The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah was released in 2018 and was a New York Times bestseller.
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah was such a fantastic book. It’s one of those books that really leaves a lasting impression. It’s been almost two years since I read it and I still remember it so clearly.
I have also read and enjoyed The Four Winds and Another Life by Kristin Hannah. Kristin Hannah books never fail to move me.
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Plot
Thirteen-year-old Leni is coming of age in a tumultuous time.
Constantly caught in the middle of her parent’s stormy relationship, she dares to hope that their move to Alaska can lead to a better future for her family. Her father changed after the war and is quick to anger, but her mother is devoted to him, desperate to rediscover the man she once knew.
As Leni grows up in the shadow of her parents’ increasingly volatile marriage, she meets Matthew. Their friendship quickly blossoms and it’s because of Matthew, who is thoughtful, kind and brave, that Leni starts to believe in the possibility of a better life.
The Great Alone Book Review
It’s hard to find the words to do justice to how this book made me feel. It broke my heart and then slowly pieced it back together again.
It’s so beautifully written and such an absorbing read. Kristin Hannah has a real talent for reeling the reader in and creating characters you really care for. I actually felt genuine anxiety at times! I would stop reading and tell my husband that I was stressed about the characters. When he asked why I was reading a book that made me feel like that, my response was “because I love it!”
I’m not usually a fan of a lot of description but it was done so well in this book. The author really brought Alaska to life. I could see the landscape and feel the cold. I loved how the harshness of the landscape was mirrored in the characters’ raw and all-encompassing emotions.
It was just epic in every way. The stunning prose, the characters I genuinely cared for, the rugged landscape. I was completely transported. It was gut-wrenchingly sad in places and yet so hopeful and tender in others. I always say I want a book to make me feel something. This book certainly delivered that.
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