This is Barb Gross with the Sioux City Public Library and you’re listening to Check it Out.
Fans of Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale have been itching for another book by this amazing writer, and early this year she delivered. Today I’m recommending her new book called The Great Alone. It’s every bit as powerful as its predecessor, but in much different ways. Lenora, better known as Leni, is the book’s main character. She’s 13 years old in 1974 when her family decides to move to Alaska. Leni’s father, Ernt, is a Vietnam veteran and a former prisoner-of-war suffering from PTSD. When Ernt’s war buddy dies and leaves him a piece of property in the remote wilderness near Homer, he’s convinced that the Allbright family’s considerable troubles will vanish when they move far from the noise and pressure of their lives in Seattle. But we discover that this family is totally unprepared for an off-the-grid life in a place that can kill a person in dozens of different ways. It takes the help of a close-knit community of colorful local residents to teach the Allbrights how to survive their first winter. Except the locals can’t help with Ernt. His nightmares, paranoia, and rage are fueled by the dark winter and nearly total isolation of their new homestead. Leni and her mother, Cora, tiptoe through their days, knowing it’s only a matter of time before Ernt becomes violent. Again. The Great Alone kept me in page-turning suspense, dying to know what was going to happen next, yet half afraid to find out. This novel is equal parts thriller, outdoor adventure tale, and compelling love story. Check it out today at the Sioux City Public Library.
Support for Check It Out comes from Avery Brothers.