But, despite everything that happened to her, she grew up to be an independent woman, a single mother & a positive person. At such a young age, she had to be a grown-up because her parents refused to.

She had to stay away from a boy she loved because her father actively hated that boy’s father. She had to constantly stay on her toes in fear that something minor will set her father off. Leni Allbright is a brilliant young girl who was scarred from her childhood. Not only did she allow herself getting bullied by her husband, she also gave Leni a traumatized childhood with a constant fear. She goes along with everything that Ernt says, so much so that she moves to a faraway place cut out from basic resources. They have a toxic relationship which is unbearably difficult to read. But, to the reader he soon becomes the villain of the story.Ĭora Allbright is probably worse than Ernt, because no matter how many times he hits her, she refuses to leave him. Ironically, he has this thing about protecting his family when he is the one they need protection from. Because of the war, he has this urge of living in seclusion only with his family. His violence gets worse during the winter, which is the toughest period in Alaska. I won’t say anything about 1978 & 1986 because that will ruin the story.Įrnt Allbright is a POW veteran from the Vietnam War which made him into an abusive husband. They have a lot of help from their neighbours. In 1974, we see how the Allbrights move to Kaneq, settle in & manage to make a life. The book is divided into 3 parts as per the years ‘ 1974, 1978 & 1986. They are warned by everyone to prepare for the winter because winters in Alaska are something else.

They decide to live away from the rest of the world, in their own place, making their own food by growing vegetables, keeping chickens & goats, learning hunting & so on. The book starts in 1974 when the Allbright family moves to Alaska. And, their daughter Leni Allbright is someone who has been the adult in the family from the age of thirteen. Cora Allbright, his wife, is madly in love with him, no matter what. Ernt Allbright served in Vietnam & returned with a darkness in him. The Great Alone is about the Allbright family living their complicated life in the wilderness of Alaska.

Books like the great alone