitate her maturation and her awareness of what is going on in her own home. From page one it is clear there is more than what Leni is ware of, but she blindly follows and accepts her mothers views because of how much she adores her.
There was no black and white in this book. Nothing was clearly cut. Each character was understandable and had depth. Their motives were clear and it was easy to feel sympathy for them. They were relatable because o how universally human their emotions and situations were. The conflict and tension her dad presented, both inside the home and with others in the community, kept me on edge the entire time. There are sweet moments of love and hope and devastating moments of fear. I found it very difficult to put the book down.
My one critique would be the convenience of some solutions. It just sort of fell into place in a way that felt unrealistic. It wasn’t satisfying.
That being said, it was still a story told well. It was captivating. The descriptive language Kristin Hannah used was enthralling. I saw pieces of myself in these pages, in these universal feelings. The Great Alone is a beautiful coming-of-age story that is a lesson in strength and what its like to love fully, without holding back.
“Now she knew there were a hundred ways to be lost, and even more ways to be found.”
Kristin Hannah