Book Review: The Great Alone By Kristin Hannah

THE GREAT ALONE

By: Kristin Hannah

Published: February 6, 2018

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Fiction



After reading my seventh Kristin Hannah novel, I think she just keeps getting better. I didn't think she could top her latest best-selling historical fiction novel, THE NIGHTINGALE, but I think she has. Hannah has a family connection and great love for Alaska. By setting her newest novel there she has made the Alaskan territory a character of its own.

Ernt Allbright has come back a changed man after his time in Vietnam. It's the early 70's and the nation is trying to understand the vets who have come home, the protestors, the hippies, and the fact that women are being kidnapped and murdered. It's a dangerous time and Ernt isn't adjusting well. When he finds out his veteran buddy has left him a home and land in Alaska, Ernt believes this is just the change his family needs. He packs up his wife, Cora, and teenage daughter Leni into a VW bus and starts driving north. Cora and Leni figure that this is just another hair-brained idea and they will be back home in a couple weeks, yet also hopeful that this time will be different and Ernt will finally get back to his old self before the war.

Hannah's edgy description of Ernt and his nightmares, his hatred for government, and distrust of others gives readers a view into a time when there was little help for the vets who came home to a much different life than they had been living. Cora is deeply in love with Ernt and blind to his outbursts and assumes that she can always calm him. Leni, a typical teenager, is mostly worried about what life in Alaska will be like and if she will make any friends. When they arrive at the homestead, it isn't at all what they had expected and the work it will take to make it livable is outshined by the work it will take them from day one to start planning on how they'll survive the coming winter.

The reader can visualize the stark beauty of Alaska through the vivid descriptions Hannah paints on the pages. You can tell she has a deep love for the land, the culture, and the people of Alaska and takes great care to describe them as loving, hard-working, and tenacious. When winter hits, no matter what the temperature is outside, you'll feel the chill as you turn the pages.

This story is full of sadness and despair. You feel a bit voyeuristic as you read and visualize Cora and Leni struggling with Ernt's demons. Your heart breaks when grief takes over their close-knit community. Just when you think things are looking up for the Allbrights, another tragedy occurs to set them back and your frustration builds as Cora and Leni don't seem to be able to do anything to change their fate. Your emotions will be all over the place jumping from hope to relief to heartbreak to fear. Then finally, the sun shines again and you have to believe these characters are going to find a way to survive.

It's a hefty novel at over four hundred pages, but you won't notice as you follow the Allbrights' lives through the 70's and 80's. My only negative would be that the final few chapters felt a bit rushed and trite.  I was absolutely enthralled with the setting, the characters, and Hannah's beautiful writing. I tend to miss reading about the 70's through my book choices but this one opened my eyes to an important time in our history and a part of our country that is dangerously beautiful.

Kristin Hannah - source

Kristin Hannah is an award-winning and bestselling author of more than 20 novels including the international blockbuster, The Nightingale, Winter Garden, Night Road, and Firefly Lane. Kristin is a former-lawyer-turned writer who lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband. 

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Other posts you may like:

NIGHT ROAD by Kristin Hannah

WINTER GARDEN by Kristin Hannah

TRUE COLORS by Kristin Hannah

FIREFLY LANE by Kristin Hannah

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Book Review: NIGHT ROAD by Kristin Hannah

Jude Farraday is a happily married, stay-at-home mom who puts everyone’s needs above her own. Her twins, Mia and Zach, are bright and happy teenagers. When Lexi Baill enters their lives, no one is more supportive than Jude. A former foster child with a dark past, Lexi quickly becomes Mia’s best friend. Then Zach falls in love with Lexi and the three become inseparable. But senior year of high school brings unexpected dangers and one night, Jude’s worst fears are confirmed: there is an accident. In an instant, her idyllic life is shattered and her close-knit community is torn apart. People and Jude demand justice, and when the finger of blame is pointed, it lands solely on eighteen-year-old Lexi Baill. In a heartbeat, their love for each other will be shattered, the family broken. Lexi gives up everything that matters to her, the boy she loves, her place in the family, the best friend she ever had, while Jude loses even more. When Lexi returns, older and wiser, she demands a reckoning. Long buried feelings will rise again, and Jude will finally have to face the woman she has become. She must decide whether to remain broken or try to forgive both Lexi and herself.

I received an ARC of this book from http://www.bookreporter.com/.  NIGHT ROAD is set to be available to readers on March 29, 2011.  For more information about Kristin Hannah, check out her website at http://www.kristinhannah.com/.

As soon as I cracked open the pages of this story, I could NOT put it down.  I became enveloped in the lives of the Farraday family and of Lexi.  As the story progressed and I new the traumatic event was coming, I still was shocked and intrigued with how Hannah played out the storyline.  Because I don't want to give away any part of the twists and turns, I will speak in general about the story.

I think this is Hannah's best novel yet. She has taken on several tough topics, such as the foster care system, helicopter parenting, and teens and alcohol, as well as others that I don't want to give away. Everyone has different ideas on each of these topics and how to handle them.  What I liked is that Hannah doesn't tie up all the events with a pretty bow and make everything a happy ending.  She doesn't make the struggles look easy because in real life they are not.

The teenage siblings in this story came from very privileged lives and then befriend one who grew up with no privileges at all. As unrealistic as this might seem in our world of social status importance, Hannah made their friendships very believable. Even though the setting was again, in Hannah's favorite Northwest, this story can play out in the midwest or anywhere.

While reading, I was frequently looking at my parenting and thinking about those teenage years in my future and how I would handle certain situations with my children. The mom in this story was very believable and struggled with being a parent, being a friend, being "popular" and being tough. All things that every mom struggles with at some point.

There were many times I read this book through teary eyes. You can feel the emotions throughout the pages. My heart ached for Jude and then for Lexi and then for Grace. Their pain jumped off the pages and reached right out to me. I will be thinking about these characters for a long time.

This is a story that should be read by every mother. I can also see this novel appealing to the young adult as well. There are mature themes, but themes that our young people are facing today.

Hannah has given us a story that we won't be able to forget. You must pre-order this book and open it as soon as it lands in your lap!

Thanks to Bookreporter.com for a ARC of this book.
 
I received a free advanced readers copy (ARC) of this book in order to provide my review.  I was not compensated in any other way for this review.  This is my honest opinion.  I wouldn't review anything that myself or my family couldn't appreciate or benefit from.

Review: Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah

From the author of the smash-hit bestseller Firefly Lane and True Colors comes a powerful, heartbreaking novel that illuminates the intricate mother-daughter bond and explores the enduring links between the present and the past.

Meredith and Nina Whitson are as different as sisters can be. One stayed at home to raise her children and manage the family apple orchard: the other followed a dream and traveled the world to become a famous photojournalist. But when their beloved father falls ill, Meredith and Nina find themselves together again, standing alongside their cold, disapproving mother, Anya, who even now, offers no comfort to her daughters. As children, the only connection between them was the Russian fairy tale Anya sometimes told the girls at night. On his deathbed, their father extracts a promise from the women in his life: the fairy tale will be told one last time - and all the way to the end. Thus begins an unexpected journey into the truth of Anya's life in war-torn Leningrad, more than five decades ago. Alternating between the past and present, Meredith and Nina will finally hear the singular, harrowing story of their mother's life, and what they learn is a secret so terrible and terrifying that it will shake the very foundation of their family and change who they believe they are.

Kristin Hannah has done it again. This book was truly amazing and held a story (a fairy tale) within a story. This book was on my mind constantly and I was frustrated when I couldn't read it every second. There was so much heartache in this story and yet there was also so much hope and promise. I was identifying with Meredith in so many places in the story. Meredith was constantly doing what she thought others expected or needed her to do and never doing what she wanted to do. I was so pleased with how each of the characters in the story struggled, reacted, changed, and grew. I can't say how many times I cried while reading this book. I became so wrapped up in the fairy tale story inside the story, that I, like Nina and Meredith, got frustrated when that part of it ended and moved back into the present time. I wanted to get to the end of the fairy tale story. During that fairy tale story, I could feel Anya's pain as a mother. The choices she was making for her children were heart wreching. As a mother, I couldn't imagine making those choices and yet feeling the pain as she did.


Some of my favorite quotes from the story...

Meredith: I don't know what's going to happen. I think maybe love can just....dissolve.

Mother: No, it does not

Meredith: So how do---

Mother: You hang on. Until your hands are bleeding, and still you do not let go.
Why was that? Why had Meredith been so ready to bypass her own happiness? She'd thought there would be time to unwind those choices, that if she put her children first for nineteen years, she could then shift course and be the one who mattered. As easy as changing lanes while driving. But it hadn't been like that, not for her anyway. She'd lost too much of herself in parenthood to simply go back to who she'd been before.

I think this is Hannah's best yet and I recommend that you run out and get it right away. Snuggle in with a blanket and some coffee...you won't want to put it down.  I gave this 5 out of 5 stars.

Review: True Colors by Kristin Hannah

The Grey sisters have always been close. After their mother's death, the girls banded toether, becoming best friends. Their stern, disapproving father cares less about his children than about his reputation. To Henry Grey, appearances are everything, and years later, he still demands that his daughters reflect his standing in the community. Winona, the oldest needs her father's approval most of all. An overweight bookworm who never felt at home on the sprawling horse ranch that has been in her family for three generations, she knows that she doesn't have the qualities her father values. But as the best lawyer in town, she's determined to someday find a way to prove her worth to him. Aurora, the middle sister, is the family peacemaker. She brokers every dispute and tries to keep them all happy, even as she hides her own secret pain. Vivi Ann is the undisputed star of the family. A stunningly beautiful dreamer with a heart as big as the ocean in front of her house, she is adored by all who know her. Everything comes easily for Vivi Ann, until a stranger comes to town....In a matter of moments, everything will change. The Grey sisters will be pitted against one another in ways that none could have imagined. Loyalties will be tested and secrets revealed, and a terrible, shocking crime will shatter both their family and their beloved town.

I was looking forward to reading this, especially after recently reading Firefly Lane and loving it. I am one of 3 sisters and so was interested in the sister part of the story. I completely identified with Aurora in the story as the peacemaker and the one who is "always there" to help and "bridge the gap". The theme of forgiveness was strong throughout the whole novel and the author showed how difficult that can be, but how necessary it is to keep families together. I thought it was realistic that the sisters would go weeks or even months apart and then an event brings them back together. I liked Aurora's quote, "We're sisters. I just wanted to remind you. No matter what happens, what choices we make, we stick together."

Other themes presented in the story are alcoholism, depression, rivalry, anger, love, passion, and murder. I enjoyed the suspense of the book and the storyline kept me reading until the very last page. I also liked the storyline involving Vivi Ann's son and I thought it was an accurate account of how teens react to pressures of high school and that "left out" feeling.

The author's descriptions of the characters made it easy for me to picture each one in my mind and feel like I knew them. Her descriptions of the Washington coast were also beautiful and makes me want to visit the area myself.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars and would recommend it for book clubs as it would encourage great discussions about family relationships and forgiveness.

Review: Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah

In the summer of 1974, Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the 8th grade social food chain. Then, the "coolest girl in the world" moves in across the street and wants to be her friend. Tully Hart seems to have it all - beauty, brains, ambition. On the surface they are as opposite as two people can be: Kate, doomed to be forever uncool, with a loving family who mortifies her at every turn; Tully, steeped in glamour and mystery, but with a secret that is destroying her. They make a pact to be best friends forever; by summer's end they've become TullyandKate. Inseparable.

My friend, Tammy recommended this book to me and I recommended it to my book club who read it this month. It was very easy to settle in to this book and be taken back to the days of my own childhood. I loved how the author brought in songs to the story as she took you through each decade. Songs can definately take you back to a time and place as soon as you hear it. Certain songs remind me of summer laying in the pool, high school dances, and as a child hanging out at my older sister's house listening to her records. So many spots in the book required a box of kleenex close by. The author included many twists and surprises throughout the way. I loved how the story flowed and traveled through each decade. I was sad when the story was done because I knew I would miss Tully and Kate and their friendship.

Some of my favorite parts of the book were:

"It was funny how a single garment could remind you of years together - slumber parties and makeovers and breakfasts spent watching Saturday morning cartoons."

"Soon, Tully had Kate laughing. That was the thing about best friends. Like sisters and mothers, they could piss you off and make you cry and break your heart, but in the end, when the chips were down, they were there, making you laugh even in your darkest hours."

"To the world at large, perhaps this was an ordinary moment in an ordinary day, but to Kate it was extraordinary. This was the reason she'd chosen to stay home instead of work. She judged the meaning of her life in nanoseconds, perhaps, but she wouldn't trade this instant for anything."

A wonderful story of family and friendship. I give this 5 stars!