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The Great Alone

The Great Alone

Historical FictionWomen's Fiction
Pages
503
Published
2018
Language
English

Synopsis

In 1974, thirteen-year-old Leni Allbright's family is always one bad decision from disaster. Her father, Ernt, came home from a Vietnamese POW camp volatile and haunted, unable to hold a job or his temper. On impulse he moves the family to a remote homestead in Alaska, promising a fresh start off the grid.

At first the wild beauty of the last frontier and the fierce, generous community that surrounds them seems to offer exactly that. But Alaska is unforgiving, and as the long, dark winter closes in, Ernt's paranoia and violence deepen behind closed doors. Caught in the riptide of her parents' passionate, destructive marriage, Leni comes of age torn between love for her damaged father, fear for her mother, and a first love that offers a way out.

Kristin Hannah's novel is a sweeping, harrowing story of survival, both against the elements and within a family, and of the courage it takes to break free.

Prose complexity
4/10

Vibe

DarkTenseAtmosphericEmotionalSad
SurvivalComing of Age

Genres

Historical Fiction Women's Fiction Literary Fiction

About the author

K
Kristin Hannah

Kristin Hannah (born September 25, 1960) is an American novelist and former attorney. She has written more than twenty novels, including Firefly Lane (2008), Winter Garden (2010), The Nightingale (2015), The Great Alone (2018), The Four Winds (2021) and The Women (2024). The Nightingale, set in France during the Second World War, has sold more than 4.5 million copies and been translated into 45 languages. Firefly Lane and The Great Alone have both been adapted for the screen, with a film adaptat...

Characters

Leni AllbrightProtagonist

Teenager coming of age amid her family's isolation and her father's violence.

Ernt AllbrightAntagonist

Leni's father, a Vietnam POW whose trauma curdles into abuse.

Cora AllbrightSupporting

Leni's mother, bound to Ernt despite his violence.

All characters in The Great Alone

Frequently asked questions

  • Is the story based on a true story or the author's real-life experiences?

    While the plot and characters are fictional, the novel is heavily inspired by Kristin Hannah's own childhood [1.2.1]. Her family moved from Southern California to a remote, off-grid area of Alaska in the 1970s, allowing her to draw directly from her personal memories of the state's rugged lifestyle and community dynamics.

  • Has this novel won any major literary awards?

    Yes — The Great Alone won the 2018 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Historical Fiction. Its audiobook edition, narrated by Julia Whelan, was also a finalist for the 2019 Audie Award for Fiction (the award that year went to The Tattooist of Auschwitz), and won an AudioFile Earphones Award for Whelan's narration.

  • Are there any plans to adapt the book into a movie?

    TriStar Pictures acquired the film rights to the novel shortly after its release, with Julia Cox signed on to write the screenplay. The adaptation is being produced by Elizabeth Cantillon and Laura Quicksilver, though a formal release date has not yet been finalized.

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