The Great Alone is a daring, beautiful, stay-up-all-night story about love and loss, the fight for survival, and the wildness that lives in both man and nature. He is gifted land in Alaska by Bo Harlan, a former friend whom he watched die after they were captured and. Ernt, the family patriarch, is a Vietnam veteran who is mentally disturbed after returning from the war. In this unforgettable portrait of human frailty and resilience, Kristin Hannah reveals the indomitable character of the modern American pioneer and the spirit of a vanishing Alaska―a place of incomparable beauty and danger. In 1974, the Allbright family made up of Ernt, Cora, and Leni move from Seattle to Kaneq, Alaska.

In the wild, there is no one to save them but themselves. In their small cabin, covered in snow, blanketed in eighteen hours of night, Leni and her mother learn the terrible truth: they are on their own. Soon the perils outside pale in comparison to threats from within. The long, sunlit days and the generosity of the locals make up for the Allbrights’ lack of preparation and dwindling resources.īut as winter approaches and darkness descends on Alaska, Ernt’s fragile mental state deteriorates and the family begins to fracture. In a wild, remote corner of the state, they find a fiercely independent community of strong men and even stronger women. The Great Alone is a historical fiction novel written by American author Kristin Hannah published by St. Her mother, Cora, will do anything and go anywhere for the man she loves, even if means following him into the unknown.Īt first, Alaska seems to be the answer to their prayers. Thirteen-year-old Leni, a girl coming of age in a tumultuous time, caught in the riptide of her parents’ passionate, stormy relationship, dares to hope that a new land will lead to a better future for her family. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier. The Great Alone Character Analysis Lenora (Leni) Allbright A bookish red-headed girl that wants her family to weather her father’s post-traumatic stress, Leni’s main impulse is to go along with her father’s schemes. Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man.

The great alone hannah