The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

In Kristin Hannah's new novel, The Great Alone, readers watch helplessly as the Allbright family (Ernt, Cora and Leni) breakdown and disintegrate into their catastrophic and dysfunctional end. Sadly, the parents in this family of three were crippled by the PTSD Ernt, the father, suffers from after returning from Vietnam and a POW camp.  Paranoid and dangerous, Ernt decides to move the family to Alaska to live off the grid.  Desperate to appease Ernt, Cora and Leni follow blindly to furthest reaches of Alaska because as Cora says, "you don't stop loving someone when they're hurt."  Unfortunately, Ernt had no help or support in the wilderness and he slowly spiraled totally out of control.  Mama and Leni bore the brunt of his violence and survived their first years in the outback primarily because of the kindness of the small community of people who lived nearby.  Remarkably, Leni and her mother learned to survive in the harsh environment and they even came to love Alaska.  Called the Great Alone, this natural wilderness area showed itself to be terrible and beautiful, turbulent and grand.  Likewise, Leni's life demonstrated unbelievable highs and lows as she grapples her way to adulthood.  Somehow, she managed to traverse the minefield of her life while finding love and community.  This book is not without its problems.  There is a "too pat" ending that somehow puts a rosy top on the horrific events that fill the novel.  But regardless of the Greek tragedy/Romeo and Juliet storyline the ending leaves you with a sense of satisfaction and even a bit of awe with regard to the resilient characters who survive the Great Alone.