“Alaska herself can be Sleeping Beauty one minute, and a bitch with a sawed-off shotgun the next.”

That about sums it up.

I’ve never felt so much anxiety reading a book. Never. There was so much intense tension running throughout this entire book. And I loved it.

I connected so much to this book. I, like the protagonist in this book, was born in Washington, grew up in Alaska, and had a father who was in Vietnam and had major PTSD from his time there.

Even though this book takes place in the late 70s, before I was born, so much of this felt incredibly familiar. Nostalgic. Authentic.

What I liked:

1. The honest portrayal of PTSD and domestic violence. This was the source of my aforementioned anxiety. I think that probably goes to show how successful it was, at least for me. Luckily, I haven’t ever suffered from PTSD, but I have been in the position of being the loved one of someone suffering from PTSD. It is a scary and hopeless feeling. I felt for Leni so much.
There are many reviewers who won’t like Cora because she stayed with a man who was incredibly violent toward her. And yes, I found myself wanting to shake her so many times I lost count. But that’s reality. The cycle of abuse is real and the way it’s portrayed here is as authentic as it gets. I also found Leni’s disillusionment with her father very sad, but also very relieving. As much as statistics may tell you that she would find herself in similar situation, I loved that she rises above that and grows into a strong woman. In a very real way, her father’s decision to move her to Alaska and teach her to live off the land was what enabled her to break away from that abusive cycle, and there’s something really beautiful about that.

2. Characters. All of the major characters in this novel were well-developed. They were complex, flawed, and messy. Even as I condemned her father’s actions, there was a part of me that felt so sorry for him and what he’d endured. Not that it was an excuse for his violent behavior, but just thinking about what his life could have been if his mental well-being had been a focus after coming back from Vietnam made me sad and angry at the same time.
I also thought the side characters were wonderfully real. One very specific thing I appreciated was how everyone had some sort of nickname. That is so Alaska.

3. The setting. I don’t live in Alaska any longer. My family moved to the Seattle area about five years ago. I’m totally okay with that, and don’t plan on moving back to Alaska any time soon, if ever. However, the descriptions of Alaska touched my heart. Hannah captured it so impeccably I can’t find a single flaw. From the Afterword, it sounds like she spent time in Alaska when she was younger, and the additional research she did in crafting this book is evident.

Between The Nightingale and The Great Alone, I can safely say that Kristin Hannah is one of my favorite literary fiction authors. I will read anything she writes, and plan on visiting her previous works in the future.