Book Review: The Great Alone

Author: Kristin Hannah

Resilience Recommendation: MUST READ

I love to read (Hi, i'm queen of the introverts). I would rather read a book than watch TV or listen to music or leave the house for any reason. The one thing that i might like more than reading... is sleeping :). However, I couldn't put this book down for any reason. I read the whole thing in 2 days and stayed up til 3:30am to do it. If you haven't read it yet, i'm jealous because i would love to be able to dive back in.

Kristin's story-telling drew me right in. Within a few pages, i forgot that i was reading and was fully invested.

The book follows the life of Leni Allbright and her family who moved to Alaska to homestead in the 70s after her father returned from Vietnam.

Even though the danger of living in Alaska is immediately evident, the vast beauty and sense of adventure that Kristin portrays had me believing that i could a.) survive and b.) thrive as a homesteader. If, when things get hard, you ever find yourself thinking.. "I'm going to buy a farm and just live off the land", then this book will help you appreciate what that actually would mean (spoiler alert.. your current life is probably easier).

She also explores mental illness in an honest way, understanding the impacts of trauma and how it can cause you to do things you never might have imagined as well as the all too real ramifications that can ruin your life and the lives of the people you love if you don't work through it. (mental illness exists in many forms - this story is on the more severe end of the spectrum).

As far as resilience.. I found so much motivation following Leni as she continually found the strength to keep going. There are books that are nice to read, books that sugar coat real life to please an audience. This is not one of those books. Kristin does not shy away from writing about real struggle. There were parts of this book that completely broke my heart, but other parts put me back together again. It will be with me for a long time.

If you've read it - let me know your thoughts in the comments!