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This is not at all an easy book to read. The brutality of the domestic abuse mentioned in this book will force us to stop reading it while the amazing writing skills of Hannah and the innocence of Leni will keep us glued to the book at the same time.

Summary
The story revolves around Leni, a teenager who had to move to Alaska along with her family. Her mother, Cora, had to suffer a lot of domestic abuse from her husband, Ernt. The obstacles this family had to face, especially during the winter forms the crux of this story. This book takes some time to grow on you as the initial part seems to be a little slow, but after the plot is fully developed, it was an amazing reading experience for me.



The beauty and wilderness of Alaska
Alaska is a place where there are more than three million lakes; we can go for a tour for bear watching, husky- dog sledding, mining for gold, witnessing of the Northern lights in Fairbanks and extraordinarily beautiful Seward Highway.





" You know what they say about finding a man in Alaska—the odds are good, but the goods are odd.�

“What is it really like?� Leni asked Matthew the next day at the end of school. All around them, kids were gathering up their supplies to go home. “What?� “Winter.� Matthew thought about it. “Terrible and beautiful. It’s how you know if you’re cut out to be an Alaskan. Most go running back to the Outside before it’s over.� “The Great Alone,� Leni said. That was what Robert Service called Alaska.

Absence of sunlight during the severe winter coupled with winter blues and Seasonal Affective disorder (SAD) makes people extremely anhedonic in Alaska. Global warming is really affecting Alaska, which is causing severe wildfires and alarmingly rising sea levels. Alaska is also the second-largest oil producer in the USA, which is great from an economic point of view but unfortunately is causing more global warming.







Vietnam war and the sufferings Americans had to face due to it
According to various studies, approximately 30% of men and 27% of women had PTSD at some point in their life following Vietnam. Many of them had PTSD as a chronic condition spanning more than a decade. The ripple effect of PTSD and it's after-effects in personal, family and social life is devastating. It caused in the development of a lot of Psychological, cardiac, neurological abnormalities. Substance abuse, domestic violence, suicides caused due to it is also very high in number. Vietnam syndrome which was the public aversion to American overseas military involvements, following the domestic controversy was also very prominent during that time.






The movies like platoon and full metal jacket showed us the harsh realities of the Vietnam war.



Verdict
5/5
This is a novel where the Darwinian theory of “Survival of the fittest� is tested to the core and is extremely difficult to read due to the large number of harsh circumstances that Leni had to face.
What is this book about? Is it dealing with
- Historical fiction
- Man versus nature
- Problems including pregnancy that a teenager has to face
- War and its long term consequences people have to suffer
- Woman empowerment amid extreme suffering
- Coming of age of a young girl.

It is all these and much more. Even though this book is an emotional roller coaster, we can see the beauty amid the wilderness, hope amid disaster, love amid hatred, beautiful smile amid heart wrecking tears. If you are a fan of books coming under any of the above topics, please pick up this book to start reading. There is a high probability that you may love it. It was quite befitting that this book won the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ choice award for the Best Historical fiction. Thank you so much, Kristin Hannah, for writing such a wonderful novel.

“There is no middle ground, no safe place; not here, in the Great Alone.�