Julie's Reviews: The Great Alone

Author: Kristin Hannah
Series: None
Publication Date: February 6, 2018
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pages: 448
Obtained: publisher via Netgalley
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 5/5
Bottom Line: Wow!
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab

Summary: Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier. Thirteen-year-old Leni, a girl coming of age in a tumultuous time, caught in the riptide of her parents’ passionate, stormy relationship, dares to hope that a new land will lead to a better future for her family. She is desperate for a place to belong. Her mother, Cora, will do anything and go anywhere for the man she loves, even if means following him into the unknown. At first, Alaska seems to be the answer to their prayers. In a wild, remote corner of the state, they find a fiercely independent community of strong men and even stronger women. The long, sunlit days and the generosity of the locals make up for the Allbrights’ lack of preparation and dwindling resources. But as winter approaches and darkness descends on Alaska, Ernt’s fragile mental state deteriorates and the family begins to fracture. Soon the perils outside pale in comparison to threats from within. In their small cabin, covered in snow, blanketed in eighteen hours of night, Leni and her mother learn the terrible truth: they are on their own. In the wild, there is no one to save them but themselves. In this unforgettable portrait of human frailty and resilience, Kristin Hannah reveals the indomitable character of the modern American pioneer and the spirit of a vanishing Alaska―a place of incomparable beauty and danger. The Great Alone is a daring, beautiful, stay-up-all-night story about love and loss, the fight for survival, and the wildness that lives in both man and nature. ~amazon.com

Review: Great Alone is one of those books that will grabs you by the heart and never lets go. I wouldn't have thought that a book about living in the remote Alaskan wilderness would be so utterly engaging.

Alaska itself is its own character and drive the story as much as the Allbright family. It is also the coming of age story of Leni and the power of love. She shows the possibilities of it and the impossibilities of it. It is about being able to survive all of the things you think you couldn't and being stronger for it. Leni is a strong teenager and it a lot of ways she's the only adult in her house. Her mom's happiness is tied to the stability of her father and that is something that is sporadic.

She learns that love is both light and dark. Her mom and her try to stick together throughout her dad's highs and lows. She protects her mom as much as she can until her dad's rage is turned towards her.
Ms. Hannah highlights how war affects people and can change who they are. How sometimes not even love can heal them no matter how hard you try. They also have to want to help themselves.

Great Alone is one of those books that you will want to keep turning the pages on until late into the night. Ms. Hannah is one of the premier storytellers of our time. In this novel she made Alaska come alive.

  Google+

Julie's Review: Fly Away

Summary: Once, a long time ago, I walked down a night-darkened road called Firefly Lane, all alone, on the worst night of my life, and I found a kindred spirit. That was our beginning. More than thirty years ago. TullyandKate. You and me against the world. Best friends forever. But stories end, don't they? You lose the people you love and you have to find a way to go on. . . .   Tully Hart has always been larger than life, a woman fueled by big dreams and driven by memories of a painful past. She thinks she can overcome anything until her best friend, Kate Ryan, dies. Tully tries to fulfill her deathbed promise to Kate---to be there for Kate's children---but Tully knows nothing about family or motherhood or taking care of people. Sixteen-year-old Marah Ryan is devastated by her mothers death. Her father, Johnny, strives to hold the family together, but even with his best efforts, Marah becomes unreachable in her grief. Nothing and no one seems to matter to her . . . until she falls in love with a young man who makes her smile again and leads her into his dangerous, shadowy world. Dorothy Hart---the woman who once called herself Cloud---is at the center of Tully's tragic past. She repeatedly abandoned her daughter, Tully, as a child, but now she comes back, drawn to her daughters side at a time when Tully is most alone. At long last, Dorothy must face her darkest fear: Only by revealing the ugly secrets of her past can she hope to become the mother her daughter needs. A single, tragic choice and a middle-of-the-night phone call will bring these women together and set them on a poignant, powerful journey of redemption. Each has lost her way, and they will need each one another---and maybe a miracle---to transform their lives. An emotionally complex, heart-wrenching novel about love, motherhood, loss, and new beginnings, Fly Away reminds us that where there is life, there is hope, and where there is love, there is forgiveness. Told with her trademark powerful storytelling and illuminating prose, Kristin Hannah reveals why she is one of the most beloved writers of our day. ~powells.com

Review: When I heard that Ms. Hannah was going to write a sequel to Firefly Lane, I was extremely curious. I mean given the ending of that novel, where was there to go?  In Fly Away she fast-forwards 4 years in the future after the events of the first novel. Not only that but she gives us a glimpse into those 4 years in flashbacks.We are told the story through different points of view: Tully, Marah, Dorothy and Johnny. All of them have been to hell and back. It's taken some of them longer to climb out of the dark than others, but they all eventually find their way.

As with Firefly Lane,  I found Tully utterly self-absorbed. I mean I get it, but it's time to get over yourself. She is supposed to be helping Johnny with the kids but instead she gets caught up in herself with disastrous results. Marah is lost in the depth of what was said and not said. She runs away and lives a dismal life with her boyfriend in Seattle. It isn't until she is called home for Tully that she begins to come back to her old self.

The story I enjoyed the most was Dorothy, Tully's mom. It was an insight that we had not been privy to in the previous novel.  She is trying to do right by her daughter and while it won't make up for the years of being gone, it is a start.

What Ms. Hannah does extraordinarily well is paint a realistic view of grief, depression and family. She never fails to amaze me with the detail and emotion that go into her books. Now, this might not be my favorite of her books, but I'm glad that I revisited these characters. For those who have read Firefly Lane, then you will definitely want to pick up Fly Away to revisit the characters.

I also love how this cover ties into the one from Firefly Lane. I know authors don't have much say in the cover but I love it when it's connected to the first novel.

Fly Away is on sale on 4/23/13.

Final Take: 3.75/5

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for an ARC of the novel. 

Click here for my Firefly Lane review. 

Julie's Review: Home Front

Summary: In her bestselling novels Kristin Hannah has plumbed the depths of friendship, the loyalty of sisters, and the secrets mothers keep. Now, in her most emotionally powerful story yet, she explores the intimate landscape of a troubled marriage with this provocative and timely portrait of a husband and wife, in love and at war. All marriages have a breaking point. All families have wounds. All wars have a cost. . . . Like many couples, Michael and Jolene Zarkades have to face the pressures of everyday life---children, careers, bills, chores---even as their twelve-year marriage is falling apart. Then an unexpected deployment sends Jolene deep into harm’s way and leaves defense attorney Michael at home, unaccustomed to being a single parent to their two girls. As a mother, it agonizes Jolene to leave her family, but as a solider she has always understood the true meaning of duty. In her letters home, she paints a rose-colored version of her life on the front lines, shielding her family from the truth. But war will change Jolene in ways that none of them could have foreseen. When tragedy strikes, Michael must face his darkest fear and fight a battle of his own---for everything that matters to his family. At once a profoundly honest look at modern marriage and a dramatic exploration of the toll war takes on an ordinary American family, Home Front is a story of love, loss, heroism, honor, and ultimately, hope. ~amazon.com  

Review: Home Front is the first book that deal with the war in Iraq that I've met. What's even more significant in my opinion is that it deals with women in combat. Ms. Hannah handles this issue with care. She sends a message without being preachy about it: Support our troops even if you don't agree with/or support the war.

Jolene lost her parents when she was 17 and instead of becoming bitter and hostile, she chose to believe that you could chose happiness. As we are introduced to Jolene she is married to Michael and mother to their two girls, Betsey and Lulu. She works as a helicopter pilot for the National Guard where she can put her family first and because she loves it. It is the thing that saved her after her parents died. She is fiercely independent and optimistic. Her husband Michael, doesn't start out looking so good to us readers. He's oblivious to his home life, he's a workaholic, depressed, unhappy, selfish and most of all complacent. He takes his wife for granted and then proceeds to think that he's not in love with her anymore. Of course, this happens right before she is deployed to Iraq.

Jolene is deployed and sent to Iraq to do rescue missions. As you can imagine things do not turn out well for her while she's over there. When she comes home she's different. Long gone is the optimistic and happy Jolene. Instead she's angry, depressed, unable to express her needs/wants and has to learn how to rely on others. Michael has learned to put family first, regrets his prior decisions and fights for his wife and for her love. It was stunning to see such a transformation in someone that wasn't completely unrealistic.  It wasn't overnight and it definitely wasn't easy for him. He took Jolene for granted and disregarded her service as insignificant to him. Her being deployed taught him that it wasn't and showed him how to be proud of her service.

Part of what helps Michael begin to understand is his case defending a young Iraqi war veteran who killed his wife. He begins to understand that he should be proud of her and her job regardless of how he feels about the war. It is through Keith and his therapist that he can start to understand what his wife dealt with over in Iraq and try to help her through the fear and pain.

What Ms. Hannah does extremely well is make this personal for the reader. It is heartbreakingly real, sad and hopeful. What she does is expose our government for the carelessness in handling soldiers with PTSD. How sweeping it under the rug doesn't help anyone and does more damage. She also shows us how the Armed Services prepare our soldiers for war and their families but they perhaps do not do such a good job about preparing them for the changes when they return home. These occur even if they haven't been hurt. The dynamics of a family change when someone is gone for an extended period of time. How do you get back to normal when normal isn't what it was before?

I thought the ending was beautiful and I closed the book feeling hopeful for the Zarkades family. I'm only sorry I've had this book for almost a year and just now cracked it up. On the other hand, I'm glad that it's one of my final books for 2012. It would make an excellent book club choice since you could examine it every way from Sunday. Home Front isn't a book to be missed.

Final Take: 4.75/5



 

Julie's Review: Night Road

Summary: For eighteen years, Jude Farraday has put her children’s needs above her own, and it shows—her twins, Mia and Zach—are bright and happy teenagers. When Lexi Baill moves into their small, close knit community, no one is more welcoming than Jude. Lexi, a former foster child with a dark past, quickly becomes Mia’s best friend. Then Zach falls in love with Lexi and the three become inseparable. Jude does everything to keep her kids on track for college and out of harm’s way. It has always been easy-- until senior year of high school. Suddenly she is at a loss. Nothing feels safe anymore; every time her kids leave the house, she worries about them. On a hot summer’s night her worst fears come true. One decision will change the course of their lives. In the blink of an eye, the Farraday family will be torn apart and Lexi will lose everything. In the years that follow, each must face the consequences of that single night and find a way to forget…or the courage to forgive. Vivid, universal, and emotionally complex, NIGHT ROAD raises profound questions about motherhood, identity, love, and forgiveness. It is a luminous, heartbreaking novel that captures both the exquisite pain of loss and the stunning power of hope. This is Kristin Hannah at her very best, telling an unforgettable story about the longing for family, the resilience of the human heart, and the courage it takes to forgive the people we love. ~amazon.com

Review: You know what I love about getting an ARC? They don't always include a summary of the novel, so you go in with a vague recollection of what the book is about. I knew that Night Road was a family drama but I couldn't remember the exact plot. Kristin Hannah definitely knows how to tell a family drama. The Farraday's are a seemingly perfect family. Jude, is a pulled together stay at home mom, who's kids are the center of her world. Popular Zach, is a level headed boy, who always tries to do the right thing. Mia, is a shy, introverted, self-proclaimed nerd who wants to go to USC for theater. Enter, Lexi, the new girl in town who befriends Mia on her first day at school. The two are inseparable from that point forward. Lexi, is taken in by the Farraday family and treated like one of their own.

Things start to change senior year of high school. The pressure of getting into USC and all the other functions start stressing out Jude. She starts expecting more out of Zach and Mia. Meanwhile, they just want to enjoy their friends and their last year of high school. Things also change between Zach and Lexi; they begin to date and fall in love. The three of them band together to protect each other and are as close as ever. Then one fateful night, all of that changes. Some one dies, someone is convicted and nothing ever remains the same.

Night Road is a story about love, loss, parenting, forgiveness and moving on. I did cry at several different points in the book. I'm old enough to remember my high school days with fondness and as a mother I am in fear of my kids high school years. Good kids can make bad choices and not realize the consequences until it's too late.

Being a mother is never easy. Every age has it's pros and cons. We as parents do the best we can and hope for the best. I don't know how I'll handle those teenage years because let's face it, the probably won't listen any way. You pray that every thing you told them sticks during these years.

I liked Jude but I think I felt more for her husband Miles. He was trying his best to try to help her and she kept refusing.

There were a couple twists I didn't see coming and then some plot points that I could. Even though I figured some out, it didn't take away from the story for me.

I have several Kristin Hannah books in my huge TBR pile. I always buy them when they come out but haven't read them. I'm looking forward to reading both Winter Garden and True Colors. My first experience with Ms. Hannah's writing was Firefly Lane and while I didn't love it; it did make me want to read more of her writing. At some point I'm sure I'll go back at read all of her previously published books.

If you are looking for a great family drama in the form of a novel, then go out and buy Night Road.

Final Take: 4.25/5

Thanks to the publisher for sending me an ARC of the book.

Julie's Review: Firefly Lane

Summary: In the turbulent summer of 1974, Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the eighth-grade social food chain. Then, to her amazement, the “coolest girl in the world” moves in across the street and wants to be her friend. Tully Hart seems to have it all---beauty, brains, ambition. On the surface they are as opposite as two people can be: Kate, doomed to be forever uncool, with a loving family who mortifies her at every turn. Tully, steeped in glamour and mystery, but with a secret that is destroying her. They make a pact to be best friends forever; by summer’s end they’ve become TullyandKate. Inseparable. So begins Kristin Hannah’s magnificent new novel. Spanning more than three decades and playing out across the ever-changing face of the Pacific Northwest, Firefly Lane is the poignant, powerful story of two women and the friendship that becomes the bulkhead of their lives. From the beginning, Tully is desperate to prove her worth to the world. Abandoned by her mother at an early age, she longs to be loved unconditionally. In the glittering, big-hair era of the eighties, she looks to men to fill the void in her soul. But in the buttoned-down nineties, it is television news that captivates her. She will follow her own blind ambition to New York and around the globe, finding fame and success . . . and loneliness. Kate knows early on that her life will be nothing special. Throughout college, she pretends to be driven by a need for success, but all she really wants is to fall in love and have children and live an ordinary life. In her own quiet way, Kate is as driven as Tully. What she doesn’t know is how being a wife and mother will change her . . . how she’ll lose sight of who she once was, and what she once wanted. And how much she’ll envy her famous best friend. . . .For thirty years, Tully and Kate buoy each other through life, weathering the storms of friendship---jealousy, anger, hurt, resentment. They think they’ve survived it all until a single act of betrayal tears them apart . . . and puts their courage and friendship to the ultimate test.Firefly Lane is for anyone who ever drank Boone’s Farm apple wine while listening to Abba or Fleetwood Mac. More than a coming-of-age novel, it’s the story of a generation of women who were both blessed and cursed by choices. It’s about promises and secrets and betrayals. And ultimately, about the one person who really, truly knows you---and knows what has the power to hurt you . . . and heal you. Firefly Lane is a story you’ll never forget . . . one you’ll want to pass on to your best friend. ~amazon.com

Review: Firefly Lane spans the 30 year friendship of TullyandKate, best friends since their younger years when an unlikely friendship was formed and a quick bond ignited. While overall I enjoyed the book and the format that it was written in, I found the characters to be completely sterotypical and 2-dimensional. Kate was the good girl who was not career driven and just wanted a family and ended up being a stay at home mom. Tully was the career driven one who wanted to be successful more than anything and at any cost. I find that most of my friends and myself included are some of both of these characters.

I loved the fact that the book was set throughout the 70s,80s,90s and 2000s. There were so mnay things I could identify with and recognized. The music references and fashions were some of my favorite things about the book and it took me back to my childhood and adolesence. I thought the instance that separated Tully and Kate for a while was a bit contrived but yet it fit into the characters personas.

I enjoyed the relationship between Kate and her mom, Mrs. M; Kate and her daughter Marah. It wasn't only a book about friendships but a book about all personal relationship. And while I don't think all girls hate their moms throughout all of their adolesence, I do think that the book acurately portrays the struggles of those relationships. We all think that our moms don't understand or went through what we are, the truth of the matter is they did to some point. And while some of the issues change the need for independence during the teen years never does.

To me this book about friendship was no different than others I've read in the past. I would read Kristin Hannah again but probably not for a while.

Final Take: 3/5