The Great Alone

 Have you ever noticed how some families move frequently and others don't move at all? I grew up in a family that never moved. When I was six months old I moved into a house and stayed there until I moved out 19 or 20 years later. I have lived in about 20 places. As a mother I lived in two places. One of my offspring moves all the time to all corners of the globe. The other offspring moved around some but now stays put in one place. So when I read The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah, I thought the main character, a girl, was like Laura in Little House on the Prairie. Laura's father moved from Wisconsin to Minnesota to the Dakota's to Missouri. Although I was right about the moving frequently part, the father in this story is nothing like Pa (played on television by Michael Landon). Ernt Allbright is no Charles Ingalls. Of course Charles never went to Vietnam and spent time as a prisoner of war. Ernt moves his wife and daughter to Alaska. He wants to get away from society and live off the land. He means well but the war has broken him. His wife is all too forgiving. Ernt prepares his family for dire time by teaching them how to hunt and shoot and forage and build and give first aid. All of these skills turn out to be helpful. Maybe I liked this book because I just got back from Alaska. Maybe I liked this book because Kristin Hannah is one of my favorite authors. Maybe this is a terrific novel that you will also enjoy.